Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
When an object is selected, it means that
things will happen to it. What kinds of
things? Things like transformations and
tools. Use any of Blender's object tools,
and it will affect the selected objects,
leaving unselected objects alone. This is
the basis for how you get things done in
3D. A selection is made, settings are
adjusted, and tools are applied. A differ-
ent selection is made. Repeat. That's
how you make a movie like Toy  Story ,
in a nutshell.
Figure 3.11   Two monkeys. One is selected, the other is not. Poor monkey. 
Won't  you  select  her  so  she  is  not  lonely?
If you RMB select the other monkey in
the scene, you'll see that the orange
outline disappears from the one and appears on the now-selected monkey. Making a new selection gener-
ally clears the old selection. However, if you would like both the old object and the new one to be
selected, hold down the Shift key while RMB selecting. Using the Shift key builds a selection—each new
object that is Shift-RMB selected adds to the current batch of objects that are selected.
Build a selection by first RMB selecting one monkey, then Shift-RMB selecting the other. There's one
more thing to observe. The most recently selected monkey has a brighter orange outline than the other.
In fact, the most recently selected object in the 3D view is kind of “superselected.” There might be three
hundred selected objects, but only one, the last selected, can have this superstate. It is referred to as the
active object. There are a number of operations in Blender that you will learn later (constraints, linking,
copying) that make use of multiple-object selections and an active object.
But how do you deselect an object? There are a few ways. If you want to clear all selections, you already
know the answer: press the A key. If you intend to select something else, just select it. Recall that making
a new selection without holding down the Shift key clears the previous selection. Finally, if you have
several objects selected and you would like to remove one of them from the selection but retain the others,
it is a two-step process. First, Shift-RMB click the object so that it becomes the active object. Then,
Shift-RMB click on it again. Executing a Shift-RMB click on the active object deselects it.
Before we move on, we'll check out a few more selection methods. Often, you will have a whole cluster
of objects you would like to select at once. Finding and selecting each one using Shift-RMB would be
tedious at best.
Border/Area Select (B key). Pressing the B key turns the mouse pointer into a crosshairs. By LMB
dragging in the 3D view, you draw a rectangle. Upon releasing the LMB, any object that falls within
that rectangle is added to the selection. Note that this selection method does not affect the active
object. Whatever was active before remains active afterward. If there was no active object, border
select will not designate one. Last trick: Using the B key and MMB dragging (instead of LMB) removes
anything within the rectangle from selection.
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