Animation Basics

An introduction to the various animation techniques in Maya LT.

Topics in this section provide information on the various animation techniques in Maya LT, how to use the different types of animation, and how to preview, playback, and save your animations.

You'll find sections that focus on the following types of animation:

• Keyframe animation lets you transform objects or skeletons over time by setting keyframes. For example, you can keyframe the joints of a character’s arm to create an animation of its arm waving. For more information, see Keyframe Animation.
• Driven key animation lets you link and drive the attributes of one object with those of another object by setting driven keys. For example, you can key a character’s X and Z translations as Driver attributes and a door model’s Y rotation as the Driven attribute to create an animation of a character and a swinging door. For more information, see Driven keys.
• Path animation lets you set a curve as an animation path for an object. When you attach an object to a motion path, it follows the curve during its animation. For example, when you assign a car model to a motion path that follows a road in your scene, the car follows the road when you play the animation. For more information, see Path Animation.