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Selecting and Positioning Nodes

The main functions of node's selection and positioning are available via the Positioning panel.

All available controls for selecting and positioning nodes can be found on the Nodes tab of the Editor Hotkeys settings.

Selecting Nodes#

By default, selection is available for all nodes in the viewport. However, you can manage that with the Selection flag - toggle it on and off in the World Nodes or Parameters window to specify which nodes can be selected.

Selection Flags in World Nodes Window
Selection Flag in Parameters Window

To select a single node in the scene, choose on the Positioning panel (or press Q) and click the left mouse button on this node. In this case, only the mesh surface you have clicked is selected. To select several mesh surfaces, hold Shift and click required surfaces.

Notice
You can convert the selected node to a NodeReference by pressing Ctrl+Shift+G (or click Edit -> Convert to NodeReference).

To select several nodes, do either of the following:

  • Use the selection box: click and hold the left mouse button, drag the mouse to select the required nodes. In this case, all surfaces of each mesh (if they exist) are selected.

    Select using Selection Box
  • Select one of the nodes, press and hold Shift to add nodes to the selection and Ctrl to remove.

    Add and remove nodes from selection
Notice
To select all nodes in the world, press Ctrl+A.

The viewport window has the Selection Filter dropdown that allows defining which types of objects are to be selected by a selection frame and if icons should be used instead bounds for selection (the Use Icons For Frame Selection option).

Selection Filter

When the node is selected, the following is shown:

  • Wireframe of the node
  • Bounding box of the node
  • Bounding box of the selected surface (or surfaces)

The total number of currently selected nodes is displayed in the Parameters window.

To remove nodes from the selection (deselect), press and hold Ctrl and click the left mouse button on the required nodes.

To deselect all selected nodes, press Esc or Ctrl+Shift+A.

The selected nodes can be positioned in the world by using one of the ways described below.

Notice
You can set a pivot point relative to which the selected nodes will be transformed.

Inverse Selection#

Inverse selection can be useful for complex selections. For example, if you need to select all objects in a scene except the specific ones, you can select these specific objects and invert the selection.

To invert the current selection, press Ctrl+I.

Moving, Rotating and Scaling Nodes#

To transform nodes, choose the required transformation mode (manipulator) on the Positioning panel of the Toolbar.

Notice
You can specify the position, rotation, and scale in the Parameters window.

By default, any node in the world can be transformed. However, you can toggle transformations of specific nodes on and off using the Transformation flag in the World Nodes or Parameters window.

Transformation Flags in World Nodes Window
Transformation Flag in Parameters Window

Move Nodes#

To move the node:

  1. Choose the manipulator on the Positioning panel (or press W).
  2. Click the required node. The axes along which the node can be moved will be shown.

    Move Node
  3. Move the node:

    • If the arrow manipulator is dragged, the node can be moved along the selected axis.
    • If the rectangle manipulator is dragged, the node can be moved by two axes.
    • If the circle manipulator is dragged, the node can be moved in the screen plane.
    Move along 1 axis
    Move by 2 axes
    Move in the screen plane

You can also move the selected node by pressing the arrow keys:

  1. Choose the manipulator.
  2. Enable snapping by grid and specify the movement step. Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    If snapping by grid is disabled, the node is moved by 1.0 unit.

  3. Select the node you want to move in the viewport. Move the node using the arrow keys. The direction of movement is projection-dependent.

In addition, you can:

  • Ignore the node's hierarchy when moving the selected node: press Alt and move the node without its children.
  • Move the selected node to the camera by pressing Alt+X.

Rotate Nodes#

To rotate the node:

  1. Choose the manipulator on the Positioning panel (or press E).
  2. Click the required node. The sphere with the axes, around which the node can be rotated, will be shown.

    Rotate node
  3. Rotate the node:

    • If an axis of the sphere is dragged, the node is rotated around the axis.
    • If the sphere is dragged, the node can be rotated freely around several axes.
    Rotate around 1 axis
    Rotate freely

You can also rotate the selected node with the given step by using the arrow keys:

  1. Choose the manipulator.
  2. Enable snapping by angle and specify the step for the rotation angle. Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    If snapping by angle is disabled, the node is rotated by 20 degrees.

  3. Select the node you want to rotate in the viewport. Rotate the node by using the arrow keys. The direction of rotation is projection-dependent.

Scale Nodes#

To scale the node:

  1. Choose the manipulator on the Positioning panel (or press R).
  2. Click the required node. The axes, along which the node can be scaled, will be shown.

    Scale Node
  3. Scale the node:

    • If the red, green, or blue cube manipulator located at the end of any axis is dragged, the node is scaled along this axis.
    • If the red, green, or blue square manipulator is dragged, the node is scaled along two axes.
    • If the white cube manipulator at the origin is dragged, the node is scaled along three axes.
    Scale along 1 axis
    Scale along 2 axes
    Scale along 3 axes

It is also possible to scale the selected node with the given step by using the arrow keys:

  1. Choose the manipulator.
  2. Enable snapping by scale and specify the step. Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    If snapping by scale is disabled, the node is scaled by 0.1 unit.

  3. Select the node you want to scale in the viewport. Scale the node using the arrow keys. The direction of scaling is projection-dependent.

Clone and Delete Nodes#

To clone a node:

  1. Select the node.
  2. Press Ctrl+D (or Edit -> Clone).

    Notice
    The cloned node will have the same position as the source node.

To clone and transform a node:

  1. Select the node.
  2. Choose , , or on the Positioning panel (or press W, E, or R).
  3. Press and hold Shift and transform the node.
  4. Press Shift + D as many times as required (or press and hold this combination) to create more clones. Every next clone will use the last applied transformation.

To clone a node with snapping and manual positioning:

  1. Enable Snapping By Grid and set the required step value. Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

  2. Select an object to be cloned in the world.
  3. Choose the Move manipulator.
  4. Press and hold Shift + Alt while dragging an object with the mouse or using arrows on the keyboard. A new clone is created every step.

You can also clone the node holding Shift and using the arrow keys. The direction of cloning is projection-dependent:

To delete a node, select it and press Delete (or click Edit -> Delete Object).

Pivot Point and Coordinate System#

Transformations of the node are relative to the pivot point. The pivot point is used to control the way nodes rotate and scale.

To rotate or scale several nodes, select them, choose the required manipulator, and specify the position of its pivot point by using the pivot point toggle.

Notice
If one node is selected, the pivot point position will not change when toggling.
  • If the button is active, the pivot point is set to the center of selection.
  • If the button is active, the pivot point is set to the center of the last selected node.
Notice
To toggle the pivot point, you can press Z.

For example:

  • If you select several nodes, set the pivot point toggle to Center, and rotate these nodes, they rotate around the center of selection as follows:

    Pivot point in the center of selection
    Notice
    If you scale the nodes, they are scaled out from or in toward the center of selection.
  • If you set the pivot point toggle to Pivot and rotate the selected nodes, each node will rotate around its center as follows:

    Pivot point coincides with the center of the last selected node
    Notice
    If you scale nodes, each node is scaled relative to its center.

The basis of the manipulator pivot point can be toggled as follows:

  • If the button is active, the world space orientation is used for the manipulator pivot point.

    For example, if you set the combination for the selected nodes and rotate them around the Y axis, you will get the following:

    Before rotation: After rotation:
    Pivot point is oriented by the world space
    Nodes have been rotated by 45 degrees around the Y axis
  • If the button is active, the coordinate system of the parent node is used for the pivot point orientation.

    For example, if you set the combination for the selected nodes and rotate them around the Y axis, you will get the following:

    Before rotation: After rotation:
    Pivot point is oriented by the local basis of the parent
    node (the red cube)
    Nodes have been rotated by 45 degrees around the Y axis
  • If the button is active, the pivot point is oriented by the local coordinate system of the node. It means that its orientation does not depend on the parent node orientation.

    For example, if you set the combination for the selected nodes and rotate them around the Y axis, you will get the following:

    Before rotation: After rotation:
    The pivot point is oriented by the local basis of the last
    selected node (the green cube)
    The nodes have been rotated by 45 degrees around the Y axis
Notice
To toggle the manipulator basis, you can press Z.

Manipulations Snapping#

To perform positioning, rotation, and scaling manipulations with a higher precision, the Positioning panel provides tools that allow defining a manipulation step.

Snapping Nodes by Grid#

Snap by Grid enables to position a node along the axis or over the grid with a given arbitrary step (By Grid) or with a step equal to the dimensions of node's bounding box (By Bound Box).

Notice
Snapping should be enabled when moving the node by using arrow keys. If disabled, the node is moved by 1 unit by default.

To snap a node by grid:

  1. Choose on the Positioning panel (or press Shift+W)
  2. Choose By Grid and specify the grid step (in units) using the drop-down box:

    Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    Now you can move any node in the world along an axis or across a grid with the given step.

  3. Move one of the nodes:

    • If one axis is chosen (the arrow manipulator is dragged), the node is aligned along the axis.
    • If a node is repositioned by two axes (the rectangle manipulator is dragged), the node will be aligned by a horizontal or vertical grid.
    Snapping by an axis
    Snapping by a grid stripes

To snap a node by Bounding Box:

  1. Choose on the Positioning panel (or press Shift+W)
  2. Choose By Bound Box using the drop-down box:

    Now you can move any node in the world along an axis or across a grid with the step equal to the size of the node.

  3. Move one of the nodes:

    • If one axis is chosen (the arrow manipulator is dragged), the node is aligned along the axis.
    • If a node is repositioned by two axes (the rectangle manipulator is dragged), the node will be aligned by a horizontal or vertical grid.

Snapping Nodes by Angle#

Snap by Angle allows rotating a node along the axis with a given step (in degrees).

Notice
Snapping should be enabled when rotating the node by using arrow keys.

To snap a node by angle:

  1. Choose on the Positioning panel (or press Shift+E).
  2. Specify the step for the rotation angle using the following drop-down box:

    Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    Now you can rotate any node in the world around the axis with the given step.

  3. Rotate the node.

    Rotation by 45 degrees

Snapping Nodes by Scale#

Snap by Scale allows scaling a node along the axis with a given step.

Notice
Snapping should be enabled when scaling the node by using arrow keys.

To snap a node by scale:

  1. Choose on the Positioning panel.
  2. Specify the step for the scale factor using the following drop-down box:

    Step can be set either by direct input of digits or using the box as a slider.

    Now you can scale any node in the world along the axis with the given step.

  3. Scale the node.

    Scaling by step 0.5
Notice
You can use the Ctrl button to invert snapping controls (Grid, Angle, and Scale).

Snapping Nodes to Surface#

Snapping a node to a surface of another node provides pixel-perfect positioning of the nodes relative to each other.

To snap a node to the surface:

  1. Select a node that should be snapped.
  2. Choose on the Positioning panel (or press Alt+W).
  3. Specify snapping settings via the following panel:

    Option Description
    Offset from Surface

    Specifies the distance from the node's pivot point to the surface (in units).

    Notice
    • To increase/decrease the distance to the surface, use the WHEEL UP/WHEEL DOWN hotkeys.
    • To reset the distance to the surface, use the MIDDLE CLICK hotkey.
    Orient by Normal

    Specifies whether the node should be oriented by the surface normal.

    Notice
    The hotkey is RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON.
    Take Intersection Into Account If enabled, the node interacts only with the surfaces that have the Intersection option enabled.
  4. Move the node until the red stripe intersects the required surface of the other node. Click the left mouse button to place the node.

    Notice
    To abort placement, press ESC.

The node will follow the mouse as on the image below:

Node is oriented by normal
Node is not oriented by normal

Dropping Nodes to Ground#

Dropping a node to the ground means positioning a selected node to the surface below or above this node.

To drop a node to the surface:

  1. Select a node (or several nodes) that should be dropped.
  2. On the Positioning panel, find and specify the required settings in the drop-down window:

    Option Description
    Direction

    Specifies the direction of dropping:

    • Up — find the closest surface above the object.
    • Down — find the closest surface below the object.
    • Up And Down — find the closest surface below the object and above it.
    Offset from Surface Specifies the distance from the node's pivot point to the surface (in units).
    Orient by Normal Specifies whether the node should be oriented by the surface normal.
    Intersection Mask

    Sets an intersection mask that defines whether a node (or nodes) will be positioned on a surface to which it is dropped.

    A node will be positioned on a surface if they both have matching intersection masks. Otherwise, the node will penetrate the surface.

    Take Intersection Into Account If enabled, the node interacts only with the surfaces that have the Intersection option enabled.
  3. Click to drop a node (nodes).

    Initial position of a node
    Node dropped to surface (default settings)

Switching between Node References#

You can quickly replace the source node of Node Reference with another one stored in the same folder. To do that, select a Node Reference in the World Nodes hierarchy window or the Viewport, hold Shift and use the mouse wheel or the Page Up and Page Down buttons.

Last update: 2024-02-06
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