Navigation and Selecting Objects in Max. More like Rhino?

[apexmotion]

Hi,

We use Rhino exclusively for modelling and importing the models into Max. Being used to the Rhino method of selecting objects and navigation, we find it very difficult to switch back and forth to Max all the time. It seems that Max picks the wrong object that we expect half the time.

Is there a plugin or something that changes the navigation and object selection tools of Max to something more like Rhino/AutoCad? Any tips or links to good references for this?

Thanks for your time,

Rob

[mcvltd]

I think you'll just have to get used to selecting things by pressing the 'H' key and then scrolling down the list. This is the only way I know of.

...if only max was more like rhino....

Rob
(another rhino modeller)

[Paul Oblomov]

Hm... U can select anything u like. That's for sure Every Rh. toggle can be customized.

[studioDIM]

The way the max system selects is very simple, once you know what it does.

When you click in the viewport (and nothing is selected) it will raytrace from the mouse pointer into the scene, selecting first the objects closer, and cycling (provided the mouse hasn't moved) towards the farther ones.
When the mouse is moved away from the first click, into a very different area of the scene, the process will restart from the closer to the farther objects.
You can use selection sets and selection types (lights, geometry, curves and so on, and even a combination of any of these classes) to help you out with big numbers.
For instance, to select all splines (selectsplines in RhHino), just set the selection type to splines, and press ctrl+a.

Pressing H, as well, will give you a LOT of options for selection: filtering of entity types, and name wildcard matches are just two, but there's also selection sets and so on available.

I use both, and rhino ain't much better ( i personally loathe to have to click-click to select something: loop through, for the love of peace!!!! ), but of course that's entirely personal...

Lele

[Bathyscaph]

I think perhaps most people already know this but one good feature about max selections is that if you click and end up selecting the wrong object (because objects are overlapping in the viewport) you can click in the same spot again and max will choose a different object in that space. Max will attempt to get it right with subsequent clicks, cycling through each of the different objects that fall within range. It's very handy.

[studioDIM]

When you click in the viewport (and nothing is selected) it will raytrace from the mouse pointer into the scene, selecting first the objects closer, and cycling (provided the mouse hasn't moved) towards the farther ones.

yep, and that's precisely how it chooses what to select next.

Lele

[priad]

yeah it already know that we always want to select the other eheheh

[Neilg]

The way the max system selects is very simple, once you know what it does.

So how do you account for max selecting a completley different object to the one youre clicking on in heavy scenes, do you just learn the angle/distance imposed on it through the polycount?

Selecting objects in max simply doesnt work properly. It often completley ignores a couple of objects which its trying to cycle through too.

[studioDIM]

since it raytraces, it works slightly better when not in wireframe mode.
When in wireframe, try and pick an object's edge.

I don't quite know what you're all talking about, with max selecting the "wrong" object...
Here it works flawlessly whether i have 1000 or 10 million polys in a scene, and 2 or 20000 objects.

Lele

[Neilg]

Well, it doesnt happen much, and only in wireframe. Its like it thought I was clicking somewhere completley different, theres no relation to it at all.

I remember thinking the selections in rhino were incredibly clever, and not just from the drop down list. Max could do with selection memory too - if I select an object to do something in rhino (say, attach), and it got the wrong one, I could cancel then right click to repeat the command and it'd automatically pick the next one down for me. Max will just keep picking the same object over and over, as it seems to reset the raycasting when you cancel a command.

I'm used to max now, and I can use it as fast as I could rhino, but rhino was just a dream to use back in the day.

[glyph]

you can always use the selection floater to pick the object you want to attach...

[Neilg]

In a scene with a couple of thousand objects which arent named properly, its not the best option. Its actually how I do it in that situation, but having to deselect my mesh, click each thing I want and give it a new unique name to go back and attach is a pain, especially when the scene crawls to a halt every time you even click on something.
Before its brought up - I do name my objects, and I am fairly organised. 10 revisions and 6 merged xrefs later, with it having been stripped down too far and built back up again between 4 people, it gets messy.

Its an option, ive got no trouble with the workflow, but its not as easy or fast as rhino, which was my point.