8

Volume Selec t Modifier 939
rotate, or move the gizmo anywhere around the
object.
Volu me: M esh O bject—Choose this option to use
another object to define the selection space. After
choosing Mesh Object, click the button below it
(labeled "None" by default), and then selec t an
object to use as the volume.
Besides mesh objects, you can use patch objects
and NURBS objects. In addition, if you turn on
Soft Selection rollout > Use Soft Selection, you can
usesplineobjectsandparticlesystemstodefine
the selection. This latter option is quite powerful
because the selection changes as the par ticles
move.
Mesh object button—Click this button, then select
an object to define the selection space. You don’t
need to choose Mesh Object first, but you do
need to choose Mesh Object to use the object as
a volume. After you select an object, its name
appears on the button.
This button is labeled "None" if no object has b e en
chosen.
Note: The selection depends on a volume
intersecting the object. If a giz mo or object is
scaled down and moved inside an object, no
selection occurs because no geometry is within
the volume of the gizmo.
Surf ace Features—Defines the selection by surface
characteristics instead of a geometric volume.
While this doesn’t have much to do with volume, it
was added because Volume Select i s a procedural
modifier, whereas
Mesh Select (page 1–710) is
explicit. Now, even if your topology changes,
Volume Select will consistently select the faces or
vertices using a particular material or smoothing
group.
Indicate which type of surface characteristic to
base selec tion on by choosing one of the follow ing:
Material ID—Specifies a material ID. All faces or
vertices using the ID in dicated by the spinner
value are selected.
Sm Group—Specifies a smo othing group. All faces
or vertices using the ID indicated by the spinner
value are selected.
Texture Map—Specifies a texture map from the
scene. Click the map button (labeled "None"
by default) to choose a texture map to use for
selection. Al l faces or vertices using that texture
map will be selected. When using the Texture Map
option, you can also specify a mapping channel
or the vertex color channel using the Map/Vertex
Color radio buttons and spinner.
Note: Yo u m u s t a p p l y m a p p i n g t o t h e o b j e c t
below Vol. Select in its stack for the Texture Map
selection to work. That is, the Vol. Select modifier
must have mapping coordinates passed up the
stack so it can use a texture map for selec tion.
Note: If you set Selection Type to Window, vertices
w ill be selected if all the faces they touch use the
specified material or smoothing group. If you
set Selection Type to Crossing, vert ices w il l b e
selected if they touch any face using the specified
material or smoothing group.
Alignment group
These controls are generally used when the
gizmo has been t ransformed out of its original
orientation to the object.
Fit—Resizes the gizmo to fit arou nd the object
or prev ious selection in the stack. Maintains any
previous rotation.
Center—Recenters the gizmo on the object or
previous selection in the stack. Maintains any
previous scale or rotation.
Reset—Returnsthegizmotoitsdefaultsizeand
orientation. Cancels the effect of all previous
transforms.