Page 709 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 25: Working with the Schematic View
Rearranging nodes
The Schematic View includes several options for arranging nodes. In the Options menu, you can toggle
between Hierarchy and Reference modes. Hierarchy mode displays the nodes vertically with child objects
indented under their parent. Reference mode displays the nodes horizontally, allowing for plenty of room to
display all the various reference nodes under each parent node. Figure 25.2 shows these modes side by side.
FIGURE 25.2
The Schematic View window can automatically arrange nodes in two different modes: Hierarchy and Reference.

You can move nodes and rearrange them in any order. To move a node, simply click and drag it to a new
location. When a node is dragged, all selected nodes move together, and any links follow the node move-
ment. If a child node is moved, all remaining child nodes collapse together to maintain the specified
arrangement mode. The moved node then becomes free, which is designated by an open rectangle on the
left edge of the node. Figure 25.3 shows two nodes that were moved and thereby became free. The other
children automatically moved closer together to close the gaps made by the moving nodes.
Using the Layout ➪ Free Selected (Alt+S) and Free All (Alt+F) menu commands, you can free the selected
nodes or all nodes. You can also designate that all the children of a node be auto arranged with the
Layout ➪ Arrange Children menu command or that just the selected nodes be arranged (Layout ➪ Arrange
Selected). The Options ➪ Move Children (Alt+C) command causes all children to be moved along with their
parent when the parent is moved. This causes free and non-free nodes to move with their parent.
If the Options ➪ Always Arrange option is enabled, then Max automatically arranges all the nodes using
either the Hierarchy or Reference mode, but you cannot move any of the nodes while this option is enabled.
If you’ve moved any nodes when the Always Arrange option is selected, a dialog box appears telling you
that your custom layout will be lost. If the Always Arrange option is enabled, the Arrange Children, Free All
(Alt+F), Free Selected (Alt+S), Move Children (Alt+C), and all the Align options are all disabled. If two or
more nodes are selected, you can align them using the Layout ➪ Align menu. The options include Left,
Right, Top, Bottom, Center Horizontal, and Center Vertical.

Hiding, shrinking, and deleting nodes
If your Schematic View window starts to get cluttered, you can always hide nodes to simplify the view. To
hide a node, select the nodes to hide and use the Display ➪ Hide Selected menu command. The
Display ➪ Unhide All menu command can be used to make the hidden nodes visible again.

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