Geometric Objects

Realsoft		Geometric Objects
	Select Window

The Hierarchy Tree: Displays the tree like structure of the geometric objects. Geometric objects are usually grouped using level objects to obtain a sensible and manageable object hierarchy. A suitable part of the total structure can be activated here, and parts can be moved in hierarchy using drag and drop. See the Mouse Operation documentation below for details.

Filter: With the filter string, you can limit the set of objects displayed on the hierarchy tree using object names and the wildcard character '*'. For example, if you want to only see objects directly below the root level and whose name starts with the letters 'sp' (spheres, for example), set the filter string to '/root/sp*'. The filtering ability helps in searching objects from a complex model.

Mouse Operations

Dragging one or several selected objects with the left mouse button moves the objects in the hierarchy tree. Arrow icons indicate the new location already before releasing the mouse button. The following variations are available:

LMB dragging an item: Moves an item to a new location in hierarchy.
Alt+LMB dragging an item: Creates an instance of the selected object(s) and moves it to a new location in hierarchy.
Ctrl+LMB dragging an item: Creates a copy of the selected object(s) and moves it to a new location in hierarchy.

Left mouse button dragging without hitting an object at the drag start point performs object selection.

LMB dragging: All objects inside the drag box will become selected. Possible previous selection is lost.
Shift+LMB dragging: All objects inside the drag box will be added to previous selection.
Ctrl+LMB dragging: Boolean AND operation 'previous selection AND new selection'. All objects inside the drag box that were also previously selected will remain selected. All other objects become deselected.
Alt+LMB dragging: Subtracts all objects inside the drag box from selection.
Shift+Ctrl+LMB dragging: XOR operation. Inverts selection of objects inside the drag box. Selected objects become unselected and vice versa.

Note

Only objects inside the drag box change their selection state.

	Note
Only objects inside the drag box change their selection state.

Left mouse button clicking activates objects. Clicking an empty area deselects all objects.

LMB click: Selects the clicked object. Other objects become deselected.
Shift+LMB click: Adds the clicked object to the previous selection.
Ctrl+LMB click: Range selection. Adds all objects between the previous selected object (closest upwards in the hierarchy tree in the same hierarchy level with the clicked object) and the clicked object to the selection. If there are no other selected objects in the same hierarchy level, selection starts from the beginning of the level.
Alt+LMB click: Deselects the clicked object.
Shift+Ctrl+LMB click: Toggles (=inverts) selection of the clicked object.

Double clicking activates some additional tools:

Slow LMB double click: Activates the 'Rename' tool.
Quick LMB double click: Opens the object property window.
Shift + quick LMB double click: Hides the hierarchy above a clicked level object. The level will appear as the root of the hierarchy. Another Shift double click will restore the original root.

The contents of the select window can be scrolled by dragging with the middle mouse button, or by the right mouse button dragging Ctrl key held down.

Hotkeys

Most hotkey events at the select window are forwarded to the active view window. For example, hitting the '0' key renders the active view. Only the 'tab' key has a special use: it sets the current level to the selected level. If the selected object is not a level object, nothing happens. The current level defines the hierarchical destination for created, loaded or pasted objects.

The Popup Menu

The popup menu of the object geometry tab is context sensitive. New menu items appear depending on object selection. For example, 'Rename' menu is not available if all objects are deselected. Another example: 'Open' menu appears only when one or more level objects are selected.

As usual, plugin products may insert additional items to the popup menu of the select window.

New These sub items create some special purpose objects into the object hierarchy.

3D Measure
Angle Measure
Measure
Position Mark
Level
Rotator
SunMoon

Fractal Tree
Post Image
Plant Seed
Choreography
Tube
Interpolator
Collision Deformer

Inverse Kinematics
Drag
Morphing
Metaball
Creator
Foot Print
Field Evaluator

Open (Close) The Open menu opens the selected level object so that its sub objects become visible. Sub objects can then be selected individually. The Close menu does the opposite i.e. hides the sub hierarchy.
Open All (Close All) Opens the sub hierarchy recursively. Sub objects and their sub objects etc. become visible on the select window. Close all closes the sub hierarchy recursively.
Make Current Makes the selected level-type object the current level. The 'current level' concept defines where new created, loaded or pasted objects should be placed in hierarchy.
Edit Puts an object to the editing mode. Usually objects reveal some object specific handles in the editing mode, allowing the user to modify the characteristic geometric details of the object.
Drop to a Level Creates a new level object and inserts all selected objects into it. The new level will be placed to the location in hierarchy where the first selected object was.
Set Filter Copies the full hierarchy path from the selected object to the name filter string. The string can then be modified as appropriate. The filter tool allows the user to display only a suitable subset of the hierarchy using string pattern matching. This is a useful option when searching items from a complex hierarchy.
Cut Cuts the selected objects from the object hierarchy to the Realsoft 3D geometry clipboard.
Copy Copies the selected objects from the object hierarchy to the Realsoft 3D geometry clipboard. The selected objects stay in hierarchy.
Paste Pastes geometric objects from the Realsoft 3D clipboard to the current level.
Duplicate Creates duplicates of the selected objects. Each duplicate is placed to the same hierarchy level with its original object.
Delete Deletes the selected objects. The clipboard will not change.
Copy to a File Opens a file browser. Selected objects are then saved to a defined disk file.
Paste from a File Opens a file browser. Objects from a selected disk file will be loaded to the current level.
Select Method
- Don't select new objects Created/loaded/pasted objects will not become automatically selected.
- Select newly created Created/loaded/pasted objects will become automatically selected. Previous object selection is lost.
- Add to selection Created/loaded/pasted objects will become automatically selected. Previously selected objects remain also selected.

Balanced Tree Displays the hierarchy as a horizontally organized tree.
Rename Activates a rename box for the selected object.
Properties.. Opens the object property window.

Balanced hierarchy mode

Make Choreographable Makes an object animated. The time line and other animation properties can then be edited with the Choreography Window.

Note

Modifying an object property in the animation recording mode makes the object also choreographable.
Load Choreography Loads animation properties from a disk file and attaches the loaded information to selected objects (only common attributes become utilized - a sphere radius animation will not attach to a cube).
Add New Choreography Adds a new empty choreography to the selected objects. The new choreography will be the active one i.e. animation recording actions will be stored to it. Multiple choreographs can be combined in a weighted manner.
Delete Choreographs Removes all animation information from the selected objects.

	Note
Modifying an object property in the animation recording mode makes the object also choreographable.

Drag and Drop

Dragging an object from the geometry tab of the select window to a view window performs an auto focus operation: the view is panned, rotated and zoomed so that the object fills most of the view window. The camera object is an exception: the view window fetches the camera view of the dropped object.

See also: Reference Manual/Models/Geometric Objects.