The XSI Explorer

 
 
 

The XSI explorer presents a two-pane view of your scene. The left pane shows an explorer view that lets you quickly navigate through your scene and select an element. The right pane shows a different view of the selected element. You can set the right pane to show a schematic view, object view, texture editor, image clip viewer, property editor, render tree view, or another more finely detailed explorer view.

A

Choose which elements to list in the left pane.

B

Use the explorer on the left to select an element to view on the right.

C

Drag the splitter bar to resize the panes, or click the triangle to hide and unhide the left pane.

D

Use the Viewer menu to choose different views for the right pane.

NoteMany options you set in the XSI explorer are stored in your preferences and reused the next time you start Softimage.

Opening an XSI Explorer View

You can open an XSI explorer view in a viewport or as a floating window, the same as with most the Softimage views.

NoteWhen you first open an XSI explorer, the right pane is empty. Select an option from the Viewer menu first.

To open the XSI explorer in a viewport

  • Click on a viewport's Views menu and choose XSI Explorer.

To open the XSI explorer in a floating window

  • Choose View General XSI Explorer from the main menu.

Choosing a Viewer

Use the Viewer menu to choose what to display in the right pane. These other views are described elsewhere in the Autodesk Softimage documentation.

Most of the views add their own commands to the XSI explorer command bar. However, the explorer does not. Also, be aware that when an explorer is displayed in the right pane, the command bar affects only the explorer in the left pane.

In floating windows, the name of the current viewer is displayed in the title bar.

Choosing an Element to View

Use the explorer in the left pane to select an element to view in the right pane. You can use the command bar to control which elements are listed in the left pane — for more information see The Explorer.

The element displayed in the right pane changes only when you use the left pane to select something else. The right pane does not respond when you select a new element outside of the XSI explorer. This lets you use the XSI explorer to focus on a specific object without losing it while you work on something else.

Making the XSI Explorer Update Automatically

If you want the XSI explorer to update automatically when you select something in another view, set the scope of the left pane to Selection. In this mode, you can still lock the view to prevent it from updating automatically, as well as update it manually when it is locked.

A

When Scope = Selection, the left pane updates automatically when you select something in the other views as long as Lock (B) is off. This causes the right pane to update in turn.

B

Use Lock to prevent the left pane from updating.

C

Use Update to force the XSI Explorer to update when it is locked.

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