Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
nice trick! On 9/18/2013 5:43 PM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene,
RE: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
It will also select above the scene root - which is not a problem for lattices as lattices cannot exist above the scene root, but other types like custom properties can. Matt From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Christian Gotzinger Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 10:02 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software) Just a quick tip: you can also press Ctrl+A, which always respects your selection filter. If the filter is set to lattice, Ctrl+A selects all lattices in the scene. For example, if you want to find all lattices in the scene, you can set the selection filter to lattice then do a rectangular selection around the entire scene (or in schematic view). -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Just a quick tip: you can also press Ctrl+A, which always respects your selection filter. If the filter is set to lattice, Ctrl+A selects all lattices in the scene. For example, if you want to find all lattices in the scene, you can set the selection filter to lattice then do a rectangular selection around the entire scene (or in schematic view). -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Thanks a lot for the suggestions! This does indeed get me somewhere. Cheers! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Matt Morris wrote: Also rather than having the object selected, have the operator (ie lattice op) selected in the explorer, and it will show just that link in the schematic. On 18 September 2013 16:05, David Barosin dbaro...@gmail.com mailto:dbaro...@gmail.com wrote: Try the SDK explorer (Object Details tab). (ctrl + shift + 4, using softimage keymap) It will list the port connections. You can select the operators (i.e. envelope, lattice) and it will list the objects/deformers connected. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com mailto:softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Hi Sergio, I know where you're coming from but in Softimage it's not quite like the nodal graph inside Maya. The Schematic view hints at that concept, but it's kinda meh. Do you know if you enable Relations in the eyeball menu (at the top of any viewport) it will visually show links between operators visually? If you have something latticed, selecting the latticed mesh will tell you that lattice - latticeObjectName and you can even select it and it will select the relevant operator. (If it becomes visually overwhelming, you can just isolate your viewport to one mesh from the camera menu, Isolate Selection.) It doesn't quite work both ways (like selecting a lattice and getting what meshes are hooked to it) but it's still very useful. About the XML dump of the connection stack that Eric mentioned, look in the docs for DataRepository.GetConnectionStackInfo. It gives you an XML description of all links (in both directions I think.) Cheers and welcome to Softimage, -- Alan On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Getting used to new software is no picnic, for sure. Although much of what you need it familiarity with the interface, shortcut keys are a BIG part of my personal workflow. In the example that you give, the XSI Explorer, with the scene root selected, will give you almost any relationship that you are looking for. In the front, top, or any scene view window, pressing the space bar allows you to select your object. Moving the cursor to the XSI Explorer and pressing the f key will instantly show the selected object. That way you can see the relationship to any other objects (constraint, parenting, etc). This saves having to manually navigate the hierarchy. Just one tip, but I hope this helps. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- Best Regards, * Stephen P. Davidson** **(954) 552-7956 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com *Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic* - Arthur C. Clarke http://www.3danimationmagic.com -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Thanks Alan! This is useful too. It's a bit difficult to read what's going on, since there's a lot going on in my viewports, but it may come in handy for sure for times when I do isolate stuff (I'm doing that quite a bit to inspect rigs that are already created). I'll check on the XML dump, but it seems that everyone's suggestions have gotten me out of the hole I was in. I really appreciate it. I'll keep moving forward, even if at a snail's pace (for now :-) ). Cheers! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:19 AM, Alan Fregtman wrote: Hi Sergio, I know where you're coming from but in Softimage it's not quite like the nodal graph inside Maya. The Schematic view hints at that concept, but it's kinda meh. Do you know if you enable Relations in the eyeball menu (at the top of any viewport) it will visually show links between operators visually? If you have something latticed, selecting the latticed mesh will tell you that lattice - latticeObjectName and you can even select it and it will select the relevant operator. (If it becomes visually overwhelming, you can just isolate your viewport to one mesh from the camera menu, Isolate Selection.) It doesn't quite work both ways (like selecting a lattice and getting what meshes are hooked to it) but it's still very useful. About the XML dump of the connection stack that Eric mentioned, look in the docs for DataRepository.GetConnectionStackInfo. It gives you an XML description of all links (in both directions I think.) Cheers and welcome to Softimage, -- Alan On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene,
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Also rather than having the object selected, have the operator (ie lattice op) selected in the explorer, and it will show just that link in the schematic. On 18 September 2013 16:05, David Barosin dbaro...@gmail.com wrote: Try the SDK explorer (Object Details tab). (ctrl + shift + 4, using softimage keymap) It will list the port connections. You can select the operators (i.e. envelope, lattice) and it will list the objects/deformers connected. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- www.matinai.com -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Thanks a lot Stephen! I'm definitely using as many as possible. I'm already comfortable with the Explorer and I can move fast within it. I just wasn't able to get all the info I needed from it, but it looks like I can now. Thanks a lot for your help! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:47 AM, Stephen Davidson wrote: Getting used to new software is no picnic, for sure. Although much of what you need it familiarity with the interface, shortcut keys are a BIG part of my personal workflow. In the example that you give, the XSI Explorer, with the scene root selected, will give you almost any relationship that you are looking for. In the front, top, or any scene view window, pressing the space bar allows you to select your object. Moving the cursor to the XSI Explorer and pressing the f key will instantly show the selected object. That way you can see the relationship to any other objects (constraint, parenting, etc). This saves having to manually navigate the hierarchy. Just one tip, but I hope this helps. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com mailto:softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- Best Regards, * Stephen P. Davidson** **(954) 552-7956 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com /Any sufficiently advanced technology
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Try the SDK explorer (Object Details tab). (ctrl + shift + 4, using softimage keymap) It will list the port connections. You can select the operators (i.e. envelope, lattice) and it will list the objects/deformers connected. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:47 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the scene, I'd love to hear that too. I appreciate any help or pointers anyone might have. Thanks a lot for your time! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email. -- To unsubscribe: mail softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with subject unsubscribe and reply to the confirmation email.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Good one, David. I missed that in over 20 years of using Softimage! Well, ok ...13 years using the XSI interface. You just showed me my new favorite tool. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Thanks for asking the question, Sergio. Learning something new, every day, is what this business is all about. The value of this list is constantly reaffirmed. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:43 AM, David Barosin dbaro...@gmail.com wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily. The only way I've found so far has been to use the Schematic View. If I turn on all the Links (for the selected object only, of course. Otherwise, I just get a noodle soup), with my geo selected I can see links going to different objects in the scene. I had to track down each link (which in a scene this size took a lot of scrolling, especially since zooming out gets rid of the names on the links) until I found the link that had Lattice written on it. Then I could follow it and find the scene object that the Lattice operator refers to. I would like to know if there's a more efficient way of navigating scene relationships than this. I'm sure than being completely new to the software, I'm missing a lot. I've tried googling around, and asking people at work, but haven't been able to uncover much. If someone has some pointers towards getting stuff done faster, I'll be very glad to hear them. Just for information purposes only, I'm trying to get the same information I'd get my graphing an object in the Maya Hypergraph... a view or list of all relationships for the selected object(s). If this is not possible (I understand Softimage might have a totally different way of doing quite a few things), if someone else could describe how they tend to work to find their way in the
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
are the objects part of a hierarchy? The schematic view does show the entire hierarchy, normally. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster folder for my object, and check its properties, I get nothing. There seems to be no way I can get to the actual Lattice object in the scene deforming this cluster easily.
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Yeah, but that's the thing... for some objects, it displays the entire hierarchy, whereas for other objects (I tested with a direct sibling) it just displays the selected object and its relationships. I cannot find any logic into why sometimes Softimage will decide to display everything. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 1:43 PM, Stephen Davidson wrote: are the objects part of a hierarchy? The schematic view does show the entire hierarchy, normally. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far,
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way).
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com mailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's deformations (I'd rather not lose my selection, just get a list of the objects used as deformers, but I'm ok with Softimage working this way). However, the Lattice is an entirely different story. If I select the Lattice operator and inspect its properties, the only reference I can find in the Properties dialog is to its cluster. If I then find that cluster in the Cluster
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
does that sibling have other siblings? If not, that would be correct. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Yeah, but that's the thing... for some objects, it displays the entire hierarchy, whereas for other objects (I tested with a direct sibling) it just displays the selected object and its relationships. I cannot find any logic into why sometimes Softimage will decide to display everything. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 1:43 PM, Stephen Davidson wrote: are the objects part of a hierarchy? The schematic view does show the entire hierarchy, normally. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being deformed by a Lattice, and an Envelope Operator. I need to find the actual scene objects that are driving these deformations. For the Envelope Op, I know I can go to Deform/Envelope/Select Deformer from Envelope, and it will select in the scene the objects that are driving the envelope's
RE: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
everything-and-the-kitchen-sink in one place for a dedicated purpose. In softimage you select object(s) in the viewports or schematic, then isolate or view the details in the scene explorer or press ATL + Enter to view the information in a PPG. Support tools such as custom filters, spreadsheet, or the built-in navigation tools can make the process really fast even for large scenes. Matt From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sergio Mucino Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:46 AM To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com Subject: Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software) Yeah, but that's the thing... for some objects, it displays the entire hierarchy, whereas for other objects (I tested with a direct sibling) it just displays the selected object and its relationships. I cannot find any logic into why sometimes Softimage will decide to display everything. Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 1:43 PM, Stephen Davidson wrote: are the objects part of a hierarchy? The schematic view does show the entire hierarchy, normally. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.commailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.commailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.commailto:sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- Sergio Mucino Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA
Re: Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
selecting hierarchies has mouse button options... left mouse (with space) selects node...middle mouse button selects the branch and the right mouse button selects the tree or chain. is that what is going on? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 2:33 PM, Stephen Davidson magic...@bellsouth.netwrote: does that sibling have other siblings? If not, that would be correct. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 1:46 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.comwrote: Yeah, but that's the thing... for some objects, it displays the entire hierarchy, whereas for other objects (I tested with a direct sibling) it just displays the selected object and its relationships. I cannot find any logic into why sometimes Softimage will decide to display everything. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 1:43 PM, Stephen Davidson wrote: are the objects part of a hierarchy? The schematic view does show the entire hierarchy, normally. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Ok, it's interesting. It's only doing this for certain objects. It's not doing it for others. I'll have to look into why for some objects, the entire scene hierarchy is displayed, and not for others. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:52 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No change. I guess some preference somewhere got ticked off. I'll see if I can locate it... *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:46 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: No. It just highlights them in the Schematic View. If I bring up a floating window of the XSI Explorer using the shortcut, it shows the same. I'll try deleting it from the layout and see what happens. *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:45 PM, David Barosin wrote: If you select objects in the related explorer on the left does it filter properly? On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Well, I don't know why, but after embedding the XSI Explorer into a Layout Panel, now it displays the standard Schematic view with everything displayed, instead of the 'filtered' one with only the selected object and its relatioships. I've been trying to locate which filter I might have turned off in the menus, unsuccessfully. Any pointers? Thanks everyone! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 12:24 PM, Sergio Mucino wrote: This is awesome! This gives me what I was looking for. Thanks a lot David! *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:43 AM, David Barosin wrote: You can sort of get that with the XSI Explorer - (alt + 8) and set the viewer menu's display to schematic. On Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 11:21 AM, Sergio Mucino sergio.muc...@modusfx.com wrote: Thanks Eric! Yes, the Hypergraph can get complicated, but I'm used to finding my way through it rather reasonably. I was actually thinking about the scripting side of things... I'm not sure how scriptable the behavior of the Schematic View is, but if I could get it to only display the selected node and any other connected nodes and hide the rest, that would already get me a long way towards a happier healthier life :-) . I will do the search you suggested. Thanks again! -- *Sergio Mucino* Lead Rigger Modus FX On 18/09/2013 11:12 AM, Eric Thivierge wrote: Schematic view is probably as close to the Hypergraph workflow you're going to get honestly. If your rig structure is clean and organized it shouldn't be too bad to deal with. I will say that even the Hypergraph can get a bit soupie. You may need to write yourself some scripts to present the data to you in a way you understand. If I recall there was a command that you can get the connection info in xml form that shows the 2 way connections and parse it from there. Check the google group archive and search for Alan Fregtman's post about it. I think it's been discussed a few times before. Eric T. On September-18-13 10:47:28 AM, Sergio Mucino wrote: Hello. I have a very basic question for anyone who might be able to help. I just got started using Softimage, and I'm having the usual problems anyone faces when starting to use new software they're not familiar with (just for background information purposes, I'm coming from Maya and Max. I state this just so that it gives you an idea of the language I might be using). One of the things that I'm having a hard time right now is navigating scene relationships. I'm trying to find a tool that will help me to efficiently find scene relationships, and so far, I haven't found an easy way to navigate these relationships. I'm trying to find my way through someone else's files, and finding what's related to each object is a bit of a PITA at this point. I'm using the Explorer as a starting point, but it doesn't get me there the entire way. Let me give you an example. I've got a mesh selected. In the Explorer, I can see it's being
