Select elements in subdivision models

00:02

As the design develops, you'll end up with more CVs

00:06

and in wireframe, the ones in the distance and the foreground are all visible.

00:11

And so if I do a box-select,

00:14

I kind of expect to select these ones at the front and these ones behind.

00:20

But that becomes more of an issue when I'm using box mode

00:23

because I don't see the CVs behind the shading.

00:27

So it looks like I've done a controlled selection.

00:30

But in fact, I've accidentally selected these ones behind.

00:36

It's not so much of a problem in surface shading

00:39

because I can see the obscured CVs

00:42

and that's due to this Xray setting that gives them a partial visibility,

00:47

so you can see them,

00:49

but you're still at risk of selecting them.

00:53

And that's why we have this icon up here for Camera-based Selection.

00:58

And when that's on, a drag-select won't select the ones behind.

01:03

The shading occludes the selection.

01:06

And that works for box mode shading too.

01:09

And this icon is a shortcut for the Preferences > Selection Options here

01:14

and it defaults to just Shaded occlusion,

01:17

but I can choose to use both Shaded and Wireframe.

01:23

So then without shading,

01:25

I still have the occlusion effect for the selection

01:28

even in the wireframe.

01:30

And I can always toggle that off and switch back to being able to pick through.

01:36

And it's worth keeping an eye on that setting so

01:38

that you always get the behavior that you're expecting.

01:44

Another way of managing lots of geometry is selection sets.

01:48

So let's say I want to select this hood

01:50

and I can use the Grow tool here to get the faces that I want.

01:55

Then if I want to pick that often,

01:57

I can come up to the Edit menu and create a selection set from it.

02:01

And there's a couple of options, but I'll just take the default setting and say go

02:07

and then here on the Windows menu, I've got the Selection Set Lister

02:11

and I can rename the set here if I want to.

02:15

And if I do a Pick Nothing, then on the palette, I've got a Pick Selection Set tool

02:19

that'll pick the whole set with just one click

02:23

and a set can be surfaces, curves, faces, CVs or a mixture.

02:29

So here I can pick this line of CVs

02:32

and create another selection set

02:35

and I can rename it here.

02:39

And when I use Pick Selection Set,

02:41

I need to click on a member of that set,

02:43

so a CV, in this case.

02:46

I can't just pick on the edge of the hull to select it.

02:50

Alternatively, I can pick it using the entries in the Set Lister.

02:56

So if you're going to use selection sets,

02:58

it's probably worth adding the pick tool to your marking menu.

03:03

And another tool that some users also add is Pick Hull

03:07

because picking SubD elements and CVs can be a bit confusing.

03:12

So here if I use Pick Edge, it actually does two things.

03:15

It selects the edge which I use for SubD tools like Bevel or Crease.

03:21

But also when I do a transform CV, it selected the two CVs associated with that edge

03:29

and Pick Face has the same two selections,

03:32

the face object for tools like Extrude or Extract,

03:36

but also the four CVs on the corners for Transform

03:42

and the same for edge loop,

03:44

I've got edges

03:46

but I only see selected CVs when I activate the Transform CV tool.

03:51

So if I want to pick those CVs first, I can use Pick Hull instead

03:56

and it selects the same range

03:58

but only the CVs not the edges.

04:01

And for some tools like Align up here,

04:04

that's what's required.

04:08

And then just a final tip is to explore

04:10

these different settings for the three mouse buttons,

04:14

they're fully customizable. But there are four options for only three buttons.

04:19

And the one not in the default settings is Pick,

04:22

so I'll show you that. And I'm going to put that onto my middle mouse button

04:26

and then put add back on to the left because it's so useful.

04:30

And that just means I no longer have the toggle option.

04:34

So then if I pick some faces

04:37

and then I want to pick over here instead,

04:39

previously, I'd have to do a Pick Nothing first,

04:43

but with the middle mouse button, I can just pick this one instead

04:47

and then use the left button to add

04:49

and add again

04:51

and I can use the right button to unpick.

04:55

So that pick option just means I don't have to use

04:58

Pick Nothing to go and pick a completely different item.

05:02

So there's no right or wrong for these.

05:04

It's just up to you to explore the settings and see if they suit you better

05:08

or to just keep the default settings if you're used to those.

Video transcript

00:02

As the design develops, you'll end up with more CVs

00:06

and in wireframe, the ones in the distance and the foreground are all visible.

00:11

And so if I do a box-select,

00:14

I kind of expect to select these ones at the front and these ones behind.

00:20

But that becomes more of an issue when I'm using box mode

00:23

because I don't see the CVs behind the shading.

00:27

So it looks like I've done a controlled selection.

00:30

But in fact, I've accidentally selected these ones behind.

00:36

It's not so much of a problem in surface shading

00:39

because I can see the obscured CVs

00:42

and that's due to this Xray setting that gives them a partial visibility,

00:47

so you can see them,

00:49

but you're still at risk of selecting them.

00:53

And that's why we have this icon up here for Camera-based Selection.

00:58

And when that's on, a drag-select won't select the ones behind.

01:03

The shading occludes the selection.

01:06

And that works for box mode shading too.

01:09

And this icon is a shortcut for the Preferences > Selection Options here

01:14

and it defaults to just Shaded occlusion,

01:17

but I can choose to use both Shaded and Wireframe.

01:23

So then without shading,

01:25

I still have the occlusion effect for the selection

01:28

even in the wireframe.

01:30

And I can always toggle that off and switch back to being able to pick through.

01:36

And it's worth keeping an eye on that setting so

01:38

that you always get the behavior that you're expecting.

01:44

Another way of managing lots of geometry is selection sets.

01:48

So let's say I want to select this hood

01:50

and I can use the Grow tool here to get the faces that I want.

01:55

Then if I want to pick that often,

01:57

I can come up to the Edit menu and create a selection set from it.

02:01

And there's a couple of options, but I'll just take the default setting and say go

02:07

and then here on the Windows menu, I've got the Selection Set Lister

02:11

and I can rename the set here if I want to.

02:15

And if I do a Pick Nothing, then on the palette, I've got a Pick Selection Set tool

02:19

that'll pick the whole set with just one click

02:23

and a set can be surfaces, curves, faces, CVs or a mixture.

02:29

So here I can pick this line of CVs

02:32

and create another selection set

02:35

and I can rename it here.

02:39

And when I use Pick Selection Set,

02:41

I need to click on a member of that set,

02:43

so a CV, in this case.

02:46

I can't just pick on the edge of the hull to select it.

02:50

Alternatively, I can pick it using the entries in the Set Lister.

02:56

So if you're going to use selection sets,

02:58

it's probably worth adding the pick tool to your marking menu.

03:03

And another tool that some users also add is Pick Hull

03:07

because picking SubD elements and CVs can be a bit confusing.

03:12

So here if I use Pick Edge, it actually does two things.

03:15

It selects the edge which I use for SubD tools like Bevel or Crease.

03:21

But also when I do a transform CV, it selected the two CVs associated with that edge

03:29

and Pick Face has the same two selections,

03:32

the face object for tools like Extrude or Extract,

03:36

but also the four CVs on the corners for Transform

03:42

and the same for edge loop,

03:44

I've got edges

03:46

but I only see selected CVs when I activate the Transform CV tool.

03:51

So if I want to pick those CVs first, I can use Pick Hull instead

03:56

and it selects the same range

03:58

but only the CVs not the edges.

04:01

And for some tools like Align up here,

04:04

that's what's required.

04:08

And then just a final tip is to explore

04:10

these different settings for the three mouse buttons,

04:14

they're fully customizable. But there are four options for only three buttons.

04:19

And the one not in the default settings is Pick,

04:22

so I'll show you that. And I'm going to put that onto my middle mouse button

04:26

and then put add back on to the left because it's so useful.

04:30

And that just means I no longer have the toggle option.

04:34

So then if I pick some faces

04:37

and then I want to pick over here instead,

04:39

previously, I'd have to do a Pick Nothing first,

04:43

but with the middle mouse button, I can just pick this one instead

04:47

and then use the left button to add

04:49

and add again

04:51

and I can use the right button to unpick.

04:55

So that pick option just means I don't have to use

04:58

Pick Nothing to go and pick a completely different item.

05:02

So there's no right or wrong for these.

05:04

It's just up to you to explore the settings and see if they suit you better

05:08

or to just keep the default settings if you're used to those.

Video quiz

Required for course completion

Which of the following selection tools can you use to pick a row of CVs without activating the Transform CV tool?

(Select one)
Select an answer

1/1 questions left unanswered

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