Chapter 2 The Browser. Ch 2
From ShadeCamp
The Browser is Shade’s tool for organizing all the elements of a scene. The Browser displays the elements of a scene in a hierarchical fashion, with grouped objects placed together inside a part (similar to a folder), and all objects and parts inside the Root Part. In the Browser you can select, rename, apply attributes to, and change the hierarchical structure of elements in the scene.
The Browser is composed of two main areas: the hierarchy of scene elements (on the left) and the Browser checkboxes (on the right). The checkboxes can be shown or hidden by clicking the black triangle in the top right corner of the Browser.
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The Browser Hierarchy
The Browser uses a hierarchical structure to organize the objects in the Shade scene. This hierarchy also facilitates greater control and ease of use when working with multiple objects. There are several elements
A parent is a part that contains another object or part. Each part or object in the scene will have one parent. In the figure above, A is the parent of C.
A child is an object or part that the current part contains. In the figure above, B, C and D are all children of A.
A sibling is an object or part at the same hierarchical level as the current object or part. In the figure above, B, C and D are siblings.
The arrow keys can be used to navigate the hierarchy:
- The Left arrow key selects the Parent
- The Right arrow key selects the first Child
- The Down arrow key selects the next Sibling
- The Up arrow key selects the previous Sibling
You can select all child objects of the current part by using Ctrl + right arrow key (Win) or option + right arrow key (Mac).
Selecting Objects in the Browser
Because the Browser contains a hierarchical list of all the objects in the scene, regardless of their size or type, it is very useful for quickly selecting the object or group of objects you wish to edit. Objects selected in the Browser are shown as selected in the Figure window, and conversely, objects selected in the Figure window are automatically selected in the Browser.
1.Open “UG_02_Table.shd” from the Documentation - Sample tab in ShadeExplorer.
2. Select the part named “Table” in the Browser by clicking its name.
When the part named “Table” in the Browser is selected, the table in the Figure window is also selected.
Parts (indicated by a small black triangle to the left of their name) serve as folders in the Browser, and are not actually shown in the Figure window. You can nest objects or other parts inside a part, forming a hierarchical structure.
Selecting All Objects in a Scene
To select all the objects in a scene, select the “Root Part,” the top item in the Browser.
All the objects in the scene become selected.
Selecting Multiple Objects
To select several adjacent sibling objects or parts in the Browser, select the first object and then press the 'Shift key while selecting the second object or part. The in-between sibling parts/objects will also be selected.
To select several non-adjacent objects or parts in the Browser, press the Ctrl key (Win) or }{ key (Mac) while making additional selections.
Renaming Parts
Every part except the Root part can be renamed to anything you choose.
1. With the “Part” at the bottom of the Browser selected, choose Part from the Part tool in the Toolbox. A new part will be added to the Browser.
2. Double-click the newly-created part in the Browser to open the Name dialog. The current name of the part appears in the text field.
3. Enter the name “Tatami” and click the OK button.
The name of the Part in the Browser has changed to “Tatami.”
Note: Some features of Shade may automatically add labels to relevant objects or parts in the Browser. These labels themselves may not be editable.
Moving Objects and Parts in the Browser Hierarchy
Objects and parts can be moved within the Browser hierarchy to group similar objects together, redefine the relationship between objects and sometimes (in the case of special objects or parts) apply effects that are dependent on the position in the Browser.
1. In our example scene let’s move the two parts labeled “Part” in the Browser inside the “Tatami” part, since each of these parts is one tatami mat.
After selecting both parts, drag and drop them inside the “Tatami” part to move them there.
Expanding/Closing Parts
Parts that contain child objects or other parts are indicated by a small black triangle to the left of their name in the Browser. This is the expand/close button for parts. Click this button to expand or hide the contents of the part (its child objects/parts)
Expanding or closing the contents of a part does not affect the actual objects in the scene; it only affects which objects or parts are immediately visible in the Browser.
1. Click the expand/close button for the “Tatami” part in the Browser.
The previously-visible child parts are now hidden, and only the name “Tatami” is shown.
When you work on an object that has many parts in the Browser window, you can simplify a cluttered workspace by closing parts you are not currently working with.
2. Likewise, you can close the Root Part.
3. Click the expand/close button for the Root Part again to return to the expanded view.
Useful Browser Features
Labeling Objects in the Browser
Object (part) names in the Browser can be labeled in any one of six colors. These colored labels can be added to specific parts to make them easier to find (parts are searchable by color), or can be used to quickly differentiate between different joint or part types.
Select the part in the Browser that you want to label, and choose either red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple from the Label pull-down menu at the top of the Browser. To remove a label, choose “None” from the Label pop-up menu.
Browser Split Screen
The Browser can be split into multiple views, allowing you to work with two or more separate areas of the Browser at the same time. Parts can even be moved across views.
The Browser contains two bars that can be used to split it into multiple views. The upper bar is immediately below the Browser menu bar, and by dragging it downwards the Browser will split into a top and a bottom view. These two views can then be scrolled independantly, to allow for easy access to different elements within the Browser.
The lower bar is immediately below the horizontal scroll bar. Dragging it upwards will split the Browser into two views: the top view is the normal Browser view, and the bottom view shows only the Master Object, Master Surface, Image, and Grouped Part special parts.
In the Browser split screen view, dragging the dividing bar all the way to the top or bottom of the Browser will return the Browser to the normal (single) view.
Browser Checkboxes
The show/hide button in the top right corner of the Browser shows or hides the Browser checkboxes. These checkboxes can be used to control several attributes of the objects listed in the Browser.
Each checkbox has three possible states: active-on, active-off, or inactive. If the checkbox is inactive (shown in grey), the attribute state is inherited from the parent object. If the checkbox is active-on (shown in white, checked), the attribute will take effect regardless of the parent object’s state. If the checkbox is active-off (shown in white, not checked), the attribute will not take effect, regardless of the parent object’s state.
You can override child object attributes by holding down Ctrl (Win) or Option (Mac) while setting the parent object’s attribute.
From left to right, the Browser checkboxes are:
Show/Hide: If the eye icon is visible, this object is shown in the Figure window.
Lock: This box locks the object so that the control points cannot be modified. The object can still be copied or transformed (i.e. moved) while in the locked state.
Render: This checkbox determines whether or not the object will be rendered. If the checkbox is unchecked, the object will not be rendered, even if it is selected.
Diffuse Color: This box shows the diffuse color of the object. If the object’s surface attributes have not been set, this box will be blank.
Flip Face: Checking this box will invert the direction of the object’s normal.
Solid: Checking this box will cause transparent objects to be treated as solid when calculating refraction or reflection.
Bind: This checkbox is only shown for Parts and Joints. When joints are active, they can be bound to objects. When this checkbox is unchecked, the part or joint will not be bound.
Shadow Catcher: Normally shadows are not cast onto the background during rendering. However, you can create an object that will not be rendered but will serve to “catch” the shadows cast by other objects, giving the effect of a shadow being cast onto the background. If the “Shadow catcher” checkbox is checked, the object will not be rendered but will show shadows cast by other objects.
Shooter: When checked, radiosity calculations will include this object’s ambient light.
Receiver: When checked, this object will be influenced by am0bient light during radiosity calculations.
Cast Shadow: When checked, the shadow cast by this object will be included in radiosity calculations.
Double-sided: When checked, both the front and back sides (faces) of the object are shown.
Group Selection: This checkbox is only shown for Parts and Joints. Checking this checkbox will group all the objects within that part. When any of the objects in that group are selected in the Figure window, the entire part (all the objects within the group) will be selected.
ShadowCatcher
Shade’s ShadowCatcher makes it possible to render shadows separately from the objects upon which they rest.
A ShadowCatcher object is not rendered itself, but serves to ‘catch’ shadows cast by other objects. To make an object a ShadowCatcher object, check the ShadowCatcher checkbox in the Browser.
1. To illustrate ShadowCatcher, first create a sphere.
2. In the Background window, add a simple background. Any type of background will work, but in this example the “Checked” pattern is used with the Planar projection.
3. In the Rendering Settings window, verify that “Render Background” and “Render Shadows” are checked, and then click the Render button.
Normally, objects do not cast shadows on the background, as illustrated in the render you have just generated.
4. Now create a rectangle to serve as the ShadowCatcher object. Position the cursor just below the sphere by clicking on the bottom of the sphere in the Front or Side view. In the Top view, create a rectangle that covers a wide enough area so that the sphere’s shadow will fall somewhere on top of the rectangle.
5. In the Browser, display the attribute checkboxes by clicking the triangular button in the top right corner. The ShadowCatcher checkbox may not be displayed by default, so right click (Win) or command click (Mac) in the Browser checkbox area to bring up the list of available checkboxes. Make sure that there is a check next to “ShadowCatcher” in this list. The “ShadowCatcher” checkbox should now be visible.
6. Check the ShadowCatcher checkbox for the closed line (the rectangle). You may need to click the box twice for the check mark to be displayed.
7. Now click the Render button in the Image window again. The rectangle is not rendered, but it catches the shadow cast by the sphere, giving the effect of the shadow being cast on the background.
8. If you turn off the ShadowCatcher checkbox for the rectangle, the rectangle will be rendered normally.
