Page 218 - Kitab3DsMax

Part II: Working with Objects

Cross-Ref
See Chapter 7, “Transforming Objects, Pivoting, Aligning, and Snapping,” for more details on the Select and
Transform buttons. n

Selecting with the Edit menu
The Edit menu includes several convenient selection commands. The Edit ➪ Select All (Ctrl+A) menu com-
mand does just what you would think it does: It selects all unfrozen and unhidden objects in the current
scene of the type defined by the selection filter. The Edit ➪ Select None (Ctrl+D) menu command deselects
all objects. You also can simulate this command by clicking in any viewport away from all objects. The
Edit ➪ Select Invert (Ctrl+I) menu command selects all objects defined by the selection filter that are cur-
rently not selected and deselects all currently selected objects.
The Edit ➪ Select Similar (Ctrl+Q) command selects all objects that are similar to the current selection. If
multiple objects are selected, the Select Similar command selects the objects that meet the criteria for being
similar to each of the selected objects. Objects are similar if they meet one of the following criteria:
l Same object type such as lights, helpers, or Space Warps
l Same primitive object such as Sphere, Box, or Hedra
l Same modeling type such as Editable Spline, Editable Poly, or Editable Patch
l Imported objects from an AutoCAD DWG file that have the same style applied
l Same applied material
l Objects existing on the same layer
Figure 6.3 shows a treasure chest of Hedra gems created in Chapter 5. With a single object selected, choos-
ing Edit ➪ Select Similar (Ctrl+Q) causes all Hedra primitive objects to be selected.

Select by Name
Choosing Edit ➪ Select by ➪ Name opens the Select From Scene dialog box, which is a version of the Scene
Explorer dialog box, except that you can’t change any parameters. Clicking the Select by Name button on
the main toolbar, positioned to the right of the Select Object button, or pressing the keyboard shortcut, H,
also opens this dialog box.

Cross-Ref
The Scene Explorer dialog box is covered in detail later in this chapter. n
You select objects by clicking their names in the list and then clicking OK, or by simply double-clicking a
single item. To pick and choose several objects, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting. Holding down the
Shift key selects a range of objects.
Select by Layer
The Layer Manager lets you separate all scene objects into layers for easy selection. The Edit ➪ Select by ➪
Layer command opens a simple dialog box listing the defined layers and lets you select a layer. All objects
in the selected layer are then selected. The Layer Manager is covered in detail later in this chapter.

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