Vertex modelling selection keys on PC

SileneUK

Been tearing my hair out. The manual I have and the C-8 Help tab say use the Shft+ Click key to select vertices, etc and then the Command+ key to deselect. Selecting if fine. But I don't have a Mac and the Windows icon key does NOT do the same job as Command in C-8.. How do you de-select vertices/lines/faces on a PC? I tried to find a way to set my own shortcut in preferences, but can't find that option.

Also I have a trackball mouse and the wheel zooms in way too much when working on a face. How can I adjust the increment for C-8? I have had to use the 2D zoom icon to get around this.

It's probably "me".... but can someone help? It must be simple, I can't find the topic in here so it's probably obvious.

Thanks from a newbie! :) Silene

ETA OK I found this in the Cararra 7 page 6 or pdf 18 documentation:

Conventions
This Guide is for both Macintosh and Windows. By convention, Macintosh commands precede Windows commands in the text. For example:
•
Command/Ctrl+I is equivalent to the Macintosh Command-I and the Windows Ctrl+I.

But Ctrl+I just sends the workspace into spasms. I have only been able to unselect using Shift+Click again on the exact vertice/face, cannot do anything regionally.

tbwoq

Hi laurenwbr.

For deselecting vertices, it appears to be a manual typo,...Shift+Click works for adding and removing vertices(etc.). Ctrl+Click does work for removing if you are using the Marquee/Lasso selectors though.

I use Alt+middle mouse button for zooming in close to a mesh, or Track XZ icon on left side of the screen.

The PDF manual is currently years out of date, and there may have been minor changes to the vertex modeler commands. The manual also doesn't mention that Ctrl+Alt(turns a point yellow) can also be used as a pivot point for a mesh selection.

SileneUK

Hello tbwoq,

I think I misread the "I" part of Ctrl+I.... was doing a search of the pdf as it's 800 pages. Thanks very much for the info. Will try it that way with the lasso/marquee. I have used Blender and it's very easy to add/subtrace vertices as is in Hexagon. Poser was very erratic for me doing this which was why I went with Cararra.. I wonder if it's my mouse. I might dig out an old mouse and see things behave better. The zoom wheel thingy reacts too strongly, I wish the zoom steps were more incremental. I tried changing the settings for the mouse device in Control Panel of Windows 7, but didn't have any luck.

Cheers for the response... this is one case where all the manuals seem to have too much information!

:) Silene

Pjotter

Hello laurenwbr

The zooming problem has nothing to do with your mouse settings, but your scene settings. Carrara has small, medium and large scene properties.

Select scene in Instance tab > Interface tab > Set Scene magnitude to small > Click the change button

SileneUK

Pjotter said:

Hello laurenwbr

The zooming problem has nothing to do with your mouse settings, but your scene settings. Carrara has small, medium and large scene properties.

Select scene in Instance tab > Interface tab > Set Scene magnitude to small > Click the change button

Hi Pjotter, It was on SMALL! But thanks to looking at that, I then clicked on Camera 1 instead of Scene and saw at the top a new menu I'd not seen before...typical newbie stupidity.... there is an option for Telephoto. I can ramp that up to as high as I want to get close to a feature without diving inside of the character. Then I can get there by using from the top row tool selections, View > Zoom > Zoom to 600% if needed. So I just can't use the mouse wheel for increments...it jumps inside the figure...but with 600% zoom I can see the veins in the white of the eyball if in texture mode or in Edit mode can minutely tweak things. Woo-hoo!

This is a HUGE learning process but great when a problem resolves...gives me hope.

Thank you again for getting me there!

:) SileneUK

3DAGE

HI laurenwbr :)

You can select in several ways,. and it doesn't have to be manual click / shift click.

There's a paint brush selector,. (lower left hand side toolbar) where you paint on the model,. to select the area of polygons, edges or vertices you want.
and shift click to deselect.

You can also select a part of the model, and use the "Loop" or "Ring" selection options on the top right panel.

You can use the ( + and - ) buttons in the top right panel, to Grow or shrink the selection,. and you can limit what you're selecting by using the little icons at the top right panel to choose only Vertices,. Edges, Polygons, or everything.

There are also option buttons in that area, to select the Inverse of what you've got selected, or select everything between your selections.

It also sounds like you're using the main "Camera 1" (which can be animated if you're moving around, and changing the time-line position)
and sometimes, the animation isn't apparent until you scrub the time-line, or render.

Use the "Directors Camera" when you're working in a scene, to help you position objects lights, or cameras in the scene.
it's also handy for "scouting" for camera positions,. and interesting angles,. then you can "save" that Camera position.

You can have multiple camera's in a scene, and you can save multiple camera positions, and then set any camera to that position at any time.

For the mouse issues,. the scene size may be the problem,. always work in a Medium scale scene when you're working with Human scale figures.

Small should actually give you more ability to zoom in and move around with accuracy, since it's moving on a smaller scale.

Try holding ALT,. and Holding down the middle mouse (roller button) and pushing / pulling your mouse, forward or backwards, to zoom in and out ... with more precision, and slower

Holding ALT , and using the different mouse buttons,. allows you to click and drag in the screen area to Pan / Dolly,. rotate, move, zoom, ..rather than selecting the movement tools.

hope it helps :)

SileneUK

Thanks 3DAGE!

WIll try again. Ack....I see the paint tool on the left now with the loop/marquee...so what's with the loop, ring, BTW, Inv, + - buttons being over on the upper right menu? I have now lost the ability to get symmetry .... :(

Thanks, again...will keep trying. :) Silene

3DAGE

No problem Silene :)

You can switch symmetry on and off, from the right hand panel,. and you can also use a function in the Model menu, to "Centre symmetry plane on selection" it's down at the bottom of the Model menu.

The Main tools are usually on the left,. but all the controlling options change (depending on what tool you've selected) on the right hand panels,. so it's important to check what options you have for the different tools , in that right hand top panel.
it's the same in the other "rooms" in Carrara, depending on what tool, or object you've selected, the panels and options on the right will change.

The Loop and Ring tools are really handy for selecting row's or columns of polygons,. and with Invert, or Between, plus the grow / shrink selection buttons, it's pretty easy to select what you want.

You can also "Name" selections,. if you were working on something where you needed to select, and later re-select the same area, you can use "Select by" / Name.

To name a selection:
Select an area of the model,.. go to the Selection menu,. and then choose Name, then select from Polygons, vertices, edges..

:)

Pjotter

I can ramp that up to as high as I want to get close to a feature without diving inside of the character.

That is a big problem in Carrara. Sometimes it is good, but very often you can't get really close. The best thing is to use the 2d zoom tool (left side, the magnifier). Then click or draw rectangles. Use alt to zoom back. After using this a few times, the scene can get weirdly shaped. Than click camera (upper left corner scene) > Set position to > reference > zoom in again. It will solve all your problems.

SileneUK

Pjotter said:

I can ramp that up to as high as I want to get close to a feature without diving inside of the character.

That is a big problem in Carrara. Sometimes it is good, but very often you can't get really close. The best thing is to use the 2d zoom tool (left side, the magnifier). Then click or draw rectangles. Use alt to zoom back. After using this a few times, the scene can get weirdly shaped. Than click camera (upper left corner scene) > Set position to > reference > zoom in again. It will solve all your problems.

Thank you Pjotter, I noticed that immediately when zooming.. the face went all fish-eyed. This helps the problem. I just need to get more comfortable working with the basic tools. I want to get back to this at the end of the week after my other regular work is done.

Again the helpfulness here is amazing and gratefully appreciated. And searching the forum gives answers to many common problems I am having, but with me, I always find the things that are most frustrating don't seem to have a common definition to search! So am happy to be told to refer to other toipics/posts from the past if I start sounding like a broken record.

:) ;) :) Silene

3DAGE

Hi :)

I understand what you've done now,.. you're using the little magnifying glass to Zoom in ,. from a camera view.

that will make the lens zoom,. the camera won't actually move at all. so you end with a distorted view.

VIEW / Zoom / Default zoom and 2D pan

should restore your camera,..

Use the Movement tools on the left, to move the camera in out or pan / dolly.

Use the Directors camera as much as possible when you're working i a scene,. and use the Quad, or Split views to see the scene from different perspectives,.
Using those views can make it really easy to position things in a 3D scene, (you're not constantly working through a Camera viewfinder.)
since you can see from the top / left/ front etc.. at the same time,. and you can select and move objects in any of the views.

:)