9

Soft Selection Rollout 965
take effect, this check box must be on before
transforming or modifying the selection.
Edge Dista nce—When on, limits the soft-selection
region to the specified number of edges between
where you selec t and the ma ximum extent of the
soft selection. The affected region is measured in
terms of "edge-distance" space, along the surface,
rather than real space.
This option is usef ul in cases where you want to
select only contiguous sections of geometry. For
example, if a bird’s wing is folded back against its
body, selecting the wing tip with Soft Selection
would affect b ody vertices as well. But if you turn
on Edge Distance, set the numeric value to the
distance (in edges) along the wing that you wish to
affect, and then set Falloff to an appropriate value,
selectingandthenmovingthewingtipwould
move only the wing geometry.
A ffe ct Backfa cing—When on, deselected faces
whosenormalsfaceintheoppositedirectionto
the average normal of the selected sub-objects are
affected by the soft-selection influence. In the case
of vertices and edges, this applies to the normals
of faces to which they’re attached. Turn off Affect
Backfacing when you want to manipulate faces of
athinobject,suchasathinbox,butdon’twantto
affect faces on the other s ide of the object.
Note: Affect Backfacing is not available when
editing splines.
Fa lloff—Distance in current units from the center
totheedgeofaspheredefiningtheaffectedregion.
Usehigherfalloffsettingstoachievemoregradual
slopes, depending on the scale of your geometry.
Default=20.
Note: The region specified by the Falloff setting
is depicted graphically in the viewports as a
color gradient in vertices and/or edges (or, with
editable polys and patches, optionally in faces).
The gradient r anges from t he selection color
(normally red) to t he non-selected sub-object
color (normally blue). In addition, this gradient
isupdatedinrealtimeasyouchangetheFalloff
setting.
Note: If Edge Distance is on, the Edge Distance
settinglimitsthemaximumfalloffamount.
Pinch—Raises and lowers the top point of the
curve along the vertical axis. Sets the relative
"pointedness" of the region. When negative, a
crater is produced instead of a point. At a setting
of 0, Pinch produces a smooth transition across
this axis. D efault=0.
Bu bble—Expands and contracts the curve along
the vertica l axis. Sets the relative "ful lness" of
the region. Limited by Pinch, which sets a fixed
starting point for Bubble. A setting of 0 for Pinch
and 1.0 for Bubble produces the smoothest bulge.
NegativevaluesforBubblemovethebottomofthe
curvebelowthesurface,creatinga"valley"around
thebaseoftheregion.Default=0.
(sof t s election cur v e)—Graphically displa ys how
Soft Selection will work. You can experiment with
a curve setting, undo it, and try another setting
w ith the same selec tion.
Sha ded Face Toggle—Displays a color gradient
corresponding to the soft select ion weights on
faces within the soft selection range. Available
only when editing patch and poly objects.
If the Ve r t e x C o l or d i s p l a y p ro p er t y of an editable
poly or editable patch object is off, clicking the
ShadedFaceTogglebuttonwillturnonSoft
Selection Color shading. If the object already has
an ac tive Vertex Color setting, clicking the Shaded
Face Toggle overrides the previous setting and
changes it to Soft Selection Color.
Note: Use the Undo command if you do not want
to change your vertex color shading properties.
Lock Sof t Selection—Lo cks the soft selection
inordertopreventchangestotheprocedural
selection.