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Working with grids and backgrounds

The Schematic View Preferences dialog box includes settings to Show Grid, Snap to Grid, and set Grid Spacing. The keyboard shortcut for toggling the grid on and off is G. Enabling the Snap to Grid option makes the nodes snap to the closest grid intersection. This helps keep the nodes aligned and looking neat.

The Background Image section of the Schematic View Preferences dialog box includes a File button that opens a file dialog box when clicked. Selecting an image file opens and displays the image as a background image. This is helpful as you arrange nodes. You need to select the Show Image option to see the background image; the Lock Zoom/Pan option locks the nodes to the background image so zooming in on a set of nodes also zooms in on the background image.

Tip

One of the easiest ways to get a background image of a model to use in the Schematic View is to render a single frame and save it from the Rendered Frame Window to a location where you can reopen it as the Schematic View background. If you want to print the hierarchy, you can do a screen capture of the Schematic View window, but it would be nice to have a print feature added to the window. •

Display preferences

In the Schematic View Preferences dialog box, you can select the style to use for relationship lines. The options include Bezier, Straight, Circuit, and None. When the Always Arrange, Arrange Children, or Arrange Selected options are used, you can select to have the nodes arranged Stacked, Horizontal, or Vertical. The Sync Selection options enable you to synch the selection between the Schematic View and the Viewports or between Everything. If the Everything option is selected, not only are geometry objects in the viewports selected, but if a material is selected in the Schematic View, the material is selected in the Material Editor also. Sync Selection Everything also affects the Modifier Stack, the Controller pane in the Display panel, and the Wiring Parameters dialog box.

The Schematic View Preferences dialog box also includes a Preferences section. These preference settings include Double Buffer, which enables a double-buffer display and helps improve the viewport update performance. The Zoom About Mouse preference enables zooming by using the scroll wheel on your mouse or by pressing the middle mouse button while holding down the Ctrl key. The Move Children option causes children nodes to move along with their parent. The Pan to Added Nodes preference automatically resizes and moves the nodes to enable you to view any additional nodes that have been added.

The Use Wireframe Color option changes the node colors to be the same as the viewport object color. The Display Layout Warning preference lets you disable the warning that appears every time you use the Always Arrange feature. The Only Update On Focus option causes the Schematic View to update only when the window is selected. Until then, any changes are not propagated to the window. This can be a timesaver when complex scenes require redraws.

The Show Tooltips option allows you to disable tooltips if you desire. Tooltips show in the Schematic View window when you hover the cursor over the top of a node. Tooltips can be handy if you've zoomed out so far that you can't read the node labels; just move the cursor over a node, and its label appears. The Snap Floater option allows the Display and List floaters to be snapped to the edge of the window for easy access, and the Relative Floaters option moves and resizes the floaters along with the Schematic View window.

Tutorial: Adding a background image to the Schematic View

You can position nodes anywhere within the Schematic View window. For example, you can position the nodes to look something like the shape of the model that you're linking. When positioning the different objects, having a background image is really handy.

To add a background image for the Schematic View, follow these steps:

1. Open the Futuristic man with background.max file