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Keyboard Shortcuts


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4.5/5 (2 votes)

Keyboard shortcuts can really streamline the user experience, by mapping specific functions to simple keyboard key presses. Any command in modo can have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it. These keyboard shortcuts can also be reassigned, customizing modo to a users specific needs. By also allowing the 'Ctrl', 'Shift' and 'Alt' key qualifiers (including combinations thereof), you have a wide array of keys to choose from.
To assign a keyboard shortcut to a command, fire the command from the interface, then expand the Command History viewport, located in the lower right hand corner of the interface. Locate the command in the list (usually visible at the bottom of the history), then RMB+click and choose 'Map Command to Key'. You can also assign keyboard equivalents using the Key Editor found on the System menu on the menu bar. This is useful if you want to create Keyboard shortcuts for scripts or tools that don't actually appear in the default interface.

Default Keyboard Mappings include:

General/System


F1
Ctrl+N
Ctrl+O
Ctrl+I
Ctrl+W
Ctrl+Shift+W
Ctrl+S
Ctrl+Shift+S
Ctrl+Q
Alt+F12
Shift+F5
Ctrl+Z
Ctrl+Shift+Z
Ctrl+X
Ctrl+C
Ctrl+V
Delete
Ctrl+R
Alt+R

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Help (Click on interface element to open related help file)
New Scene
Open Saved Scene
Open Saved Image
Close Current Scene
Close All Open Scenes
Save Current Scene
Save Scene As...
Quit modo
Config File Save
Run Script
Undo
Redo
Cut
Copy
Paste
Delete
Fire Previous Command Again
Fire Previous Command (Ignore UI interactions and selections)

Viewports


Navigation

Alt+LMB
Alt+MMB
Alt+RMB.
Shift+Alt+LMB
Shift+Alt+RMB
Ctrl+Alt+LMB
Ctrl+Alt+RMB
. (period)
Shift+.
, (comma)
Shift+,
G
/
Shift+/
Mouse Wheel Spin
A
Shift+A
Ctrl+A
Ctrl+Shift+A

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Rotate view
Rotate viewport Z axis (bank) view
'Flick' Rotate
Pan View
Up/Down Pan only
Zoom to mouse position
Box Zoom (drag box to zoom)
Zoom In
Zoom In X2
Zoom Out
ZOom Out X2
Center view (Current mouse position to viewport center)
Turntable (Spinning view of scene)
Upright Turntable
Zoom View in & out to mouse pointer
Fit (Zoom to scene extents/all Items)
Fit Selected (Zooms to selected elements)
Align Selected (Aligns view to current selection)
Fit and Align Selected (Zooms and aligns view to current selection)

3D Viewport Options
Enter Values on numeric Keypad, hover mouse over target Viewport to select.

O
0 (zero)
. (decimal)
1
Shift+1
2
Shift+2
3
Shift+3
4
5
7
8
9
/
Shift+/
Ctrl+/
= (equals)

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Open Viewport Options Popover
Maximize/Minimize Viewport within Group
Perspective
Top
Bottom
Front
Back
Right
Left
Shaded
Texture
Wireframe
Solid
Vertex Map
Wireframe None
Wireframe Light
Wireframe Dark
Toggle Viewport Smoothing

Tabbed Viewport

Ctrl+Shift+Home
Ctrl+Shift+End
Ctrl+Shift+Page Up
Ctrl+Shift+Page Down

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Open First Tab
Open Last Tab
Open Next Tab
Open Last Tab

Item List

F
Shift+LMB on arrow
' (apostrophe)
Ctrl+D
Shift+D
N
L

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Locate Selected Item (layer)
Expand/Close All (also in Shader Tree)
Swap Foreground/Background layers
Duplicate Selected Layer(s) (only in Items mode)
Instance Selected Layer(s) (only in Items mode)
New Mesh Item
New Locator Item

Channel List

I
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C

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Select Modifier Input
Select Modifier Output
Channel Haul On (only in 'Items' mode)

Floating Windows

F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F11
` (accent/tilde key)

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Modeling Toolbox
Sculpt/Paint Toolbox
Animate Toolbox
Command History Viewport
Presets Viewport
Graph Editor
Render Preview
Snapping Popover
Toggle Window Visibility

Pie Menus
Pie menus are quick contextual popup menus that appear using keystroke combinations. Menu items are laid out in a wheel so you can access them "gesturally" for speedier workflow. To open press the keyboard shortcut, then LMB+click in the 3D viewport to open. If you want the pie menu to appear immediately, go to "System > Preferences > Input Remapping" and enable 'Open Pies Immediately'.

Ctrl+`
Ctrl+1
Ctrl+2
Ctrl+Spacebar
Ctrl+3
Ctrl+Tab
Alt+Q
Alt+`
Shift+`
B

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GL Viewport Modify
GL Viewport Toggle
GL Viewport Style
GL Viewport Type
Open Popover
Modeling Tools
Selection Mode/Transform Tools
Open Palette
Properties & Options
Brushes Pie Menu (only when a Brush tool is active)

Modeling


General Modeling

Q
K
Esc
Spacebar
Shift+Spacebar
= (Equals Key)
- (Minus Key)
Ctrl+D
Shift+0 through 9
Alt+Spacebar
M
Tab
Shift+Tab
Num Pad +/-


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Drops Active Tool
Tool Properties Popover
Escape current operation/Drop Active Selection
Cycle-through Component Modes
Toggle Component Mode to Item Mode (or Last Other Mode)
Tool Handles Larger
Tool Handle Smaller
Reset Tool Attributes
Select Layer 1-10
Quick Access Popover
Assign Material Tag
Toggle Subdivision Surfaces
Toggle Catmull-Clark Subdivision Surfaces
Increase/Decrease Subdivision Level

Action Center/Axis

Alt+W
Alt+E
Alt+A
Alt+S
Alt+D
Alt+F
Alt+Z
Alt+X

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Origin
Pivot
Auto
Selection
Selection Center, Auto Axis
Screen
Element
Local

Selection

Alt+Shift+A
Up Arrow
Shift+Up Arrow
Down Arrow
Shift+Down Arrow
Left Arrow
Shift+Left Arrow
Right Arrow
Shift+Right Arrow
L
Alt+L
]
[
Ctrl+]
Shift+G
Alt+1
Alt+2
Alt+3
; (semi-colon)

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Select All
More (Select Next Plausible Element in Loop)
Select Expand
Less (Unselect Last Element)
Shrink
Select Previous Loop
Select Previous Loop Add
Select Next Loop
Select Next Loop Add
Select Loop
Select Ring
Connected
Invert Selection
Select Closed Loop
Select Between
Convert Selection to Vertices
Convert Selection to Edges
Convert Selection to Polygons
Select Through Toggle

Hide/Lock Geometry

H
Shift+H
Ctrl+H
U
J
Shift+J
Ctrl+J
I

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Hide Selected
Hide Unselected
Hide Invert (Toggle state)
Unhide
Lock Selected
Lock Unselected
Lock Invert (Toggle state)
Unlock

Work Plane

Home
Shift+Home
Ctrl+Home
End
Shift+End
Page Up
Page Down
(num pad) *

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Align to Geometry under Mouse Pointer
Align to Selection (average of all selected)
Align to Viewport
Reset Work Plane
Open Work Plane Popover
Walk +
Walk -
Toggle Visibility

Snapping

X
F11
Ctrl+Shift+T

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Toggle Snap State (hold with tool active for temporary snap)
Open Snapping Popover
Element Snap

Tools

Transform
W
E
Alt+Shift+E
R
Shift+R
Y
Deform
Ctrl+E
T
Ctrl+T
Shift+Y
Shift+S
Duplicate
Shift+X
Shift+L
Shift+Q
Z
Shift+V
Mesh Edit
Backspace
Ctrl+Backspace
B
Alt+B
Ctrl+B
C
Shift+C
Alt+C
D
Shift+D
F
Ctrl+L
Shift+T
V
Alt+V
Curves
Shift+O
Ctrl+P
Vertex Tools
Shift+W
Shift+M


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Move
Rotate
Planar Rotate
Scale
Uniform Scale
Transform

Bend
Element Move (aka Tweak)
Soft Drag
Flex Tool
Smooth Tool

Extrude
Radial Sweep
Grow Quad Row from Edge
Extend Edge
Mirror Tool

Remove
Collapse
Bevel
Sketch Extrude
Create Polygon of Given Type from Vertex Selection
Edge Slice
Polygon Slice
Loop Slice
Subdivide Selected Geometry
Open Subdivide Options
Flip Polygon Normal
Split Face by Selected Vertices
Triple Polygons (convert to Triangles)
Spin Edge
Spin Quads

Make Open Curve
Make Closed Curve

Weight Tool
Morph Tool

Paint & Sculpt


B
O
S
E/R
D/F
Shift+Z
Multi-Res Sculpting
(num pad) +
(num pad) -
Ctrl+(num pad) +
Ctrl+(num pad) -

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Open Brush Tips Pie Menu (only when tool is active)
Open Large Color Picker Popover (hover over UI color picker)
Swap Foreground/Background Colors
Image Ink Rotate Left/Right
Image Ink Scale Up/Down
Adjust Offset amount (sticky key, only while Brush tool is active)

Subdivision Level Up
Subdivision Level Down
Current Level Up
Current Level Down

Camera


Shift+Alt+LMB Drag
Shift+Alt+RMB Drag
Alt+LMB Drag
Alt+RMB Drag
Ctrl+MMB Drag
Ctrl+Alt+LMB Drag
Ctrl+Alt+RMB Drag
Roll Mouse Wheel

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Move camera item
Move Up/Down direction only
Rotate around Target Distance
Rotate around Camera center
Rotate around 'Z' axis
Move Forward/Backward only
Adjust Focal Length
Move Forward/Backward only

Animation


Selection

Shift+Z
Z

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Select All Animated Items
Select All Animated Channels

Hierarchy

Ctrl+G
P
Ctrl+P
Shift+P
Ctrl+Shift+P

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Group Selected Items (under Group Locator)
Parent in Place
Parent
Unparent in Place
Unparent

Timeline
Users must be in 'Items' selection mode for these to work.

Shift+Up Arrow
Ctrl+Up Arrow
Ctrl+Left Arrow
Shift+Left Arrow
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Shift+Right Arrow
Ctrl+Right Arrow
Ctrl+Down Arrow

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Go to First Frame
Go to First Keyframe
Go to Previous Keyframe
Go back One Frame
Start/Stop Animation Playback
Go forward One Frame
Go to Next Keyframe
Go to Last Frame

Setting Keyframes

Shift-Y
Shift-E
Shift-W
Shift-R
S
Shift-S

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Key Transforms
Key Rotations
Key Positions
Key Scale
Key Selected Channels
Key Selected Items

Graph Editor

A
Ctrl+F
Shift+F
Alt+LMB
Ctrl+Alt+LMB
Alt+RMB
Ctrl+Alt+RMB
Ctrl+Shift+V
Ctrl+Alt+V

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Fit Selected
Fit Visible
Fit Visible Width
Pan View
Scale View
Scale Graph Size
Box Zoom (drag box to zoom)
Paste Insert Keyframes to Selected Channel
Paste Replace Keyframes to Selected Channels

Render


F9
Ctrl+F9
Shift+F9
F10

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Render
Render Visible
Render Selected
Render Current View

 

comment balloon Comments (8) RSS Icon

MkIII December 30, 2010 at 4:29 AM

Select Closed Loop is set to SHIFT+] not CTRL+]

Sven Kalkschmidt February 16, 2011 at 8:27 AM

"You can also assign keyboard equivalents using the Key Editor"

That item does not exist.

MutantPixel February 17, 2011 at 1:29 PM

That is a typo and should read "...using the Input Editor".

Dave M June 24, 2011 at 11:07 AM

I did an in-line help search on "repeat command" and couldn't find the Ctrl r thingy, which should have come up as the first item.

Thomas Fenger January 13, 2012 at 6:13 AM

It is referred to as "Fire Last Command".

3dworks August 17, 2011 at 8:55 AM

can someone please care of mac users? what about functions mapped to the "home" key for example? on a mac keyboard there is not such a key.
thanks markus/3dworks

mboszko September 12, 2011 at 3:27 PM

3dworks: I would guess there's some expectation that a pro user will have a full "extended" keyboard with numerical keypad. Mine certainly does have a Home key.

Little tricky to use on a laptop of wireless keyboard with fewer keys, but that just means a little more mousing.

CharlieLapp October 10, 2011 at 11:16 PM

Here's a link to a printable quick reference sheet for the keyboard shortcuts:

http://web.me.com/jbartley/Modo501Shortcuts.pdf

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