is there a tool that can ? in LW

Posts

• spudmonkey0 Posts: 0Member

  May 2007 #2

  Not a LW user, but normally ctrl+A is select all...
• lancer0 Posts: 0Member

  May 2007 #3

  thank you for playing. next guess. that just centers something
  
  ah ha
  
  found it, went into preferences and assigned it as a keyboard shortcut
• DeadlyDarkness0 Posts: 0Member

  May 2007 #4

  I know in max you can press the H key to bring up a list of all objects, try it, it might work. Resorting to manually bashing every key is also a good trick. I'm forever entering 'expert mode' and forgetting which key I knocked to get myself back out.
• mattc181 Perth, AuPosts: 322Member

  May 2007 #5

  

  Sure, you can select parts, surfaces, etc from the stats window.
  
  M
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  May 2007 #6

  

  I think you're talking about select connected, select a poly on the object and press "]" and every poly connected to that object will be selected
• JeffrySG321 Posts: 477Member

  June 2007 #7

  

  This was a weird one for me to get a grasp of in LW. I was used to having a 'body' selection mode (in addition to verts, edges, polys). This would make it real easy to simple select a single BODY/object without having to select a poly and then hit the "]" key. Maybe in v.10 they'll address that. But I use the ] key now....
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #8

  

  you sound like you've come from max or another app, a lot of maxers who use LW say stuff like that
  
  LW is a lot different to max, personally I like it this way because it feels more like a sculpt than having 'objects' that make up your model
• JeffrySG321 Posts: 477Member

  June 2007 #9

  

  ^lol, actually I've never used max... but I've used some CAD applications, Strata, and Silo a lot and they all have a 'body' selection mode. And Silo is the definition of a 'sculpting' application... I just think it's the way current apps handle selections. I'd be willing to bet that it will be something Jay Roth will get into LW in the next major release (10).
  
  It's kind of like LW not having the 'edge' mode till 9. It worked fine without it, but why not have it if it will help the app grow.
• DAve0 Posts: 0Member

  June 2007 #10

  Is the 'body' selection not equivelent to the whole layer?
  i.e. if nothing is selected the whole layer is.
  
  DAve
• JeffrySG321 Posts: 477Member

  June 2007 #11

  

  ^true, but if you have a few separate objects on a single layer then it will modify them all. I suppose you could make sure every object is on it's own layer but that just seems overkill to me. I've actually gotten used to just using the ] key when needed, but it still seems like an area that can be improved upon.
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #12

  

  DAve wrote: »

  Is the 'body' selection not equivelent to the whole layer?
  i.e. if nothing is selected the whole layer is.
  
  DAve

  yeah that's what made me think he used max or another app, LW uses layers but max uses objects and people seemed to get confused
  
  remember you can merge your layers at the end, they're there to load into layout as different objects and to help with construction, by the end of a build I merge as many layers as I can
• mattc181 Perth, AuPosts: 322Member

  June 2007 #13

  

  To be accurate, LW uses a 'Scene --> Objects --> Layers' heirarchy.
  
  Layers are roughly analogous to Sub-Objects in Max. You can manipulate Layers or the Entire Object from the Layers panel (F7). Or you can select by parts or by surface or whatever the hell else you like from the Stats panel ('w').
  
  M
• JeffrySG321 Posts: 477Member

  June 2007 #14

  

  so when you guys are modeling do you keep every object on its own layer? just wondering.... as I'm pretty much still a LW noob and I'm always looking for tips or better workflows...
• DAve0 Posts: 0Member

  June 2007 #15

  JeffrySG wrote: »

  I suppose you could make sure every object is on it's own layer but that just seems overkill to me.

  
  In general I keep every 'thing' as an object (i.e. a plane) and every 'bit' of the 'thing' that moves independantly (propeller, tailfin) as a layer. I set the hierachy up in modeller.
  
  When they are loaded up in layout each layer actually becomes an individual object, but the heiarachy keeps them together.
  
  While I'm modelling however I willl generally have loads of unused layers which are hidden from layout (details, shapes used as booleans, alternate ideas etc) and unify them before I finish.
  
  DAve
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #16

  

  ^yup he said it, you don't have to set up the heirachy in modeller, you can still do it in layout, but I feel the object is more complete if you do it in modeller, and it's much easier if you're creating a lot of new scenes with it
• JeffrySG321 Posts: 477Member

  June 2007 #17

  

  so essentially try to keep all objects that might move together on one layer. and other objects that will be moving differently on other layers. or maybe by main sections of say a large ship?
  
  if that's the case i can see how having a body selection mode really would be helpfull...
  
  what if you're not planning on animating the object? do you just break up the layers based on different areas of the object? main section, cockpit, landing gear, greeebles, etc??
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #18

  

  no don't bother breaking them up at all, if the object is all one non-moving piece then I'd only use layers during construction and I'd have merged them all by the end, it's really not hard working with all your polys in one layer anyway, you can select and hide with no trouble
• tobian226 Posts: 1,600Member

  June 2007 #19

  

  For a while you've also been able to create 'parts' for Lightwave (it might have been in the 8 cycle, but definitely since 9) which replicates 'sub objects' which are selectable via the statistics (w) panel, and Lightwave can import them and export them for other software. Depending on how you imported them, Lightwave may have created them, if they existed in the other mesh.
  
  I work across multiple layers and objects, if the object gets too heavy, and then reassemble them in the scene.. I typically keep my WIP layer separate from the 'final' version, and replicate the WIP bits over, when it's render time, saving me having to constantly rejig the layout That said not many people do models as heavy as mine haha!
  
  To be honest, if they need to improve anything it's simply to be able to 'group' layers and manipulate them easier. It wouldn't really make sense to have a 'body' as layers serve that purpose, you just can't collapse it into 'groups. That then should mean you can also have instances within modeller!
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #20

  

  ^yup parts, point selection sets and colour groups can all be used like that, you gotta plan ahead for selection groups as you go, it keeps you on your toes! lol
• tobian226 Posts: 1,600Member

  June 2007 #21

  

  Mostly I just use layers or surfaces. Since I use dozens of them, it makes it easy to keep track of things
• IRML253 Posts: 1,993Member

  June 2007 #22

  

  yeah me too, surfaces are the easiest to select, I normally have a few temp surfaces used just for selection during a build
• DAve0 Posts: 0Member

  June 2007 #23

  ^ yep that's also a handy technique I use (TEMP_red, TEMP_blue etc)
  
  Mind you I do think LW could improve things in objects. I am a huge fan of the Modeller / Layout Split (infact I always wanted a separate Texturer as well), but wish more was moved over to modeller or object fiiles.
  
  For example if I add expressions and simple animations to a model (i.e. rotating rotors in a plane) I would like to be able to store these with the model, rather than needing to save then to a scene and import the model and animaitions etc from the scene.
  
  (I can see the pros and cons and accept I may be wrong on this, but it's just a long standing bugbear of mine.)
  
  DAve