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Keyboard mapping

Did you know that...

When Softimage animators do demos, they use the keyboard mapping tool to increase speed and workflow?

For a demo artist, the purpose of remapping keys is to make things go a lot faster. This technique can be equally useful if you are transitioning to XSI from another 3D package. The hurdle of overcoming "muscle memory" on the keyboard can be frustrating, but with the help of the keyboard remapping tool you can taylor XSI to your needs.

1. Start XSI and choose File > Keyboard Mapping from the main menu. Here you have the possibility of completely re-arranging the keyboard mapping or adding a new command.
2. In the "Group" window, as you select different groups, you can see the color of the keys changing to illustrate that the key is either mapped or not in that group.
3. To do an association, just drag and drop a command from the "Command" window onto the desired key and presto! You have just created your first key binding. (What is really nice is that you can also apply this to a custom script!)

In XSI version 5.0 we even did part of the work for you. A "Maya" style interaction is already present under File > Interaction model > QWERTY tool and ALT Camera Navigation. This model also changes the camera interaction, Neat!

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