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Selecting occluded textured geometric elements via the Viewer window

 
 
 

Selecting textured geometric elements in a dense scene via the Viewer window can be challenging and time consuming especially if the elements are occluded by other elements. You can change the camera view or use the Navigator window to access and select elements behind other elements but this workflow may be quite inefficient particularly with large scenes.

This release optimized the selection of occluded textured geometric elements by providing the following capabilities:

Keyboard shortcuts for selecting and displaying occluded textured geometric elements in the Viewer window

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts and User Interface (UI) elements associated with the selection and display of occluded textured geometric elements in the Viewer window. The keyboard shortcuts are supported in all default and custom cameras.

NoteAll keyboard shortcuts associated with actions within the Viewer window require the Viewer window to be in an active state.
Action Keyboard Shortcut UI Element State / Alternative to Keyboard Shortcut
To toggle the EZ Selection button on. Alt + Shift + A  

Enable the IDBufferPicking property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To toggle the EZ Selection button off. Alt + Shift + A  

Disable the IDBufferPicking property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To display the transparency threshold of textures. Shift + A

IDBufferDisplay

Enable the IDBufferDisplay property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To define the transparency threshold of textures. Shift + A + scroll mouse wheel

IDBufferPickingAlpha

Adjust the value of the IDBufferPickingAlpha property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To enable the selection override color for selecting occluded geometric elements. Alt + Shift + Q

SelectionOverride

Enable the SelectionOverride property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To disable the selection override color for selecting occluded geometric elements. Alt + Shift + Q

SelectionOverride

Disable the SelectionOverride property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To define the selection override color for selecting occluded geometric elements.

None

SelectionOverrideColor

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To define the selection override color transparency for selecting occluded geometric elements.

None

SelectionOverideTransparency

Adjust the value of the SelectionOverrideTransparency property in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To select and cycle through textured geometric elements with a selection override color. Click a geometric element and press Shift + 1 + scroll mouse wheel

None

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To cycle through textured geometric elements with a selection override color and hide the geometric elements in front of the selected geometric element. Click a geometric element and press Shift + 2 + scroll mouse wheel

None

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To hide textured geometric elements with a selection override color in front of the selected textured geometric element. Click a geometric element and press Shift + 2

None

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To show only the selected textured geometric element. Click a geometric element and press Shift + 3

None

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

To isolate the selected textured geometric element with a selection override color and then scroll through all the geometric element with a selection override color (one by one). Click a geometric element and press Shift + 3 + scroll mouse wheel

None

Define the selection override color in the SelectionOverrideColor property fields or button in the Renderer Properties Resources.

  • Selecting an occluded textured geometric element through alpha channels

    If you have a dense scene with many geometric elements and you need to select a partially occluded geometric element in the background, you can select an element in the background through the alpha channels of partially transparent textured geometric elements in the foreground using the Easy Selection button () in the Viewer toolbar or its keyboard shortcut Alt + Shift + A, and a combination of other keyboard shortcuts to speed up the selection process.

  • Selecting an occluded textured geometric element through alpha channels and selection override color via the API

    You can select textured geometric elements through their alpha channels or through a selection override color and transparency via an external device such as a hand-held camera. This enables you to have the option to select through alpha channels and specify the camera to use.

  • Selecting an occluded textured geometric element through partially transparent textures

    Similarly to selecting occluded geometric elements through alpha channels, you can select a geometric element in the background through partially transparent textured geometric elements in the foreground by using the Easy Selection button () in the Viewer toolbar or its keyboard shortcut (Alt + Shift + A), and by specifying the textures' transparency threshold.

  • Selecting an occluded textured geometric element by using a selection override color

    Similarly to selecting occluded geometric elements through alpha channels, you can select a geometric element in the background through partially transparent textured geometric elements in the foreground by using the Easy Selection button () in the Viewer toolbar or its keyboard shortcut (Alt + Shift + A), and by specifying the texture's selection override color. Setting a selection override color uses the textures' diffuse channel for the color override.

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