Set Driven Key (SDK) animation in Maya

Set Driven Key is on the Maya Animate menu.
 
Animation menu set (APS DR = Animation Polygons Surfaces Dynamics Rendering)
                             A         P        S        D        R
                             
Animate > Set Driven Key > Set...
 
What does Animate menu > SDK > Set... do? 
 
It brings up a panel that allows you to choose a DRIVER object and a DRIVEN object.

      Our driven object today in lab was a donut, a NURBS Torus object.  
          We left it with the default name nurbsTorus1.

      Our driver object was a Locator.  We left it with the default name locator1.

          Create menu > Locator
 

For both the Driver object and the Driven object, you next get to choose an Attribute.   

       We selected the TranslateY attribute for the locator1 object.

       We selected the ScaleY attribute for the nurbsTorus1 object.

                          

Here are screen snapshots of the Maya Set Driven Key dialogue box AND the four panel view showing the two actors in our drama to help you to understand the above.

The details and the UI (User Interface) for doing SDK in Maya are complicated and challenging, until you have done it 5 or 10 times. Then they will seem simple. PRACTICE.

Very important PREVIEW of FRIDAY class and how SDK approach will be used to animate a dog running through a swinging pet door.