3ds max user learning XSI
Hi there,
I find myself learning XSI lately for work reasons, and being really used to 3ds max... I have some questions about some stuff I couldnt figure out yet. If you can help me that ll be great. I really feel that XSI is great, even though I dont know that much yet, but it does seem very intuitive.
Ok here it goes:
1) How do I select polygon faces from edge selection like in max. Yeah maybe this wont make that much sense in xsi because raycast mode works a lot better than max to select polygons, but still want to know if this is possible.
What I mean is when you select lets say a ring in 3ds max, and then CTRL + click on the polygon icon you get the polygons in the ring selected.
2) How do I select multiple loops, in max I usually select many edges and then loop them all at the same time (ALt+L) but in XSI I have to middle mouse click for a loop which is great, but when I try to select another one I lose my loop previous loop selection. Is there like a ALT + L like max? or something similar?
3) Ok, now this bothers me, hopefully I just didnt find the good way to do it. Edge connection. In max I am provided with a menu to a) add connection edges, and b)space the new edges, then accept the operation.
In XSI I found 2 operators to do this separetly. Subdivide polygon/edges will allow me to connect edges, but not to space them and this is really important, not to go space each one then by hand, as its time consuming. If you know the good way to do this like max let me know!
4) Slide edge, like SHift + x in max
5) Frame vertex (I guess I should say point now!) edge or polygon. In max clicking "z" while selecting any of those will frame me close to the selection. In XSI even when I have a selection I click "a" but the framing is in regards to the whole object. This is useful when I need to zoom quick by selection, so it ll be cool to know how to do that in XSI.
6) Borders? please dont tell me xsi dont use borders... couldnt find it yet..
I am typing as long as I am tweaking around, so I ll probably have some more questions. Hopefully some of the xsi people here can help me a bit, thanks!
..Also REALLY missing soulburn scripts...but I guess there is no solution for that. (btw I am using 3ds max keyboard setup in XSI) but XSI interaction.
I find myself learning XSI lately for work reasons, and being really used to 3ds max... I have some questions about some stuff I couldnt figure out yet. If you can help me that ll be great. I really feel that XSI is great, even though I dont know that much yet, but it does seem very intuitive.
Ok here it goes:
1) How do I select polygon faces from edge selection like in max. Yeah maybe this wont make that much sense in xsi because raycast mode works a lot better than max to select polygons, but still want to know if this is possible.
What I mean is when you select lets say a ring in 3ds max, and then CTRL + click on the polygon icon you get the polygons in the ring selected.
2) How do I select multiple loops, in max I usually select many edges and then loop them all at the same time (ALt+L) but in XSI I have to middle mouse click for a loop which is great, but when I try to select another one I lose my loop previous loop selection. Is there like a ALT + L like max? or something similar?
3) Ok, now this bothers me, hopefully I just didnt find the good way to do it. Edge connection. In max I am provided with a menu to a) add connection edges, and b)space the new edges, then accept the operation.
In XSI I found 2 operators to do this separetly. Subdivide polygon/edges will allow me to connect edges, but not to space them and this is really important, not to go space each one then by hand, as its time consuming. If you know the good way to do this like max let me know!
4) Slide edge, like SHift + x in max
5) Frame vertex (I guess I should say point now!) edge or polygon. In max clicking "z" while selecting any of those will frame me close to the selection. In XSI even when I have a selection I click "a" but the framing is in regards to the whole object. This is useful when I need to zoom quick by selection, so it ll be cool to know how to do that in XSI.
6) Borders? please dont tell me xsi dont use borders... couldnt find it yet..
I am typing as long as I am tweaking around, so I ll probably have some more questions. Hopefully some of the xsi people here can help me a bit, thanks!
..Also REALLY missing soulburn scripts...but I guess there is no solution for that. (btw I am using 3ds max keyboard setup in XSI) but XSI interaction.
Replies
2) You can use hold shift to keep selections
3) dicing?
4) m + the magnet icon = sliding with faces points and edges
5) f = frame or focus at least on the normal settings
6) Dunno what you are talking about.
I'd suggest learning the xsi keyboard short cuts cause they are really well layed out.
Thanks for the quick reply, I really appreciate man.
1) For the 1st one I just found out its called "select adjacent" in xsi...
2) cool thanks!
3) where can I find that, dont see it in right click
4) I ll find that magnet icon, thanks.
5) awesome works perfect!
6) eehh... In max you can select borders, like open polygons, and then cap them (like filling a hole). something like add polygon I guess.
Thanks again!
1. Top-right of the screen, there's a menu for selection. If you have edges selected for example, you could go to select > adjacent > select adjacent polygons.
2. Holding ctrl toggles (adds or deselects), holding shift always adds to the selection, and holding ctrl+shift always deselects.
3. Excluding the possibility of plugins/ICE, you can either subdivide an edge and have it evenly space them, split an edge with split control which gives you a slider for where you place it along the edge (but can only add one loop at a time), or you can use the mouse to slide a vertex along an edge with ] and mmb to determine where you want the loop (but again, only one at a time).
4. The magnet thing is probably what you're looking for, but I'll chip in and say another very useful thing with the tweak components tool (m) is using the middle-mouse button to select a reference (like another edge or polygon). I love that thing so much.
5. Think F to Frame the selected component, A for framing All objects, and R to reset the camera. This generally works for every window whether you're modeling in the viewport, wanting to zoom in on something in the uv editor, a keyframe in the f-curves, a node in the render tree, etc. The camera controls are nicely consistent like this.
6. Again on the right, there are options for setting filters (looks like a tiny circle with a downward arrow, arround the buttons for edges, points, polygons, etc). If you're in edge selection mode for example, you can use that button to filter border edges only. This comes in handy for other filters as well (ngons only, polygon islands, etc)
Edit: I took way too long to post this.
Dice polygons? I'm not sure its exactly what you are looking for
4) I ll find that magnet icon, thanks.
m brings up the tweak tool and it should show up on the bottom of the active window
6) eehh... In max you can select borders, like open polygons, and then cap them (like filling a hole). something like add polygon I guess.
I always use n for capping (also known as the add polygon tool)
I am just a bit frustrated about number 3. Being two different operations and not one, maybe its just I am used to a different workflow. In max this is specially useful when doing high polys to reinforce edges quickly, not adding one loop, adjust, then add another adjust.... If you know any script to accelerate this this I will be keen to take a look. Thanks.
This is what I meant by n3. In max.
How do you do something like path deform (model something and then make it follow a spline/line shape)
how to toggle xray mode on the fly
and lastly how to toggle subdivisions (in max I have setup "a" to toggle nurms subdivisions at 2 iterations with one click, so I go from low to high poly and viceversa) XSI is awesome with + and - but maybe there is a way to simply toggle high and low subdivisions as I explained. Thanks again!
If you mean having the entire model following it like an animation, you can do a path constrain. The constrain menu is on the lower right, you'd probably want Contrain> Curve(Path). If you mean for modeling, you could select the component and right-click, there should be an option for extruding along curves.
You could give it a shortcut if you want. If it's not in the keymapping menu, a simple script like this could be created and bound to a key.
if getvalue ("Camera.camdisp.xrayshaded") = "False" then
setValue "Camera.camdisp.xrayshaded", True
else
setValue "Camera.camdisp.xrayshaded", False
end if
If you really find it faster than hitting ++, then I could suggest another similar script to bounce the geomapprox.gapproxmosl value back and forth between 0 and 2.
I will try to get used to edge connection the way you ve proposed me, and thanks for that script I ll use it now. Have a good one! I guess it does make sense to adjust to XSI workflow rather than using all my max workflow inside XSI.
thanks again
Why is that when I try to select polygons with the square marquee, I am not selecting all of the polygons inside the "marquee selection" itself but only a few. Is there a way to change this?
As for selecting like that, it's kind of like zbrush where you have to encompass the entire face to select it, at least by default.
"When selecting polygon or edge components, the behavior is controlled by the Surround Polygons and Surround Edges options under Rectangle Select Options in your Tools > Select preferences. If this option is off, the tool selects all components that are wholly or partly enclosed; if it is on, the tool selects only those components that are wholly enclosed. "
ehh.. I tried using your script but my xsi script abilities are null..
I open the script editor, then paste the script, change to VBScript, then run.
But nothing happened. Do I need to be in object selection mode, and not point, edge...polygon?
Also how do I create a keyboard shortcut for a script like this?
Thanks a lot once more.
I am trying to achieve extrude by "local normal" and I tried playing with the values in XSI (x,y,z) but havent got the simple result I wanted. Any clues?
(Note: Actually, this also assumes we're talking about the same kind of XRay... what exactly does XRay do in 3DS Max? In XSI you wont notice an effect unless there are bones/nulls/implicit geometry).
As for the script, you could save it somewhere on your computer as a .vbs file. In the lower left hand corner of XSI there are 3 buttons (menus, a paintbrush, and a palette). Select the palette, and then drag and drop the .vbs file there. You'll have the option to give it a name, and say if it supports key assignments. If so, then you'll find it in the Keyboard Mapping screen under Custom Script Commands. When you're closing XSI it'll ask if you want to save the scripts, say yes and then it'll always be there when you restart.
Edit: Modify> Deform > Push creates that effect
As for the script what I meant by xray is like when you go to "display options" > Xray mode > Screen. I will like to toggle that while modeling in the "user" view if its possible?
setValue "*.camdisp.xraytype", 1
if getvalue ("camera.camdisp.xrayshaded") = "False" then
setValue "*.camdisp.xrayshaded", True
setValue "Views.View*.*.camdisp.xrayshaded", True
else
setValue "*.camdisp.xrayshaded", False
setValue "Views.View*.*.camdisp.xrayshaded", False
end if
That should work for every viewport, and multiple cameras. The only requirement is that there is at least one camera named Camera.
Now I'll practice some and see how this goes, have a good day and thanks lot again!
http://www.stefandidak.com/2002/05/stefan-didaks-3ds-max-to-softimage-xsi-transition-tips/
Also I think the equivalent of FF4 box deform, is 'lattice' in XSI. But I am not sure how it works, usually in max you do a vertex selection (points) and then apply FF4. when I do a selection inXSI and apply deform by lattice, it asks me to pick something. Not sure if this applies to the whole object or the selection only. Hope I am clear..
The 'deform by lattice' method is more or less for deforming a mesh to an existing lattice (good for animation)
and...lastly!!! when trying to merge two objects, going to create, polymesh -- Merge. I merge the objects, but I end up with clones as well (two times the object) I just want to merge them not duplicate them, this is normal?
As for merging, there is a delete button the the Merge PPG window. It'll freeze the resulting mesh and delete the inputs leaving you with only the result. Otherwise if you keep and alter the originals, the merged result would update as well.
Are you using 2012? Be sure to at some point check out ICE modeling, hella powerful stuff for environment artists! If you're a bit technically inclined of course.
The UV editor will hurt your brain though, pretty weak tools, although the regularize command in 2012 is pretty rad.
I was wondering if there is a way to lock or freeze vertices (points) in Softimage? The reason I ask is because I want to modify the topology and vertices without disturbing the middle seam essential for symmetry modeling. I really don't want to have select all vertices in the middle and realign them again after editing my geometry. Maya has this native feature called Reflection Settings under the Select Tool menu where it preserves the middle seam of model to prevent the vertices from moving in the x axis but allows you move the y and z axis. 3ds Max has a similar feature called Shift under the Freeform menu where you call tell Shift to freeze certain edges according to which axis you want to freeze.
If anyone has a plugin or script that can do this one simple task please share. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
So, if you enable symmetry on the YZ plane, X movement is blocked.
A small note on symmetry mode though, moving verts and edges works perfectly fine, but changing actual topology does not reflect in symmetry. So if you want that to work as well, delete half of your mesh, create a clone (an instance in Max I think), invert it's scale in X and lock it's selectabilty.
If you then work on your original half in symmetry mode, everything is reflected on that clone. In the end, you just merge those two together, or symmetrize the polygons of your original, whatever floats your boat I guess.
(It's self-referencing, so set it up once and it's ready to be packaged as a compound for even quicker use on future models).
Basically just select the verts along the middle of the model that you want to lock, and create a new point-cluster. Apply the Ice Compound and it's done. The ICE tree looks up the position of the verts in this cluster, multiples the X axis value by 0, and then feeds it back. The Y/Z values are left alone so they are free to change however you want, and the rest of the points that aren't in the cluster are also left alone, free to be manipulated in all directions. You can easily change the axis if you didn't want to use X as the mirror.
Worth noting, I also threw the ice tree operator in some other stack instead of modeling. That way you can hit 'freezeM' and the ICEtree is still preserved.
Edit: I decided to upload the compound for convenience, in case it looks less daunting than the exploded view.
hey maph, yeah using 2012, havent got my head around ice modelling tools yet. To be frank dont even know what is that, haha. For now I just want to gain the same speed as I have in max. My xsi keyboard layout is 70% custom. I actually started with the "3ds max compatible" mode and then expand further on keyboard shortcuts... Now I am all fucked up, when I go back to max and try hitting "s" for navigation unconsiously...until, wait a min...ok oh sh$# I am in max... Then same again when I go back to xsi... guess it ll take a week more.
But so far its going fast, specially with that "split edge" tool middle click + [ , that speeds things up a lot.
Something that took me some time until I realized I was doing it the wrong way is the "s" navigation button, I was pushing it and then pushing it back to go out of navigation and select
vertices, edges, polygons....and finding that tedious, but then I had this "light bulb" moment, when I realize you just need to hold "s" then release it to keep on selection mode... (sounds stupid but took me some hours... I was like aaahhh damn that works fine now..ha)
I still haven't figure out symmetry correctly, I tried "duplicate single" but thats like a copy not symmetry? so not sure how to symetrize something. And also, is there a way to instance something? Lets say you have a "master" object and all the changes done to that object, reflect on its instances? Does that make sense? Thanks!!!!
If you want to duplicate an entire mesh symmetrically, the option is in the file menu under edit (Edit > Duplicate / Instantiate > Duplicate Symmetry). That's duplicate mind you, so it's just creating a new / separate mesh that happens to be symmetrical (you can also merge if you want them to be the same mesh, that's what I do). If you just want to duplicate components on the same mesh without creating a second object, there's also the option to 'symmetrize polygons' under Modify>Polymesh. It's not something I've used a lot as I didn't even know of its existence until recently.
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/xsidocs/polys_SymmetrizingPolygons.htm
http://softimage.wiki.softimage.com/index.php/Symmetrical_Modeling_Setup
Instancing options are in the same place (Edit > Duplicate / Instantiate). Normally I just turn the mesh(es) into a model (select them and go create>model>new model), and then use Ctrl+I to create an instance of it.
It was originally introduced as a node based particle editor, but it's so much more then that. You can modify geometry, create your own deformers, cloth and IK solvers, etc... you name it.
In 2012, you can now also create geometry procedurally. This is pretty interesting for a modular building approach. You create the building blocks once, and reuse them in ICE to build unique and (this is the important part here) fully dynamic assets. Saves you a lot of time instead of setting it all up by hand.
But like I said, you need to be technically inclined for ICE, the procedural paradigm is a tough one to grasp. Just try out PLE of Houdini to know what I mean.
The S thing is the whole sticky key situation of Softimage. That concept holds true of most interactive tools. If you're in a particular mode, you can momentarily "overrule" that mode with another. Ie. you're translating something but you also need to quickly rotate something whilest you're at it, tap V to enter translation mode, then tap and hold C to enter rotate mode until you let go of the C key, when you do; you're back in translation mode.
Keep in mind that this does not work for picking modes (except holding the S key of course) and most other linear tools like bevels, insets, etc...
You need to press "Clone single". Duplicate single creates a copy, not a clone. Clones have a reference to their original until you freeze their modeling stack. Also note, that you can edit a clone's topology while still retaining the link to the original object, which is rad.
Instancing in XSI terms is slightly different then Max's... You can only create instances of Models. And models are sort of like a "scene inside a scene" concept.
You can place anything you want under a model, be it geometry, lights, bones, custom properties, etc... And all of that can be instantiated by selecting said model and pressing ctrl+i.
To create a model, all you need to do is select whatever objects you want to be in that model and go to the modeling toolbar>Create>Model>New Model. Or you can always not select anything, create a new model anyway and just drag and drop stuff under that model via the scene explorer (8 on your keyboard).
Models are kind of a big topic in Softimage, and it's a tad too much to explain all of it here, so I suggest hitting the docs for some more info.
Reference models in particular are very powerful!
cyrid: Isn't ICE cool?
P.S. Yes I have posted a similar question about locking or freezing the middle seam vertices on other forums. I hope that is not considered trolling. I just wanted to get some answers.
The compound can be saved anywhere, as long as you can conveniently find it when the import window pops up asking you to pick a file (you may want to try importing a compound first just so you know what directory it defaults to).
Once you have the mesh with the point cluster, just select the mesh and hit alt+9 to open the Ice Tree window. In there go to Create>Ice Tree to create the first node, and then Compound>Import Compound to load the file. Plug it in like the picture shows, and you're pretty much done. There's still the optional step of draging the operator to a different stack, which can be done in the same window (there's an explorer on the right)
cryrid is it possible for me to pm you instead so I can show you if I did it right or wrong. Hopefully pming you the attachment image file thing works so I can show you. Thanks
For the symmetry I end up doing a shortcut for "clone single without options" for me CTRL+SHIFT + C works good, then I scale negative. Its ok now.
I have some more questions, hope you guys can help me out again, thanks in advanced.
1. I thought it was ok going to tools, selection and removing surround polygons/edges. But I find out its not working like I wish to. I simply want to select whatever is in my selection range once, and not worry about selecting missing faces. Like in this example:
2. Also I am having some trouble with the "move" tool, it snaps to hard when trying to move something. like when trying to move vertices if I simply click one of the arrows in the "move" tool all of the selected vertices (points) will snap to that click. I will like to desactivate that,
in max you can move the vertices without them snapping straightly when you touch the move tool. I am not sure if you can change this.
3. and lastly, is there a way to make the "rotation" gizmo smaller, I find it way too big. Not sure if this is feasible as well.
And as I said, thanks a lot for your time, once again.
It looks like you have snapping turned on or something. Turn off snap under the "Snap" menu on the right side of the interface just below the "Transform" menu. Normally there is an "On" button where the snap toggle can be either turned on or off manually or toggled by holding/letting go the CTRL key.
To change the size of the "rotation" gizmo smaller go to your Preferences menu. Then go under Tools>Transform and under the Transform Menu Tool tab look for "Transform Axis Display". Where it says "Size%" is the part where you can adjust the transform, rotation, and translate gizmo size all at the same time. It took me a while to find it but I knew it was there
2. I take it you are using the snap mode? If you want to prevent your component selection from collapsing into an average, disable Transform > Collapse points for Snapping/Absolute Translation
3. Transform > Transform Preferences > Transform Axis Display > Size %
That holds all the viewcube textures. Right click on the Textures folder and disable read only and knock yourself out with the textures! For the viewcube, they did upscale a 128*768 texture to 128*1024, so just work in a 128*768 (ie. 6x128 in height) and when you're done, upscale the thing to 128*1024 and overwrite the VCfacemap.png file.Depending on what you need, you may also need to overwrite the VCfacetext.png in the ENU or JPN subfolders.
To know which square in the 128*768 file is what side on the cube, just check the vcfacetext.png file.
I suggest backing up that Textures folder before you screw around in it though.
I feel dumb about the "snap" thing....yeah it was on...haha
Also turning off "raycast in shaded mode" did the trick so far. I usually only work with lasso tool (I am using a wacom pen in xsi so it gets more natural to use lasso) But for "absolute"selections I ll go with the regular square marquee, at leastI wont be having that problem. Just out of curiosity, what does "raycast in shaded mode" was supposed to do anyways, I turned it of and didnt notice any difference, besides that now I can pretty much select the way I wanted. Although I know people tend to leave it turn on, Am I missing something?
Also for the gizmo, works perfect, I use it at 12%, but yeah I guess thats just a personal taste, some people might like the big sized one.
Ok cool, I am happy. I feel really comfortable now (modeling) at least... I start looking for uvs and shading (mental ray) soon. I guess I ll have to get use to the node base system. I heard from some xsi users its a lot better to use a node based solution, so hopefully I ll end up liking it.
btw, is there a way to save all this "preferences" somewhere, like with the keyboard shortcuts.
Maph, nice trick there. ha.
This option is ignored if Override Object Properties is off in the Display type menu of a viewport."
The preferences should save automatically.
Don't worry, XSI's node editors are very straightforward and very easy to understand. A lot easier to comprehend then Max's slate editor if you ask me (far less complex and equally powerful).
UV tools in XSI suck, period. It's all very manual, and there's an annoying bug in SI2012 where you can't edit multiple UVs at the same time.
The integrated Unfold solution is cool though, although a bit buggy sometimes (at least to my experience).
But from what I've taken in so far from Max, the standard Max tools kinda suck too.
Thanks cryrid, well I guess I ll be ok by leaving raycast in shaded models turned off.
Like it better this way. Also what I meant about saving preferences was, where can I actually find that preferences "file". Because I like to keep copies in a "XSI" folder in my dropbox, where I have my keyboard shortcuts "abc..xsikm" I found the keyboard and layout ones, but not sure where is the preferences one.
I do the same for max, in case I am somewhere else and need to work I just download all my setup (ui,scripts,shortcuts) from dropbox.
Hey maph, I thought the fact that uvunfold was integrated in xsi was going to make things a lot better than max. So I am surprised to hear that. I like using uvlayout as external plugin most of the time anyways. But yeah you just made me think about textools... damn now that sucks, thats an awesome script. hope someone make one soon for xsi.
setValue "Views.View*.*.camdisp.xraytype", 1
setValue "*.camdisp.xraytype", 1
if getvalue ("camera.camdisp.xrayshaded") = "False" then
setValue "*.camdisp.xrayshaded", True
setValue "Views.View*.*.camdisp.xrayshaded", True
else
setValue "*.camdisp.xrayshaded", False
setValue "Views.View*.*.camdisp.xrayshaded", False
end if
Hope its not a complicate fix, thanks man.
Not off the top of my head, as the XRay is a camera/viewport effect. I imagine a similar effect could be achieved with a script that toggles the transparency value of the selected object's material, but I currently lack the knowledge to make it know which object is selected.
Edit: I've done a little digging, and I think I can at least get it to know which object is now selected, and what material name it has. I'll see where I can take it from here.