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660 Chapter 20: Managing Scenes and Projects
right-click and choose Highlight All. To open the
Object/Layer Properties dialog, click on the icon
next to the layer or object .
Each pro perty has a unique icon to indicate that it
is turned on, w hile all properties share the sa me
icon for the off (
)andByLayer( )states.
Note: By Layer is available only at the object level,
in the Render, Color, and Radiosity columns.
Tip: You can sort the layers by any of their
properties by clicking the column name.
Layers—Displays the names of the layers/objects.
Clickanametoselectthelayer,ortorenamethe
layer.
Note: Clicking the layer icon opens the Layer
Properties dialog for all highlighted layers.
Clicking the object icon opens the Object
Properties dialog for all highli ghted objects.
Cur r ent La y er Toggle—The unlabeled column
totherightofthelayernameindicatesthecurrent
layer and lets you make a different layer current.
A check mark appears next to the current layer.
Click the check box next to another layer name to
make it current.
Hide—Hides and unhides layers. When a
layer is hidden, it’s invisible. You might want to
hide layers that contain construction or reference
information.
Fre eze —Freezes layers. You can’t select or
edit objects on a frozen layer. Freezing a layer is
useful if you want to view information on a la y er
for reference but don’t want to edit objects on that
layer.
Render—When on, objects appear in the
rendered scene. Non-rendering objects don’t
cast shadows or affect the visual component
oftherenderedscene. Likedummyobjects,
non-rendering objects can manipulate other
objects in the scene.
Shape objects (page 1–262) have the Render
option turned on by default. In addition, they
have a Renderable check box in their creation
parameters. When both check boxes are on,
the shape is renderable. If either check boxes
areoff,theshapeisn’trenderable. Ifyouapply
a modifier that converts the shape into a mesh
object, such as a Lathe (page 1–707) or Extrude
(page 1–680) modifier, the shape automatically
becomes renderable regardless of the state of its
local Renderable check box.
Forshapes,theRenderabletoggleintheObject
Properties dialog (page 1–117) affects the main
object, so it also affects all instances of a nd
references to the shape.
Co lor—Changes the color associated with t he
highlighted layers. You can select another color
by clicking the color swatch to display either the
Object Color dialog (page 1–159) (for objects), or
the Layer Color dialog (for layers).
You can set an object’s color independently, or
turnonByLayerintheObjectColordialogtouse
the associated layer’s color.
Radiosity—When on, objects are included
in the radiosity solution (page 3–51).Objects
not included in the radiosity solution do not
contribute to indirect illumination. If these objects
are lights, only their direct contribution will b e
used for rendering.
Note: Remov ing objects from the radiosity solution
can significantly decrease radiosity processing
and rendering time, however it does sacrifice
some accuracy in the solution. It can be useful for
creating quick test renders.