The Interface
Schematic Window
The Schematic window simplifies your work by allowing you to view the objects in your scene in their hierarchical structure, as well as their relations with other elements. This way, you can analyze the way a scene is constructed and see all elements of a scene, including materials and textures. It also provides a set of modes and options (see Schematic Window Title Bar Options) that allow you to perform additional operations. For more information on hierarchies, see Hierarchies in the Modelling User's Guide.
Visual Identifiers
The Schematic window shows elements in your scene as small black boxes (or other shapes and colours) with names, and shows the relationships (links) between various components of your scene as lines. Depending on the mode you select (Light, Model, Motion, and Matter), you may not see all elements in a scene. For example, in the Matter mode, you see material and texture elements relating to your scene, but you won't see animation files, which are shown when you activate the Motion mode. Seeing the relationships in different modes is a useful way of "breaking down" a scene into smaller parts while working with very complex hierarchies.
Symbols
An element's name is displayed in its box. Some elements also have a symbol displayed above them to identify that they have had some operation applied to them, such as a type of animation.
This table lists the symbols that show some of the applications of operators on elements:
| Type of operation on element | Symbol |
| Direct animation | A |
| Local Envelope | EnvL |
| Global Envelope | EnvG |
| Rigid Envelope | EnvR |
| Expression | Exp |
| Lattice (animated or not) | L |
| Node Lattice (animated or not) | NL |
| Branch Lattice (animated or not) | BL |
| Clusters (animated or not) | C |
| Shape Deformation | S |
| Shared Objects | Sh |
| Branch Curve Deformation | BCD |
| Node Curve Deformation | NCD |
| Curve Sub-Deformation | CD |
| Branch Surface Deformation | BSD |
| Node Surface Deformation | NSD |
| Surface Sub-Deformation | SD |
For a complete list of attributes and relations that appear in the Schematic window, the Spreadsheet window, and the Expressions dialogue boxes, see the
List of Attributes and Relations.
Colours
In addition to names and symbols, some elements are coloured to make them easier to recognize. The default colour palette is the same as in the Wireframe Colour box on The Wireframe Colour Box. The Default Colours option in the Schematic Layout dialogue box (see Schematic Layout) is selected by default. You can also select the DEFCOL option in the window's title bar to apply the default colouring to elements.
This table lists the elements in a scene that receive colour:
| Type of element | Colour |
| 2D global texture | Dark blue |
| 2D local texture | Dark blue |
| 3D global texture | Dark blue |
| 3D local texture | Dark blue |
| Animation | Dark green |
| End effector | Red |
| Light | Orange |
| Links | Yellow |
| Links - Current Mat/2D Texture | Red |
| Material | Blue |
| Waves | Dark green |
- Tip:
- You can highlight a default-coloured element temporarily by applying a different colour from the Wireframe colour box. For example, to quickly spot a specific animation file, you could colour it pink instead of green. Clicking DEFCOL returns it to the default assigned colour.
How Elements are Positioned
When you create a new scene, elements are added to the right of the previous element. The parent of a child in a hierarchy is always placed above its child.
Elements and hierarchies are placed chapter by chapter, starting with the cameras, models, and then the others. All similar element types (such as lights, cameras, materials, etc.) are grouped together in the Schematic window to make your work easier. This, however, does not change their arrangement in the scene itself. For example, the camera and its interest are shown together in the Schematic window, but it has no relation to their position in the Perspective window, or any other window.
If you load a scene (Get -> Scene) into an existing one, the new scene's elements are added to the right of the current scene's elements in the Schematic window. If you had defined a position for the scene, these positions are preserved, but an offset is simply added.
When you load elements into an existing scene (Get -> Element), they are added at the end of the Schematic window. Since model files don't include Schematic positions (which are saved only in scenes), the new model hierarchies loaded are also arranged by default.
Links
Relationships between elements in a hierarchy are shown as lines called links in the Schematic window. You can choose to show links for only selected elements, which can be useful in managing a complex scene. For more informatoin, see Relations Display.
Links to paths, constraints, dynamic constraints, collisions, etc. are labelled accordingly and are coloured yellow when selected. Links to the current material or texture are coloured red.
Links that are deactivated in the DopeSheet window (see DopeSheet Window) are displayed as dotted lines in the Schematic window. These are visible mainly for constraint links. Some links still appear filled even if the corresponding track is deactivated in the DopeSheet because not all the "sublinks" are deactivated (such as path links).
Object Instances
Instances of objects are shown above their master. This allows an instance itself to be put into hierarchies, which it can then become a master of its own instances, and so on.
Materials and Textures
Materials and textures are seen in the Matter mode in the Schematic window. The positioning of materials and textures is based on a "first come, first served" basis. This means that if a material is shared, it is placed under the first model that uses it, and links are drawn between the other models and that material. If your hierarchy makes use of many shared materials, you will see plenty of links, but the options in the Schematic Layout dialogue box can help you limit the complexity of the relations being displayed (see Relations Display).
Materials and 2D and 3D textures are positioned under the model that uses them. The materials and textures are therefore "part" of the hierarchies in the Schematic window and are collapsed or opened with them. Note that materials and textures are not selected with the hierarchy, even in branch mode.
Animation Files
Animation files are seen in the Motion mode in the Schematic window. Animation files are also positioned within the hierarchy that uses them. They are always attached to the root (only one animation file per hierarchy). To see which elements are animated within the hierarchy, look at the various symbols added above the element (A = directly Animated, S = Shape animated, L = affected by a Lattice, etc.)
Zoom Operations
As well as using the standard zoom operations (such as the z Supra key, Camera -> Frame All, etc.), you can zoom in on a selected object in the Schematic window and "remember" that setting using Memo cameras -- see Memo Camera.
Schematic Window Title Bar Options
This section describes the title bar options that are specific to the Schematic window, but for other standard title bar options available, see Window Title Bar Options.
Some options in the menu bar are not visible in the default quarter-view. To see the complete menu bar, enlarge the window to a horizontal half-view (landscape) or a full-view (see Sizing Icon).
Schematic Layout
When you click the ruler icon in the Schematic window, the Schematic View Layout dialogue box is displayed. The options you set in this dialogue box apply to all Schematic windows that are currently open and to ones you will open in the future.
Overall Organization
- Single Row is the default layout with all hierarchies placed on the same "row."
- Fit to Window Ratio places hierarchies on many rows according to the current window size and ratio. The hierarchies are placed on the first "row" until they don't fit any more in the visible window area. Then they are placed on the second row, third row, etc. until all hierarchies are placed. For example, if you zoom out, all hierarchies may fit on a single row, but if you zoom in and select the CLEAN_ALL option, all the hierarchies are placed in a number of rows until they all fit in the window area. If you add a new element to the scene after this, it is placed to the right of the last element on the first row.
Overall Layout
- Horizontal is the default way in which hierarchies are positioned horizontally.
- Vertical positions the hierarchies vertically. All operations, such as collapsing, expanding, or adding new elements, are also positioned accordingly if you select this option.
Overall Sort
- Keep Order is the default sorting order in which hierarchies are placed in the order that they currently have.
- Hierarchy Height/Width places the hierarchies (model only) in order of tallest to shortest. By preventing the alternation between large and small hierarchies, you can gain space when placing them in multiple rows. When two hierarchies have the same height, the one that is wider is placed before the other.
- Hierarchy Width/Height places the hierarchies (model only) in order of widest to narrowest. When two hierarchies have the same width, the one that is taller is placed before the shorter one.
Relations Display
- For all items is the default display. All relations are displayed for all elements according to the given mode (Plain, Light, Model, Motion, or Matter).
- For selected items only does not display certain relations unless either the source or the destination element (or both) is selected. The following links are not affected by this option (that is, they are always visible): parent links, camera and light interest links, local 2D/3D texture links, and instance links.
You may find this option useful to reduce the complexity of a Schematic window at any time, such as when you have many shared materials. It is then easy to see which model uses which material, to which model an object is constrained, etc. This option also accelerates the redrawing of the Schematic window if many links are not shown.
- For selected visible items does the same as the For selected items only option, but does not display a link when both the source and destination elements are outside the visible window area. This means that links may appear or disappear if you pan the window. This option also helps to reduce the complexity of a hierarchy and accelerates the redrawing speed.
Prefix Display Options
- If different from the scene displays the prefix of the element only if it is different from the prefix of the scene.
- Always displays the prefix of the element whether or not the scene prefix is different.
- Never means no prefixes are displayed for objects in the Schematic window.
Clean All Options
- Clean automatically after a Mode change automatically cleans up the Schematic window each time you change the view mode.
- Compact empty area makes sure that space in the Schematic window is not reserved for materials and textures or animation files if they are not visible.
Various Options
- Use Default Colours is selected by default. It gives a default colour to some elements when they are created so that they are easier to recognize in the Schematic window. You can also select the DEFCOL option in the window's title bar to apply these colours to elements which are already coloured. The default colours used are listed in the table in Colours.
- Auto Scroll activates auto scrolling in the Schematic window. When you drag an element outside the visible window area, the camera automatically pans at a constant speed to follow the element when the cursor reaches the edge of the window.
- Update after Delete/Parent is selected by default. If you deselect it, hierarchies are not moved to the left or right to compensate for a collapse or expand operation, deleting an element, or parenting two hierarchies. You can still use the CLEAN_ALL option at any time if you want to remove gaps or overlaps that may result in the hierarchies.
- Draw Parallel Links changes the drawing of primary relations from straight lines to three-segmented lines that are always parallel to the window sides (horizontal and vertical), such as this:
This option helps make apparent the difference between parent links and other links, such as constraints. You may find this option useful when the scene is large and you are zoomed out.
Reset User. Pos.
This button resets all positioning that you have done to elements so that they are repositioned the next time you select CLEAN_ALL. The keyboard shortcut for this is to press the Right Shift key while clicking CLEAN_ALL.
CLEAN_ ALL
This option reorders all hierarchies in the current Schematic window. CLEAN_ALL does not affect subnodes that you have repositioned; otherwise, it positions all elements according to the options you select in the Schematic Layout dialogue box. If you select the Reset User. Pos. button in the Layout dialogue box, it resets positioning of the subnodes so that they are affected the next time you select CLEAN_ALL. The keyboard shortcut for this is to hold down the Right Shift key while clicking CLEAN_ALL.
Modes
You can view hierarchy elements in the Schematic window in five modes: Plain, Light, Model, Motion, and Matter. Each mode shows specific information and relationships which filter your view of a scene.
These modes are cumulative: you can select one or all modes to see increasing amounts of detail about your scene. For example, you can view animated textures and their associated animation files.
To return to Plain mode, you must deselect all other modes. All modes are added to the Plain mode.
- Plain Mode displays only the objects in your scene and their parenting links. This is the default mode displayed when all the other modes are deselected.
- Light Mode displays the lights and their links such as constraints, path animation, and selective lights. Links are labelled with the relation name.
- Model Mode displays the objects in your scene and shows links to paths, constraints, instances, modelling relation inputs, and so on. Links are labelled accordingly and are coloured yellow when you select the object to which it is connected.
- Motion Mode: In addition to the elements displayed in the Model mode, the Motion mode also displays links to animation files (shown as a parallelogram leaning left). In the Schematic window, you can associate an object to an animation file using the FcrvCopy -> Associate Anim./ Disassociate Anim. command. For more information about using animation files, see Animation Files in the Animating User's Guide.
- Matter Mode: In addition to the elements displayed in the Plain mode, the Matter mode also displays links to material and texture files (shown as parallelograms leaning right). You can associate material and texture elements to objects in the Schematic window by using the Mat_Oper and Txt_Oper menu cells.
OPEN/CLOSE
The OPEN/CLOSE option has two functions: it allows you to expand and collapse any hierarchy or sub-hierarchy to simplify the Schematic window, and it displays the Info Selection dialogue box for a selected item, which can be edited. Collapsing or opening hierarchy elements includes their materials and textures.
To activate the option, click its name in the title bar - the name turns red. Once it is activated, you can use the mouse buttons as follows:
- To collapse a hierarchy, middle-click a parent object. A collapsed hierarchy is displayed in the Schematic window as a box (representing the parent) with three lines beneath it. To expand the hierarchy again, left-click on this box.
- To display the Info Selection dialogue box (in which you can edit parameters) for an object which is not collapsed, click the object's icon.
To deactivate the OPEN/CLOSE option, click on it again.
- Note:
- If you have activated the OPEN/CLOSE option, you cannot translate objects within the Schematic window.
DEFCOL
This option applies the default colours to certain types of elements (see Colours). This option is useful for applying default colours to existing scenes. To turn on default colour for these elements as they are created, select the Default Colours option in the Schematic Layout dialogue box (see Schematic Layout).
CLEAN
This option reorders the schematic representation of the selected elements.
SOFTIMAGE 3D Reference - 18 APR 1996