Is there a toggle subdivision command in Softimage?

Inhert

I'm trying to find a command in Softimage where you can toggle between a subdivision surface and then back to poly mode. Similar to what Max has with the NURMS toggle subdivision but a Softimage version. I already know about the plus and minus keys to preview different levels of subdivision in Softimage. Would I have create a custom command in order for it work?

cryrid

I'm not familiar with how the NURMS toggle works.
+ and - would probably be the most used way for stepping up and down subdivisions in softimage. If you're looking to jump straight to a specific level and back instead of incrementally increasing it, then "geomapprox.gapproxmosl" and "geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl" will probably be the values you'll want to change.

Ark

Yeah the NURMS toggle should work exactly the same way as the + in XSI. Once in subdivision mode, Ctrl and + together will toggle between the low-poly and smoothed cages and are editable which I don't think you can do in Max. Alt and + together will toggle isoline display on and off.

You can also select your object and go to Selection > Geometry Approximation and click on the Polygon Mesh tab and set different levels of subdivision independently for viewport and rendering.

maze

yeah, seriously I ll stick with + and - is a loooot more elegant than max's subdiv... just a couple clicks.

Inhert

Thanks for the reply guys. Normally in max I set the number of subdivision to level 4 when I'm in NURMS mode. After that I just toggle the NURMS mode on and off while adding more edges either in vertex mode and edge mode if I wanted to get the desired crisps edges that I want out of my hard surfaces. I can also see the isoline for my base cage while in vertex or edge mode. I was hoping Softimage would have the same kind toggle functionality where I can preview the high subdivision level and then toggle back to the base cage mesh.

I guess plus and minus keys will have to do. I'll try what Ark suggested about Ctrl and + together and the Alt and + together. Might be what I was looking for. Thanks.

cryrid

Inhert wrote: »

Normally in max I set the number of subdivision to level 4 when I'm in NURMS mode. I was hoping Softimage would have the same kind toggle functionality where I can preview the high subdivision level and then toggle back to the base cage mesh. I guess plus and minus keys will have to do.

set subd = Selection(0)
if Getvalue (subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl")= "4" then
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", 0
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", 0
else
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", 4
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", 4
end if

You can assign that to a shortcut if you'd like.

Inhert

cryrid wrote: »

set subd = Selection(0)
if Getvalue (subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl")= "4" then
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", 0
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", 0
else
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", 4
SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", 4
end if

You can assign that to a shortcut if you'd like.

Thank you cryrid. I will try out the the code in Softimage. Thanks for your help.

Inhert

Also how does one add a command in Softimage? I have always been curious as to how to do this properly. I may have asked this in the past but I may have forgotten the answer.

Normally I could just open the code in the Script editor. Select the entire code. Then drag and drop the whole entire thing onto the "New Custom Toolbar..." window. It will then ask me if I want it to be "Script Button" or "Script Command (external file)". I would choose the "Script Command (external file)" option then just fill the needed boxes and I get a script command. Is this how you would create a script command in Softimage? Or is there a proper way of create a script command in Softimage?

Inhert

I just tried out the code cryrid wrote for a Geometry Approximation toggle and it doesn't seem to toggle back and forth between sub d mode and regular poly mode while in vertex or edge mode. I think the Ctrl and + is somewhat I was looking for in terms of seeing both the base cage geometry and the subdivided geometry previewed as Ark suggested.

cryrid

If you're looking for it to work regardless of the selection mode you can either change the script so that it looks for that, or you can go an alternative route and use two simple scripts.

IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision

and

DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision

Shift + "+" and shift + "-" seem to be free and would make good spots for them.

As for installing script commands, there are different ways of going about it. If its an exported file I drag it onto the script toolbard, or if its just text I might copy and paste it into the script editor.

Inhert

cryrid wrote: »

If you're looking for it to work regardless of the selection mode you can either change the script so that it looks for that, or you can go an alternative route and use two simple scripts.

IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision
IncreaseSubdivision

and

DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision
DecreaseSubdivision

Shift + "+" and shift + "-" seem to be free and would make good spots for them.

As for installing script commands, there are different ways of going about it. If its an exported file I drag it onto the script toolbard, or if its just text I might copy and paste it into the script editor.

So where would I put the code you mentioned above in the original code you gave me? So would it look something like this then:

Code:

set subd = Selection(0) if Getvalue (subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl")= "4" then SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", Decrease Subdivision SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", Decrease Subdivision else SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmosl", Increase Subdivision SetValue subd +".geomapprox.gapproxmordrsl", Increase Subdivision end if

Or just simply put this

Code:
IncreaseSubdivision IncreaseSubdivision IncreaseSubdivision IncreaseSubdivision

and

Code:
DecreaseSubdivision DecreaseSubdivision DecreaseSubdivision DecreaseSubdivision

individually and create a custom command for each of them right?

cryrid

Or just simply put this ...individually and create a custom command for each of them right?

That one.