Wings 3D/User Manual/The Select Menu

58 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 5.1 The Menus 5.1.4 The Select Menu Figure 41: The Select Menu.

5.1.4 The Select Menu

Select Menu - General

The Select Menu is one of the most important items in Wings3D as it contains many operations that lead to fast and efficient modeling. By being able to quickly select the elements you need to work with, and even combine (or subtract) that selection with another selection set you can quickly achieve the results you desire.

Select | Deselect (Space)

Deselect all selected items.

Select | More (+)

Grows the selection set to include all the adjacent items (vertices, edges, or faces) of the same type on a given object. For example, if a face is selected all adjacent faces will become selected as well. If there are multiple objects in a scene, it will not cause more objects to be selected, however, each object with a selection set active will have it's selection set grow.

Select | Less (-)

Shrinks the selection set in reverse order of it's growth. If working with an initial selection set, this will cause nothing to be selected. As with More, selection sets on multiple objects can be manipulated at the same time.

Select | Similar (|)

Select elements similar to the already selected elements.

Select | Similar Normals...

Select faces with normals similar to the already selected faces.

Select | Similar Area

Select faces with areas similar to the already selected faces.

Select | Similar Material...

Select faces with a similar material to those already selected.

Select | Edge Loop

Edge Loop (L): Expand edge selection to loop; convert face selection to selected border edges; convert consecutive vertices to edges.
Selects edges that flow in a line until a pole is encountered. A pole is a non-4way intersection (i.e. it has 3 edges or 5 or more edges joining at a single vertex).

Edge Loop to Region (Shift+L): Select all faces on one side of an edge loop.

Edge Ring (G): Expand edge selection to ring.
Selects a set of edges that run between two edge loops. These cross edges are sometimes referred to as "struts". If you think of the lines of latitude on a globe as edge loops, then the lines of longitude between any two parallels would constitute an Edge Ring. In Wings, simply select one such "strut" then Select | Edge Ring, and the entire set of edges will become selected, until the model is completely encircled, or until a pole is encountered. This can result in big time savings when modeling.

Every Nth Ring >

Second

Third

Nth...

Every Nth Loop >

Second

Third

Nth...

Previous Edge Loop (F6): select the previous edge loop.
This will "step" down the model from one closed edge loop to the next, deselecting the originally selected loop in favor of the next one it encounters. Repeated use of F3 continues on down the model until it no longer finds another loop to select, then it reverses order and comes back up the model. This is very powerful and when used in conjunction with other functions (such as Scale, Move, Rotate, etc.) and can greatly increase the efficiency of your modeling work flow.

Next Edge Loop (F7): select the next edge loop.
This will "step" up the model from one closed edge loop to the next, deselecting the originally selected loop in favor of the next one it encounters. Works just like F3, except it goes in the opposite direction, so that you can use the two function keys to toggle back and forth between two edge loops, or change directions at will.

Grow Edge Loop (Alt+L): grow edge selection by one edge in loop direction.

Shrink Edge Loop (Alt+Ctrl+L): shrink edge selection by one edge in loop direction.

Grow Edge Ring (Alt+G): grow edge selection by one edge in ring direction.

Shrink Edge Ring (Alt+Ctrl+G): shrink edge selection by one edge in ring direction.

To Complete Loops: switches to Edge mode and complete loop selection.

SELECT | SIMILAR (I) Selects items similar to the currently selected item. Select | Similar is not that useful for organic modeling. Its main strength is in what Jakob Cederlund calls geometric art (i.e. objects that are highly symmetrical). It is good for selecting faces widely apart. The rules for similarity are as follows.

Faces - Same number of edges. Sum of edge lengths approximately equal. Sum of angles between each pair of edges approximately equal.

Edges -Approximate length of edge equal. Angle and length of the nearest four edges approximately equal.

Vertices - Angle and length of edges going out from the vertex approximately equal. This may be the least useful of the bunch, as it seldom finds many hits.

Note that Less does not deselect items selected via Similar; i.e. it does not revert to the original selection set.

Select | Adjacent >

Vertices: selects vertices adjacent to the currently selected vertex/vertices.

Edges: selects edges adjacent to the currently selected edge(s).

Faces: selects faces adjacent to the currently selected face(s). If you press the same key several times, the selection will grow each time. In vertex selection mode, pressing the "v" will grow the selection in exactly the same way as does SELECT | MORE. However, in edge selection mode, pressing "e" will grow the selection by selecting the four edges nearest each edge. SELECT | MORE, on the other hand, will select all edges that share a vertex with a selected edge. To see the difference, select one edge on an icosahedron or a grid and try both commands. In face selection mode, all faces that share an edge with a selected face will become selected. SELECT | MORE, on the other hand, will select all faces that share a vertex with a selected face. Try it out on a grid to understand the difference.

Note that if there is no current selection set the keys v, e, f (and b) simply change selection mode to vertex, edge, face and body, respectively.

Model by Mr. Christopher. Rendered in Strata Studio 60 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 5.1 The Menus

Select | By

Hard Edges

Vertices with

2 Edges

3 Edges

4 Edges

5 Edges

Faces With

2 Edges

3 Edges

4 Edges

5 Or More (F5)

Material

Default

Hole

Random

10%

20%

...

90%

Short Edges [] Click on the box to the right to specify how short.

Id

Select | By offers a wide variety of methodology to choose selection sets. These selections can be stored (as discussed later) and then used in conjunction with other selection sets via Union, Subtract, and Intersection (also discussed later).

Hard Edges selects all Hard Edges in the selected object.

Vertices with (2, 3, 4, and 5) selects faces that have the given number of vertices as designated by the number. This is helpful in trying to maintain quads.

Select | By | Faces With | 5 Or More has a hot key, F5, so that you can quickly find any non quad or tri sided polygons. Such polygons can cause problems in some 3D modeling and rendering packages and should therefore be resolved.

Material is used to select faces by their assigned materials. Any user-defined material will automatically be added to the Material sub-menu and become available for selection.

Random (10 – 90%) selects a random subset of the current selection type (vertices, edges, faces or objects) for manipulation.

Short Edges selects any edges that are too short, as determined by the option box to the right of the command. Short edges are often responsible for display anomalies and difficulties in continued modeling. Often these edges will be so short and located such that you can not see them, even after selecting them. You can Extrude them to find them, or simply Collapse them to eliminate them.

Id. You can also select any item (vertex, edge, or face) by its ID number, which can be gleaned from the Wings status bar when the item is selected. So, if you record an ID number you know you want to come back to, you can later Select it then Aim at it to continue working in that area.

SELECT | LIGHTS

Will select all the lights in your scene.

SELECT | ALL [Vertices, Edges, Faces, Objects] (Ctrl+A) Selects all the vertices, edges, faces, or

objects, dependent on the current selection mode. For objects, it selects all within the scene that have not been hidden or locked (via Object | [object name] | Hide or Lock (to be discussed later)).

SELECT | INVERSE (Ctrl-Shift-I) Inverts the selected set. That which was selected becomes unselected and vice versa.

SELECT | STORE SELECTION

Stores a selection set so that it can be used in conjunction with other selection sets.

SELECT | RECALL SELECTION

Recalls a selection set so that it can be used in conjunction with other selection sets.

DRAFT 1.6 61

� Section 5.1 The Menus WINGS3D USER MANUAL SELECT | EXCHANGE SELECTION

Exchanges a selection set so that it can be used in conjunction with other selection sets. The current selection set becomes the stored selection set while the stored selection set becomes the active one.

SELECT | UNION WITH STORED

Creates a new selection set by combining the current selection set with one that has been stored.

SELECT | SUBTRACT WITH STORED

Creates a new selection set by subtracting the stored selection set from the current selection set. That is, all items in common

between the two sets are deselected from the current selection set.

SELECT | INTERSECTION WITH STORED

Creates a new selection set intersecting the current and stored selection sets. That is, only those items that are common to both sets remain selected. This can be used very effectively to add noise to an organic model. You can store all the vertices on a tree trunk, for example, then Select | By | Random | 30% which will select vertices on trunk, branches and leaves. Then do a Intersection With Stored and only random vertices on the trunk will remain selected which you can then Move | Normal to make knobs.

Model by Mr. Christopher.