Controls and Shortcuts

The following is a list of input device controls and shortcuts providing quick access to functionality in Gaffer’s Viewers and Editors.

Guide

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts, or hotkeys, are shown as they would typically appear on a keyboard:

Example Action

Shortcut

Type the letter g

G

Press a modifier key

Ctrl

Press multiple keys together

Ctrl + C

Press one of the following keys

A, B, C, D

Press either of the following keys

Enter
or
Return

Tip

macOS users: replace Ctrl with Command ⌘.

Mouse Controls

Mouse controls are shown as icons representing the action to perform:

Example Action

Mouse control

Press the left mouse button

Left click

Press the middle mouse button

Middle click

Press the right mouse button

Right click

Scroll the mouse wheel

Mouse wheel

General

Action

Control or shortcut

New node graph

Ctrl + N

Open node graph

Ctrl + O

Save node graph

Ctrl + S

Save node graph as

Ctrl + Shift + S

Quit the application

Ctrl + Q

Undo

Ctrl + Z

Redo

Ctrl + Shift + Z

Step one frame forward

Step one frame backward

Play forward

Ctrl +

Play backward

Ctrl +

Stop playback

, , Ctrl + , Ctrl +

Fullscreen mode

F11

Hide tabs of current panel

Ctrl + T

Maximise current panel

Space

Note

Gaffer has many interactions requiring drag and drop of UI elements. As an alternative to holding Left click for the duration of a drag, G can be pressed once to start a drag and then once again to complete the drag.

Action

Control or shortcut

Begin a Left click drag

Hover cursor over drag target, G

Complete a Left click drag

While dragging, hover cursor over drop target, G

Pinnable Editors and Inspectors

Action

Control or shortcut

Follow the focus node

Hover cursor over editor, `

Pin the node selection

Hover cursor over editor, P

Pin numeric bookmark 1-9

Hover cursor over editor, 1 - 9

Follow to the node selection

Hover cursor over editor, N

Graph Editor

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the cursor must hover over the Graph Editor.

Node creation

Action

Control or shortcut

Show node menu

Right click
or
Tab

Insert Dot at connection

Ctrl + Left click connection
or
Right click connection > Insert Dot

Node selection

Action

Control or shortcut

Select all

Ctrl + A

Clear selection

Ctrl + Shift + A

Select node

Left click

Add node to selection

Shift + Left click

Add/remove node from selection

Ctrl + Left click

Select nodes

Left click and drag marquee, then release

Add nodes

Shift + Left click and drag marquee, then release

Deselect nodes

Ctrl + Left click and drag marquee, then release

Select upstream nodes

Shift + Alt + Left click node

Select downstream nodes

Ctrl + Alt + Left click node

Node dispatch

Note

For these dispatch-related shortcuts, the cursor does not need to hover over the Graph Editor.

Action

Control or shortcut

Dispatch selected node(s)

Ctrl + E

Redo last dispatch

Ctrl + R

Node copying and deletion

Tip

For a Box node to be disableable, it must first be set up for pass-through.

Action

Control or shortcut

Cut node(s)

Ctrl + X

Copy node(s)

Ctrl + C

Paste node(s)

Ctrl + V

Duplicate node(s) with inputs

Ctrl + D

Delete node(s)

Backspace
or
Delete

Enable/disable node(s)

D

Rename node(s)

F2

Node connections and layout

Action

Control or shortcut

Connect plug

Left click and drag plug to another plug

Disconnect plug

Left click and drag connection to background

Insert node onto connection

Left click and drag node onto connection

Auto-arrange selected nodes

Ctrl + L

Duplicate outgoing connection

Shift + Left click and drag connection just before in plug

Disconnect connections under cursor

X + Left click

Disconnect connections under line

X + Left click and drag to draw a line, then release Left click

Focus Node

Action

Control or shortcut

Jump to focus node

Hover cursor over editor, `
or
Left click Editor focus menu, select Focus Node

Assign focus to selected node

Hover cursor over node graph, Ctrl + `
or
Click on top right of node

Assign focus to numeric bookmark

Alt + 19

Node bookmarks

Action

Control or shortcut

Bookmark node

Right click node > Bookmark

Connect to bookmarked node

Right click plug > Connect Bookmark > select node

Jump to bookmarked node

Hover cursor over editor, Ctrl + B > select bookmarked node
or
Left click Editor focus menu, select Bookmark > …

Assign numeric bookmark

Ctrl + 19

Remove numeric bookmark

Ctrl + 0

Node Editor

Numeric plugs

Action

Control or shortcut

Increment/decrement value, specific precision

Position cursor next to a number position in plug field, then hit /

Scrub value, coarse precision

Ctrl + Left click and drag the field left/right

Scrub value, fine precision

Ctrl + Shift + Left click and drag the field left/right

Gang plugs together

Ctrl + G

Tip

Numeric fields support basic mathematical operators to adjust their values. For example, appending +1 to a plug with an existing value of 2, will set it to 3. You can use +, -, /, * and % to modify the existing value.

Path plugs

Action

Control or shortcut

Autocomplete path component

Tab

Path-level contents menu

Select path component
or
Position text cursor in path component, then hit

Path hierarchy menu

Select all

3D scenes

Action

Control or shortcut

Edit source node of selection

Alt + E

Edit tweaks node for selection

Alt + Shift + E

Viewer

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the cursor must hover over the Viewer.

General controls

Action

Control or shortcut

Pan

Alt + Left click and drag

Zoom/dolly

Alt + Right click and drag
or
Mouse wheel

Pan/Zoom, fine precision

Hold Shift during action

Frame view to contents

F

Pause processing

Escape

Selection Tool

Q

Translate Tool

W

Rotate Tool

E

Cycle Transform Tool Orientation

O

Scale Tool

R

Camera Tool

T

Crop Window Tool

C

Crop Window Tool and crop enabled

Alt + C

Light Position Tool

D

Pin to numeric bookmark

19

3D scenes

Action

Control or shortcut

Tumble

Alt + Left click and drag

Tumble, fine precision

Hold Shift during action

Select objects

Left click and drag marquee, then release

Add/remove object from selection

Ctrl + Left click

Add objects to selection

Shift + Left click and drag marquee, then release

Deselect objects

Ctrl + Left click and drag marquee, then release

Expand selection

Fully expand selection

Shift +

Collapse selection

Edit source node of selection

Alt + E

Edit tweaks node for selection

Alt + Shift + E

Fit clipping planes to scene

Right click > Clipping Planes > Fit To Scene

Fit clipping planes to selection

Right click > Clipping Planes > Fit To Selection
or
Ctrl + K

Frame view, and fit clipping planes

Ctrl + F

Reset clipping planes

Right click > Clipping Planes > Default

Toggle Inspector

I

Prune selected objects from current EditScope

Ctrl + Delete
or
Ctrl + Backspace

Turn off visibility for selected objects from current EditScope

Ctrl + H

Transform tools

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, a Transform Tool must be active.

Action

Control or shortcut

Increase manipulator size

+

Decrease manipulator size

-

Add animation key to transform of selected object(s)

S

Adjust, fine precision

Hold Shift during action

Adjust, snapping to rounded increments

Hold Ctrl during action

Target mode (Translate and Rotate only)

Hold V then Left click on target geometry

Light Tool

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the Light Tool must be active

Action

Control or shortcut

Adjust, fine precision

Hold Shift during action

Constrain to aspect ratio (Quad lights only)

Hold Ctrl during action

Light Position Tool

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the Light Position Tool must be active.

Action

Control or shortcut

Set shadow target position

V + Left click

Set shadow pivot position

Shift + V + Left click

2D images

Action

Control or shortcut

Isolate red channel

R

Isolate green channel

G

Isolate blue channel

B

Isolate alpha channel

A

View luminance of RGB

L

Previous layer

PgUp

Next layer

PgDn

First layer (RGBA)

Ctrl + PgUp

Previous view

[

Next view

]

Center image at 1:1 scale

Home

Previous Catalogue image

Next Catalogue image

Duplicate current Catalogue image

Ctrl + D

Toggle image comparison

Q

Toggle wipes

W

Crop window tool

Action

Control or shortcut

Draw new region anywhere

Shift + click and drag

Hierarchy View

Action

Control or shortcut

Expand selected location

Fully expand selected location

Shift +

Collapse selected location

Fully collapse selected location

Shift +

Copy selected paths

Ctrl + C

Edit source node of selection

Alt + E

Edit tweaks node for selection

Alt + Shift + E

Frame selection

F

Python Editor

Text entry

Note

When using the following drag and drop controls and shortcuts, drop the UI element onto the input field of the Python Editor.

Action

Control or shortcut

Drop node into Python Editor

Middle click and drag node from Node Graph

Drop plug into Python Editor

Middle click and drag plug from Node Graph
or
Left click and drag plug label from Node Editor

Drop plug value into Python Editor

Shift + Left click and drag plug label from Node Editor

Drop color value into Python Editor

Left click and drag a pixel from Viewer

Drop scene location path(s) into Python Editor

Left click and drag selection from Viewer or Hierarchy View

Indent selection

Ctrl + ]

Unindent selection

Ctrl + [

Comment/uncomment selection

Ctrl + /

Select current line

Ctrl + L

Execution

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the input field of the Python Editor must be in focus.

Action

Control or shortcut

Execute and clear

Ctrl + Enter

Execute selection

Select code, then hit Ctrl + Enter

Animation Editor

Note

For the following controls and shortcuts, the cursor must hover over the Animation Editor.

Action

Control or shortcut

Pan

Alt + Left click and drag

Zoom

Alt + Right click and drag
or
Mouse wheel

Zoom x/y axes independently

Hold Ctrl during action

Pan/Zoom, fine precision

Hold Shift during action

Adjust frame range

Ctrl + Alt + Right click and drag left/right

Adjust key value range

Ctrl + Alt + Right click and drag up/down

Frame all curves (no selection)

F

Frame selected key(s)

F

Add key to a curve

Ctrl + Left click

Add key to all selected curves at current frame

I

Delete selected key(s)

Delete
or
Backspace

Adjust selected key(s)

Left click and drag

Adjust frame(s) of selected key(s)

Shift + Left click and drag left/right

Adjust value(s) of selected key(s)

Shift + Left click and drag up/down

Interactive Render Log

Action

Control or shortcut

Next message of level

E, W, I, D

Previous message of level

Shift + E, W, I, D

Search

Ctrl + F

Next match (search field focus)

Enter

Next match (log focus)

N

Previous match (log focus)

P

Scroll to bottom

B

Spreadsheet

Action

Control or shortcut

Toggle/edit selected cells

Return or Left click Left click

Toggle Enabled state of selected cells

D

Copy/Paste selected cells or rows

Ctrl + C/V

Move cell selection

, , ,

Extend cell selection

Shift + , , ,

Move keyboard focus

Ctrl + , , ,

Toggle selection state of cell with keyboard focus

Space

Light Editor

Action

Control or shortcut

Edit source node of selection

Alt + E

Edit tweaks node for selection

Alt + Shift + E

Move cell selection

, , ,

Extend cell selection

Shift + Left click
or
Shift + , , ,

Toggle cell selection

Ctrl + Left click
or
Ctrl + , , ,

Edit selected cells

Return
or
Enter

Disable Edit

D

Remove Attribute

Delete

Set Editor

Action

Control or shortcut

Copy names of selected sets

Ctrl + C

Copy members of selected sets

Ctrl + Shift + C

Render Pass Editor

Action

Control or shortcut

Move cell selection

, , ,

Extend cell selection

Shift + Left click
or
Shift + , , ,

Toggle cell selection

Ctrl + Left click
or
Ctrl + , , ,

Edit selected cells

Return
or
Enter

Disable edit

D

Toggle a render pass as active

Return or Left click Left click a cell within the Active render pass column