Changing Interaction Preferences

 
 
 

When you start Softimage for the first time, you are prompted to choose an interaction mode for mouse and keyboard actions. You can change the interaction mode at any time.

Important

The different interaction mode set a variety of preferences, including which parameters are keyed by default. It is strongly recommended that you do not switch between modes while working because you might not actually be keying the parameters that you think you are keying.

For more information, see Selecting Which Keying Method to Use [Animation].

To switch interaction modes

  1. Choose File Interaction Mode.

  2. Choose an option from the left drop-down box.

  3. If your version of Softimage is part of an Autodesk suite, you can also choose which components will use this interaction mode from the right drop-down box.

  • Each mode simply sets the keyboard mapping as well as several preferences. If you prefer, you can change keyboard mappings and preferences individually.

The Recommended Choice

It is recommended that you choose the Softimage interaction mode because it is optimized for use with all Softimage tools. In particular, it makes the most efficient use of modifier keys like Shift, Ctrl, and Alt.

If you prefer to use the Alt key for camera navigation, you can set Use Alt key for view navigation in your Tools Camera preferences (File Preferences). You can also set Mouse Mapping to Maya to use the left mouse button to orbit, the middle mouse button to pan, and the right mouse button to zoom.

If You Used SOFTIMAGE|3D

If you are familiar with SOFTIMAGE|3D, you may be more comfortable either Softimage with Extended Component Selection or SI|3D. Both of these interaction modes mimic the selection methods used in SOFTIMAGE|3D. Other users will probably not find these modes intuitive.

If You Used Maya or 3ds Max

If you are familiar with other 3D software, you may be more comfortable with either the Maya or the 3ds Max interaction modes.

  • In Maya mode, the D key is used for many functions that use the Alt key in Softimage mode.
  • In 3ds Max mode, Alt+left-mouse-button is used for many functions that use the middle mouse button in Softimage mode.