3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [80]
Now that you know how to create objects, you can focus on selecting them after they're created, which is what the next chapter covers. You can select objects in numerous ways. Layers and setting object properties are also discussed.
Chapter 6: Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties
IN THIS CHAPTER
Selecting objects using toolbars and menus
Using named selection sets
Setting object properties
Hiding and freezing objects
Working with layers
Exploring the Scene Explorer
Now that you've learned how to create objects and had some practice, you've probably created more than you really need. To eliminate, move, or change the look of any objects, you first have to know how to select the object. Doing so can be tricky if the viewports are all full of objects lying on top of one another. Luckily, Max offers several selection features that make looking for a needle in a haystack easier.
Max offers many different ways to select objects. You can select by name, color, type, and even material. You also can use selection filters to make only certain types of objects selectable. And after you've found all the objects you need, you can make a selection set, which will allow you to quickly select a set of objects by name. Now where is that needle?
All objects have properties that define their physical characteristics, such as shape, radius, and smoothness, but objects also have properties that control where they are located in the scene, how they are displayed and rendered, and what their parent object is. These properties have a major impact on how you work with objects; understanding them can make objects in a scene easier to work with.
Selecting Objects
Max includes several methods for selecting objects—the easiest being simply clicking the object or dragging over it in one of the viewports. Selected objects turn white and are enclosed in brackets called selection brackets.
In addition to turning white and displaying selection brackets, several options allow you to mark selected objects. You can find these options in the Viewport Configuration dialog box (which you access with the Views⇒Viewport Configuration menu command); they include selection brackets (keyboard shortcut, J) and edged faces (F4). Either or both of these options can be enabled, as shown in Figure 6.1. Another way to detect the selected object is that the object's axes appear at the object's pivot point. The Views⇒Shade Selected command turns on shading for the selected object in all viewports.
Caution
The Viewport Configuration dialog box also includes an option to Shade Selected Faces (F2), but this option shades only selected subobject faces. •
FIGURE 6.1
Selected objects can be highlighted with selection brackets (left), edged faces (middle), or both (right).
With many objects in a scene, clicking directly on a single object, free from the others, can be difficult, but persistence can pay off. If you continue to click an object that is already selected, then the object directly behind the object you clicked is selected. For example, if you have a row of spheres lined up, you can select the third sphere by clicking three times on the first object.
Tip
In complicated scenes, finding an object is often much easier if it has a relevant name. Be sure to name your new objects using the Name and Color rollout. If a single object is selected, its name appears in the Name and Color rollout. •
Selection filters
Before examining the selection commands in the Edit menu, I need to tell you about Selection Filters. With a complex scene that includes geometry, lights, cameras, shapes, and so on, selecting the exact object that you want can be difficult. Selection filters can simplify this task.
A selection filter specifies which types of objects can be selected. The Selection Filter drop-down list is located on the main toolbar to the left of the Select Object button. Selecting Shapes, for example, makes only shape objects available for selection. Clicking a geometry object with the Shape Selection Filter enabled does