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956 Chapter 8: Modifiers
rotate, or move the gizmo an ywhere around the
object.
Volu me: Mes h Obj ect—Choose this option to use
another object to define the selec tion sp ace. After
choosing Mesh O bject, click the button below it
(labeled "None" by default), and then select an
object to use as the volume.
Besides mesh objects, you can use pa tch 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 particles
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 been
chosen.
Note: The selection depends on a volume
intersecting the object. If a gi z mo or object is
scaled down and moved inside an object, no
selection o ccurs b ecause 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 is a procedural
modifier, whereas Mesh Select (page 1–719) is
explicit. Now , even if your topology changes,
Volume Select will consisten tly select the faces or
vertices using a particular material or smoothing
group.
Indicate which type of surface characteristic to
base selection on by choosing one of the following:
Material ID—Specifies a material ID. All faces or
vertices using the ID indicated by the spinner
value a re selected.
Sm Group—Specifies a smo othing group. All faces
or vertices using the ID indicated by the spinner
value a re 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. All 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 p a ssed up the
stack so it can use a texture m ap for select ion.
Note: If you set Selection Type to Window, vertices
w ill be selected if all the faces they touch use the
specified m ateri al or smoothing group. If you
set Select ion Type to Crossing, vertices will be
selected if they touch any face using the specified
material or smoothing group.
Alignment group
These controls are gener ally used when the
gizmo has been transformed out of its original
orientation to the object.
Fit—Resizes the g izmo to fit around the object
or previous 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.