9

Modifying Multiple Objects 509
To retur n the sta ck to object level:
1.
At any p oint in the stack, apply another Mesh
Select modifier.
2. Leave this Mesh Select modifier at the top level
(the object level, which highlig hts in gray).
Any modifiers already on the stack above this
modifier no longer show the sub-object icon.
Any modifiers you add above the second Mesh
Select now apply to the whole ob ject.
3. To continue sending the sub-object selection
up the stack, delete the second Mesh Select.
Namin g Sub -O b ject Sel e ct ion s
Sub-object selections are often quite complex,
involving a great many small elem ents that would
be difficult to select a second time. For this reason,
it’s a good idea to name important selection sets
using the Named Selection Sets list (page 1–67) on
the Main toolbar.
Named sub-object selections only appear at the
type of level where they were first named. For
example, i f you select a set of vertices, you can
name the selection at that vertex sub-object level.
Then, when you later go to retrieve the named
selection, you can access it only from the same
modifier’s vertex sub-object level.
Copyi ng S ub-Obj ect S elections
Once you name a sub-object select ion set, you
can copy it between modifiers in the same stack,
or to the stack of another object of the same type.
Editable meshes and Mesh Select (and their spline
, patch, and poly counterparts) have buttons for
Copy and Paste at each level of geometry, in the
Modify panel > Selection rollout.
To copy/past e na me d su b-ob j ect s el ecti on s:
1.
Make a sub-object selection.
2. In the Selection rollout, click Copy. From the
dialog, choose any available named selection
set for that level of geometr y.
3. GotoanotherSelectmodifierortoaneditable
mesh or poly, at the same level of geometry.
Click Paste to complete the copy.
Modify ing Multiple Objects
You can apply modifiers to multiple objects.
In general, the process is parallel to modify ing
a single object. You make a selection set and
apply an available modifier. The modifier then
appears on a special stack that refers only to the
commonality of that selection set.
Top: Original objects
Bottom: Single modifier applied to objects