Named Structure Tools
For an example, open the demo scene named_structures.c4d. This
scene is not very interesting - it just shows a lot of geometric forms
that can be grouped by form, color, or position. Although the initial
perspective seems a bit chaotic at first, it's pretty regular when shown
from the side or top: 2 layers with 3 x 3 objects each.

Have a look at the Named Structure tags in the object manager. (Don't
worry, your scene will normally not look that cluttered, I just added a
separate NS tag for each Named Structure here.) The scene's commentary tag
tells you what Named Structures there are (this is not automatic, I typed
them!): NS groups for color, form, shape, row, column, and hypernurbs:
from "red" over "blocky" to "col3". Note
that the Collie Tools have no built-in mechanism for grouped Named
Structures; I just decided on them, and named the NS appropriately. You
are free to choose another system, or include group names with the NS
names like "color_red", or not group Named Structures at all.
You can now go and play with these predefined names. Type the NS name in
the control dialog's edit field and press "Set Visibility" to
execute.

Here's the same scene after setting the visibility to the Named
Structure "green".
The dialog offers a bit more than just the presets, though. Let's have a
look at the options.
The original intent of the Named Structures was to control visibility of
elements. The dialog offers six basic methods to set visibility:
- Only these will set all objects in the entered Named
Structure to "Visible", and all others to "Invisible"
- All but these will set all objects in the entered Named
Structure to "Invisible" and all others to "Visible"
- Visible will set all objects in the entered Named Structure
to "Visible", not changing the visibility of others
- Invisible will set all objects in the entered Named Structure
to "Invisible", not changing the visibility of others
- Undefined (inherited) will set all objects in the entered
Named Structure to "Undefined", not changing the visibility of
others
- Invert Current will set all objects in the entered Named
Structure which are currently "Visible" to "Invisible",
and those which are currently "Invisible" to "Visible".
Objects which are "Undefined" are not changed, even if they
are in the NS. Objects which are not in the NS will not be touched.
Actually, you may not only enter a single name in the edit field, but
you can use a term with several Named Structures; we will cover that
functionality on the next page.
Four checkboxes allow fine-tuning these options:
- From Top will start the search for fitting objects at the
first element of the scene, going down from there. The second and all
other elements in the scene on top-level will not be considered for the
Named Structure. If "From Top" is not set, the starting point
for the search will be the selected element (or elements;
multi-selection is supported).
- Obey Block Visibility Changes Tag is a long name for a simple
functionality: use the Visibility Tools' tag to block any changes in the
visibility of that object.
- Editor performs the change on the editor's visibility flag.
- Renderer performs the change on the renderer's visibility
flag. One of these two checkboxes must be checked - the dialog itself
makes sure of that.
Note that the visibility flag will be set on all objects that are in the
Named Structure, directly (with the NS tag) or indirectly (as child of an
object that bears the NS tag). Also, even objects that are not in
a Named Structure may indirectly change their visibility if they inherit
it from parents with a NS tag.
The third section of the dialog allows changing the selection through
Named Structures. This has become possible due to the multi-selection
ability of V8. The following basic methods are available:
- Select and Open will select all objects in the entered Named
Structure, and unfold its parents so that all these objects are visible
in the object manager.
- Select Only will do the same, but not unfold the parents.
- Open Only will unfold the parents, but not select the
objects.
- Deselect will remove the objects in the entered Named
Structure from the current selection.
Again, there are four checkboxes for better control:
- From Top will start the search for fitting objects at the
first element of the scene, going down from there. The second and all
other elements in the scene on top-level will not be considered for the
Named Structure. If "From Top" is not set, the starting point
for the search will be the selected element (or elements;
multi-selection is supported). (Same as above.)
- Obey Block Folding Tag will allow you to use the Branch
Open/Close Tools' block tag to prevent unfolding the parents of certain
elements. Obviously, this option makes only sense when objects are
opened (unfolded), so it is deactivated when only the selection changes.
- Children Too allows the selection of children of objects
which are in the entered Named Structure. Normally, the selection
process will stop when an object is selected, because the children are
indirectly selected through its parents already. If you check this
checkbox, the children will also be tested whether they are in the Named
Structure, and directly selected.
- Add to Selection will keep the current selection, and select
all elements that are in the Named Structure in addition to this
selection. If not checked, the selection is cleared before the function
is executed. The flag makes no sense when "Open Only" or "Deselect"
are the methods of choice - in the first case, the selection will not
change, and in the second case, it would make no sense to discard the
selection before removing elements from it. In those cases, the checkbox
is not available.
Press "Set Selection" to execute.
On the next page, we will advance to the more complex concepts of Named
Structures.
(next page)
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