Selecting objects in a complex scene

Selecting items can be difficult in a complex scene due to overlapping geometry that can obstruct your view. In Maya there are a number of ways to simplify this process.

• The Outliner shows the hierarchy of all objects in the scene as an indented list where child nodes are indented under their parent node. Useful for quickly navigating through the objects in the scene given that you know the objects’ hierarchy and names.

  Show > Objects lets you filter the nodes shown in the Outliner by various classifications such as Polygons, NURBS, and Lights. You can show different combinations of classifications. You can use the Create Entry option to store your filter in case you need to sort by the same criteria again.

• When viewing the scene from certain angles, objects may obscure each other making it difficult to select the object you want. Maya offers a number of different options to deal with this scenario.
  • Isolate Select – Lets you display only the selected items in the scene view. Useful to temporarily remove objects which may obstruct your view of the specific components you want to work with.

    You can use Isolate Select by selecting a set of components and selecting Show > Isolate Select > View Select.

  • Pick Chooser – When you click a space in the scene view that corresponds to overlapping objects a marking menu will appear listing these objects. You can then select the appropriate object from the marking menu. Useful as an alternative to modifying the scene when trying to select obscured objects.

    You can turn on the Pick Chooser by selecting the Pick Chooser option in Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences in the Settings > Selection section.

  • Selection Priority – When performing a marquee select over a model that contains multiple component types, Maya will select all the components of a single type within the marquee. You can modify the order that these components are chosen by modifying their order in the Selection Priority. Useful when you want to select all the components of a single type within a marquee.

    You can modify the Selection Priority by selecting Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences in the Settings > Selection section.

• Templating – Lets you make a group of objects unselectable while retaining a wireframe reference of them in the scene. Useful when you do not want to accidentally modify an object, but still need to see it for reference purposes.

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