Navigating relationships in Softimage (new to the software)
Sergio Mucino
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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David Barosin
Matt Morris
Eric Thivierge
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.
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Alan Fregtman
Sergio Mucino
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!
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
David Barosin
Stephen Davidson
Best Regards,
Stephen P. Davidson
(954) 552-7956
sdav...@3Danimationmagic.com
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
- Arthur C. Clarke
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Sergio Mucino
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!
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
David Barosin
Sergio Mucino
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.
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Stephen Davidson
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Stephen Davidson
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
Stephen Davidson
Matt Lind
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
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
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.
Anyway, thanks again, and I hope I won't have to spam this email list with silly things :-) (believe me I do my homework before sending out an email to everyone here, but sometimes, I just can't move forward no more).
Cheers!
Stephen Davidson
Sergio Mucino
Lead Rigger
Modus FX
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Christian Gotzinger
Matt Lind
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: softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimag...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Christian Gotzinger
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 10:02 AM
To: soft...@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.