Selection - Page 6

The importance of being able to select objects accurately increases as the complexity of your 3D creation increases. Strata has one method in particular that helps make accurate selection easier.

Create a few primitives in any view that are close enough together that they overlap in at least one view, naming each as you go. To name each primitive object, use the object palette, shown in Figure 20-3. Type in a name immediately after you create each primitive object, so that it is still selected. Another thing to notice in this image is the blue bounding box that shows an object as being selected.

Once you have several overlapping primitive objects in a particular view, switch to the move tool, shown in the next image. The hot key for the move tool is 1, and I suggest you use it. Using all available hot keys in complicated 3D software is all but an absolute necessity.

Move to the viewport where your primitives overlap and right- click on a spot where the objects overlap. You should see a context menu listing the objects that are in the direct line of view at this point, as in Figure 20-4.

In addition to this handy feature, you have all the same selection features you are accustomed to from 2D graphic art packages. For instance, you can drag a marquee around multiple objects to select them. You can also use SHIFT-select to add more objects to your selection.

You will want to remember the hot keys for grouping and ungrouping multiple objects. To group objects together, select them using a marquee drag or SHIFT-select and choose Modeling | Group or press CTRL-G. The blue bounding box expands to circumscribe all the objects in the group. To ungroup objects, choose Modeling | Ungroup or press CTRL-U.

Another tidy feature of selection is the ability to zoom in on a selection with CTRL+–. To zoom back out to show everything, use CTRL-=. The last bare essential function of selecting objects is hiding the objects you don't want to work on. This is easily managed in Strata. To hide an object, go to Selection | Hide Selection or press CTRL-3. To reveal all hidden objects, go to Selection | Show Hidden or press CTRL-4.

Views - Page 5
Macromedia Flash 5 Developer's Guide
Transformation Tools - Page 7