Houdini 21.0 Quick starts

Hotkey quick reference

Reference list of default Houdini shortcut keys.

On this page

General keys

⇥ Tab

Open the tab menu of available nodes.

View keys

Tip

Hold Space or Alt to enter view mode temporarily.

Space +

Tumble

Space + ,

Dolly

Space +

Track

Space + ⌃ Ctrl +

Tilt the camera

Space + ⌃ Ctrl +

Zoom the camera lens

⌃ Ctrl + Alt +

Box zoom

Space + Z

Center view tumbling on the point under the pointer.

Space + H

Show the default view.

Space + A

Zoom the view to show all objects.

Space + G

Zoom the view to show all selected objects/geometry.

When the pointer is over a viewport:

W

Switch shaded/wireframe

D

Show display options window

Space + B

Switch single/quad viewports

Space + O

Switch orthographic/perspective

Space + E

Switch view one/view all

Space + 1

Switch current viewport to Perspective

Space + 2

Top

Space + 3

Front

Space + 4

Side

Space + 5

UV editor

Tools

S

Select

Right click this icon for a menu of selection options.

T

Move

R

Rotate

E

Scale

Enter

Node-specific handles

⎋ Esc

View

Selection keys

F8

Toggle object/component selection

1

Select objects

2

Select points

3

Select edges

4

Select primitives (faces)

5

Select vertices

6

Select particles

7

Select dynamics

When selecting:

Select

⌃ Ctrl + ⇧ Shift +

Add to selection

⌃ Ctrl +

Remove from selection

⇧ Shift +

Toggle selection

N

Select all

⇧ Shift + N

Select nothing

Animation

K

Set keyframe

Alt + K

Toggle auto-keying

⌃ Ctrl + K

Key handle

⇧ Shift + T

Key translations

⇧ Shift + R

Key rotations

⇧ Shift + E

Key scale

Timeline

Play forward

Play backward

⌃ Ctrl +

First frame

Previous frame

Next frame

⌃ Ctrl +

Previous scoped keyframe

⌃ Ctrl +

Next scoped keyframe

Panes

Alt + 1

Scene view

Alt + 2

Network editor

Alt + 3

Parameters

Alt + 4

Tree view

Alt + 5

Textport

Alt + 6

Animation editor

Alt + 7

Material palette

Alt + 8

Details view

Alt + 9

Scene view

⌃ Ctrl + T

New tab

Alt + ⇧ Shift + C

“Tear off” tab into a new floating window.

⌃ Ctrl + PgUp

Previous tab

⌃ Ctrl + PgDn

Next tab

⌃ Ctrl + W

Close tab

Alt + /

Close all tabs

Editing the hotkeys

See how to edit the hotkeys.

Tip

⌃ Ctrl + Alt + ⇧ Shift + click an item in the user interface to open it in the hotkey editor.

Quick starts

Getting started

  • UI Intro

    A quick introduction to Houdini and its user interface.

  • Hotkeys

    Reference list of default Houdini shortcut keys.

Transition guides

  • Maya

    Basic differences between user interface concepts, terms, and hotkeys in Maya and Houdini.

  • SoftImage

    Basic differences between user interface concepts, terms, and hotkeys in SoftImage and Houdini.