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CHAPTER

Selecting Objects and

Setting Object

Properties

ow that you’ve learned how to create objects and had some practice,
you’ve probably created more than you really need. To eliminate, move, IN THIS CHAPTER
Nor 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 Selecting objects using
top of one another. Luckily, Max offers several selection features that make look- toolbars and menus
ing for a needle in a haystack easier. Using named selection sets
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 Setting object properties
types of objects selectable. And after you’ve found all the objects you need, you Hiding and freezing objects
can make a selection set, which will allow you to quickly select a set of objects by
name. Now where is that needle? Working with layers
All objects have properties that define their physical characteristics, such as shape, Exploring the Scene Explorer
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 par-
ent 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 short-
cut, 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.

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