3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [82]
Select by Color
Choosing Edit⇒Select by⇒Color lets you click a single object in any of the viewports. All objects with the same color as the one you selected are selected. Even if you already have an object of that color selected, you still must select an object of the desired color. Be aware that this is the object color, not the applied material color. This command, of course, does not work on any objects without an associated color, such as Space Warps.
Select by Region
The Edit⇒Selection Region command lets you select from one of two different methods for selecting objects in the viewport using the mouse. First, make sure that you're in select mode, and then click away from any of the objects and drag over the objects to select. The first method for selecting objects is Window Selection. This method selects all objects that are contained completely within the dragged outline. The Crossing Selection method selects any objects that are inside or overlapping the dragged outline. You also can access these two selection methods via the Window Selection buttons on the main toolbar—Window and Crossing, shown in Table 6.2.
Tip
If you can't decide whether to use the Crossing or Window selection method, you can select to use both. The General panel of the Preference Settings dialog box provides an option to enable Auto Window/Crossing by Direction. When this option is enabled, you can select a direction, and the Crossing selection method is used for all selections that move from that direction. The Window selection method is used for all selections that move from the opposite direction. For example, if you select Left to Right for the Crossing selection method, then moving from Left to Right uses the Crossing selection method, and selecting from Right to Left uses the Window selection method. •
You also can change the shape of the selection outline. The Selection Region button on the main toolbar to the left of the Selection Filter drop-down list includes flyout buttons for Rectangular, Circular, Fence, Lasso, and Paint Selection Regions, shown in Table 6.3.
The Rectangular selection method lets you select objects by dragging a rectangular section (from corner to corner) over a viewport. The Circular selection method selects objects within a circle that grows from the center outward. The Fence method lets you draw a polygon-shaped selection area by clicking at each corner. Simply double-click to finish the fenced selection. The Lasso method lets you draw by freehand the selection area. The Paint method lets you choose objects by painting an area. All objects covered by the paint brush area are selected.
Pressing the Q keyboard shortcut selects the Select Object mode in the main toolbar, but repeated pressing of the Q keyboard shortcut cycles through the selection methods. Figure 6.4 shows each of the selection methods.
FIGURE 6.4
The drill's front is selected using the Rectangular, Circular, Fence, and Lasso selection methods.
Selecting multiple objects
As you work with objects in Max, you'll sometimes want to apply a modification or transform to several objects at once. You can select multiple objects in several ways. Using the Edit⇒Select by⇒Name command, the Select by Name main toolbar button, or by pressing the H key, you can open the Select From Scene dialog box. With the Select From Scene dialog box open, you can choose several objects from the list using the standard Ctrl and Shift keys. Holding down the Ctrl key selects or deselects multiple list items, but holding down the Shift key selects all consecutive list items between the first selected and the second selected items.
The Ctrl key also works when selecting objects in the viewport using one of the main toolbar Select buttons. You can tell whether you're in select mode by looking for a button that's highlighted