Display is based on selection.
If you left-click to select in node mode, you'll likely only see selected nodes.
If you middle or right click to select, you'll see a branch or tree of selected
nodes.
In the schematic view you can isolate the selection with the 'e' key just like
in the explorer. Press 'w' to return to scene view, and 'y' to view the
current layer. To keep the schematic display clean I use 'draw parallel links'
and show 'operator links' beyond the default settings.
In general, the schematic view is for the macro view of the scene while the
scene explorer is for the micro view. The combination of the two should paint
the picture you're looking for. Use schematic to find relationships either by
links or by inspecting the letter codes above the nodes, use the scene explorer
to look at the details of the relationship. If you need programming
information, as mentioned in an earlier post you can use the SDK Explorer. The
SDK Explorer is mostly useful for developing new tools or for troubleshooting a
misbehaving operators such as an envelope which is missing deformers.
I typically put the scene explorer filter to 'all nodes' which gives a big dump
of information, but also allows you to see things that comprise the
relationships you may be looking for. By default Softimage shows friendly
cosmetic labels for names of properties, objects, and so on. Activating 'use
script names' tells Softimage to use the name used in code which is what you
see logged in the script editor. The 'parameter values' setting allows you to
see parameter values when the parameter is marked. You can also use shift +
select to highlight a range of parameters, and lock them using the marking menu
if you plan on changing selections frequently or use/view the same parameters
often. This is handy for viewing parameters which may not be displayed in a
property's or operator's PPG.
One view that is overlooked for this type of work is the spreadsheet view. The
default queries are pretty basic, but you can create your own to dig into the
scene a little deeper and make mass edits simple. You can isolate, select,
edit, and manipulate objects, properties, and parameter values from a central
location. The one thing lacking are callbacks to make the view respond to user
interaction.
To answer some of your specific questions:
1) How to find what is deformed by a Lattice
In the schematic view if you select the lattice you should see a link between
the lattice and the affected objects (assuming show > operator links is
active). If you select the link(s) and press <ALT + Up Arrow>, Softimage will
select the affected objects. To go the opposite direction will require some
custom work on your end. General rule of thumb is operators always live on the
slaves of any master/slave relationship. In this example the lattice is the
master and the affected objects are the slaves.
2) Navigating scene relationships.
A tool you can use in conjunction with schematic and explorer views are the
custom selection filters (small circular button with triangle icon near top of
MCP). When used as a selection filter, only objects satisfying the filter can
be selected in the 3D views and data views such as Schematic. 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). Once the lattices are found, press 'f' to frame them for
easier viewing (do 'reset all user positions' then press <CTRL + R> to make
viewing more pleasant).
If a selection filter is used in the scene explorer, then only objects
satisfying the filter criteria will be displayed in the scene explorer
(equivalent to manually selecting the objects and pressing 'e' to isolate
selection). By default the custom filters menu is hidden in the scene
explorer, therefore right-click the empty part to the right of the "?" button
and choose 'custom'. Clicking the circular button with the triangle will give
you access to the filters just like on the MCP. To view only lattices in the
scene, choose SE > [Filters] Filters > [Control Objects] Lattice.
If the selection filter is used from code, it will return only objects
satisfying the filter criteria (or not if you choose inverse behavior).
Example: Return all lattices in the scene
SIFilter( "*", siLatticeFilter, true, siQuickSearch );
Example 2: return everything except for lattices
SIFilter( "*", siLatticeFilter, false, siQuickSearch );
Example 3: run a custom selection filter registered as "MyCustomFilter"
SIFilter( "*", "MyCustomFilter", true, siQuickSearch );
Basically, navigation in Softimage is a layered approach as the supporting
tools do niche tasks which are expected to be used in a sequence to get what
you want. This allows the tools to remain simple, generic, and multi-purpose.
It's not like Maya where you have 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: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sergio Mucino
Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 10:46 AM
To: [email protected]
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
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> 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
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> 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
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> 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, 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
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(954) 552-7956
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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