8

494 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Working at Two Levels
When you select an object and apply modifiers
(for example, B end and Taper), you’re working
w ith the object as a sing le unit, or "whole object",
at the object level.
Whenyoumakeasub-objectselection,thestack
display changes to show you are no longer working
with the whole object. Consider the effect of a
Mesh Select applied between Bend and Taper
modifiers (B end is below Taper). To the right of
the Mesh Select and Taper modifiers, a sub-object
icon (similar to the sub-object button in the
Selec tion rollout) appears to show that sub-object
selection is now in effect.
The vertex sub-object selection made at the Mesh
Select level is passed up the st ack to the Taper
modifier. This means the Taper mo difier is applied
only to the vertices selected at the Mesh Select
level.
Sub-object icon (in this case, for Vertex) to the right of
modifier names in the stack display
Sub-object selection carries upward through the
stack. If you add more modifiers, each shows the
sub-object icon to indicate this state.
By learning to "read the stack," you can move back
and forth between the object and sub-object levels
while you work on an object.
Returning to Whole-Objec t Level
When you finish modeling a certain sub-object
selection, you can return to work on the whole
object.
To r eturn the stack to object level:
1.
At any point in the stack, apply another Mesh
Select modifier.
2. Leave this Mesh Select modifier at the top level
(the object level, wh ich highlights in gray).
Any modifiers already on the stack above this
modifier no longer show the sub-object icon.
Any m odifiers you add above the second Mesh
Select now apply to the whole object.
3. To continue sending the sub-object selection
upthestack,deletethesecondMeshSelect.
Nam i n g S u b -Ob je ct Sele ct i o n s
Sub-object selections are often quite complex,
involving a great many small elements that would
be difficult to select a second time. For this reason,
it’sagoodideatonameimportantselectionsets
using the
Named Selection Sets list (page 1–67) on
the Main toolbar.
Named sub-object select ions only appear at the
type of level where they were first named. For
example, if you select a set of vertices, you can
name the selection at that vertex sub-object level.
Then, when you later go to retrieve the named
selection, you c an access it only from the same
modifier’s vertex sub-object level.
Copyi ng Su b-Object S elections
Once you name a sub-object selection set, you
can copy it between mo difiers in the same stack,
or to the stack of another object of the same type.
Editable meshes and Mesh Select (and their spline
, patch, and poly counterparts) have buttons for
Copy and Paste at each level of geometry, in the
Modify panel > Selection rollout.
To copy/paste named sub-object selecti ons:
1.
Make a sub-object selection.