Moving, scaling objects using mouse buttons, just like in Softimage

[dinog30]

Hello

I'm new to Maya, but not 3D modeling. I have been a Softimage user since 2005 and only recently I have moved to Maya. I was wondering how I can move the object in XYZ direction using different mouse buttons.

For example,

In Softimage, I can click on an object, choose the transformation tool, and use the three mouse buttons (Left click, middle click, and right click) to move XYZ.  So what I mean is, I can click the left mouse button and move the object along the X value. If I press the middle mouse button, I can move along the Y value and the right button for the X value. If I press all the buttons, I can freely move the object in any direction. I can do the same with rotation and scaling an object. I wonder if this is possible to do in Maya?

Thank you

[damaggio]

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/maya-modeling/using-mouse-left-middle-amp-right-click-to-change-xyz-p...

[brentmc]

Hi,

Maya doesn't have a way to map the three mouse buttons to XYZ like in Softimage but  I think you can achieve something similar with indirect manipulation in Maya.

The Maya transform tools have two main modes of interation:

1) direct manipulation when left-clicking on a manipulator axis
2) indirect manipulation when middle-clicking anywhere in the viewport

The second mode is also how you manipulate selected channels in the channel box.
e.g. click on a channel and then middle-click in the viewport to change it

When using indirectmanipulation holding Shift and middle-clicking will move along the closest axis that matches the drag direction. In the GIF below you can see that the cursor is nowhere near the manipulator but I am able to drag along different axes using this technique.



Another thing you could do is just make three scripted hotkeys that activate the XYZ axis in the current tool and then use plain old middle-mouse dragging to move along the selected axis.

To change the current axis from scripting you can use the -currentActiveHandle/-cah flag on the selected tool. The valid values are described in the command docs but 0,1,2 maps to X,Y,Z.

// Set current active handle to Y in move/rotate/scale tools
manipMoveContext -e -cah 1 Move;
manipRotateContext -e -cah 1 Rotate;
manipScaleContext -e -cah 1 Scale;