8
74 Chapter 3: Selecting Objects
Exit Isolation Mode—Click to end isolation, close
thedialog,andunhidetherestofthescene.
The views are restored to what they showed before
you chose Isolate Selection.
Int roduction to S ub-Object
Selection
This is a general introduction to sub-object
selection. For specific information, see
Editable
Mesh (page 1–984)
,
Editable Patch (p age 1–950)
,
Editable Poly (page 1–1012)
,and
Editable Spline
(page 1–284)
.
When you model an object, often you edit a
portion of its underlying geometry, such as
a set of its faces or vert ices. Or when you are
working with a model, you may want to apply
mapping coordinates to a portion of its underlying
geometry. Use the methods described in this topic
to make sub-object selections.
Left: A selection of face sub-objects
Middle: A selection of edge sub-objects
Right: A s election of ver tex sub-objects
You can access sub-object geometry through a
variety of methods. The most common technique
is to convert an object into "editable" geometry
such as a mesh, spline, patch, NURBS, or poly
object. These object types let you select and edit
geometry at the sub-object level.
If you have a primitive object and want to retain
control of its creation parameters, you can apply
amodifiersuchas
Edit Mesh (page 1–613)
,
Edit
Spline (page 1–671)
,
Edit Patch (page 1–617)
,or
Mesh Select (page 1–710)
.
Spline Lines and NURBS curves and surfaces are
the exception: you can edit their sub-objects as
soon as you create these kinds of objects.
You choose a sub-object level in the stack
display. Click t he plus sign that appears next to
thenameofanobjectthathassub-objects. This
expands the hierarchy, showing the available
sub-object levels. Click a level to choose it. The
name of the sub-object level highlights in yellow,
and the icon for that sub-object level appears to
therightofbothitsnameandthenameofthe
top-level object.
Stack display shows the sub-object hierarchy, letting you
choose a sub-object level.
Editing at the Sub-Object Level
When you edit an object at the sub-object level,
you can select only components at that level, such