Selection commands appear on the quad menu, on the main toolbar, on the Edit menu, and on the status bar.
The Selection Lock Toggle is located on the status bar. Locking a selection is useful when you are doing a lot of editing on a selection, and don't want to select something else by mistake.
The simplest method of selection is to turn on Select Object mode, and then click an object in a viewport (or drag to surround the object). While the method is simple, it is not effective for selecting multiple objects, especially in a crowded scene. Other tools let you select objects by name, filter out the kinds of objects you want to select, and to create named selection sets you can select repeatedly.
Select Object lets you select an objects and sub-objects for manipulation.
This dialog, named Select From Scene or Select Objects in most contexts, lets you select or designate objects by choosing them from a list of all objects currently in the scene. Select From Scene is a modal, read-only version of Scene Explorer; you can’t use it to change object properties such as name and color. Other differences between Select From Scene and Scene Explorer include:
This modeless dialog lets you select objects in the scene. You can keep the dialog open while you work in your scene, making it easier to select objects.
The Selection Region flyout gives you five different ways to select objects within a particular area or volume. Clicking and holding on the Selection Region button opens a flyout containing the Rectangle, Circular, Fence, Lasso, and Paint Selection Region buttons, from top to bottom.
The Window/Crossing Selection toggle switches between window and crossing modes when you select by region.
The Selection Filter list lets you restrict to specific types and combinations of objects that can be selected by the selection tools. For example, if you choose Cameras, you can select only cameras with the selection tools. Other objects do not respond. When you need to select objects of a certain type, this is useful as a quick method of freezing all other objects.
Use the Filter Combinations dialog to create your own custom combinations of categories to add to the Selection Filters list.
The Named Selection Sets list allows you to name a selection set and recall the selection for later use. It supports selection sets both at the object level and at sub-object levels. You edit named object-level selection sets with the Named Selections Sets dialog and sub-object level sets with the Edit Named Selections dialog.
This command selects all objects in the scene matching the current selection filter type on the main toolbar.
This command deselects all objects in the scene conforming to the current selection filter type on the main toolbar.
This command inverts the current selection set. All objects not currently selected are selected, and all objects currently selected are deselected, respecting the current selection filter type on the main toolbar.
Select Similar automatically selects all items that are “similar” to the current selection. In general, this means that the objects must be on the same layer, and have the same material (or no material) applied. The specific functionality depends on the objects’ source:
The Select By submenu on the Edit menu provides commands for selecting objects in the scene by color, name, and other characteristics. It also gives quick access to the various Region selection options.
