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Part III: Modeling Basics

FIGURE 10.4
The Soft Selection rollout is available only in subobject mode.

Soft Selection curve

The Use Soft Selection parameter enables or disables the Soft Selection feature. The Edge Distance option
sets the range (the number of edges from the current selection) that the Soft Selection will affect. If disabled,
the distance is determined by the Falloff amount. The Affect Backfacing option applies the Soft Selection to
selected subobjects on the backside of an object. For example, if you are selecting vertices on the front of a
sphere object and the Affect Backfacing option is enabled, then vertices on the opposite side of the sphere
are also selected.
The Soft Selection curve shows a graphical representation of how the Soft Selection is applied. The Falloff
value defines the spherical region where the Soft Selection has an effect. The Pinch button sharpens the
point at the top of the curve. The Bubble button has an opposite effect and widens the curve. Figure 10.5
shows several sample values and the resulting curve.
The Customize User Interface dialog box recognizes a mode to Edit Soft Selection if you select one of the
modeling types in the Group drop-down list, which you can assign to a keyboard shortcut. You can toggle
this mode on and off for the Edit Mesh modifier using the keyboard shortcut 7, but for Edit Poly, you’ll
need to set it yourself.

Cross-Ref
The Customize User Interface and assigning keyboard shortcuts are covered in Chapter 4, “Customizing the Max
Interface and Setting Preferences.” n
Once the Edit Soft Selection mode is enabled, the cursor changes to a custom cursor. When this cursor
appears, you can drag to change the Soft Selection’s falloff value. If you click, the cursor changes and lets
you drag to change the Pinch value. One more click and you can edit the Bubble value and another click
returns you to the falloff edit mode. Pressing the keyboard shortcut again exits Edit Soft Selection mode.
For Editable Poly objects, the bottom of the Soft Selection rollout includes a Paint Soft Selection section.
You can use these controls to paint the soft selection weights that subobjects receive.
Cross-Ref
For more information on the paint interface and these controls, see Chapter 26, “Deforming Surfaces and Using
the Mesh Modifiers.” n

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