Maya has a number of workspaces that enable you to visualize and work with the nodes and
their connections. The following sections describe how these workspaces work together when
building a node network in a Maya scene.
Using the Hypergraph
The Hypergraph is a visual representation of the nodes and their connections in Maya. A complex
scene can look like an intricate web of these connections. When you need to know how a
network of nodes is connected, the Hypergraph gives you the most detailed view. There are two
ways to view the Hypergraph:
◆ The hierarchy view shows the relationships between nodes as a tree structure.
◆ The connections view shows how the nodes are connected as a web.
You can have more than one Hypergraph window open at the same time, but you are still
looking at the same scene with the same nodes and connections.
This short exercise gives you a sense of how you would typically use the Hypergraph:
1. Create a new Maya scene.
2. Create a polygon cube by choosing Create ➢ Polygon Primitives ➢ Cube.
3. You will be prompted to draw a polygon on the grid by dragging on the grid (see
Figure 1.2). Drag a square on the grid, release the cursor, and then drag upward on the
square to turn it into a three-dimensional cube. Release the mouse button to complete
the cube. At this point, feel free to make your own decisions about the size and position
of the cube on the grid.