New select tool: Select everything inside box/sphere
I work a lot on 3D models that are derived from CAD models of machines and they usually have every nut and bolt modeled. I often find my self thinking that there really should be a selection tool that would select all objects within a 3D shape, like a box or a sphere. I am aware that there already is a selection tool that selects everything that falls inside a drawn rectangle, but that works in 2D manner, not 3D.
For example: Imagine a situation where you delete some plate that is fastened with dozens of screws (and each screw has multiple washers etc). After removing the plate there are now the screws (+washers) floating in the air which also need to be removed. With the "traditional" select tools its really time consuming (and boring and error prone!) to select and remove all of the screws and washers one by one, especially if there is a lot of other parts behind them in the view. If I could instead create a box (or sphere), adjusts it size and then finally select all the objects that are within the shape, my task would only take a few clicks and seconds!
So the tool would work like this:
- The tool activation would be like it is for the circle and border select tool - from the select menu. No need for a hotkey (but of course the user can assign one as for all other tools).
- Choosing the tool would change the cursor to a cubical icon.
- When user clicks the scene a cube of some default size is created with handles in each 8 corners. An "Apply selection" button would appear in the screen.
- Then handles could be dragged along XYZ axes to adjust the cube size. The cube also rotated, scaled and moved just like an ordinary mesh cube. When adjusting the cube, it would select (and highlight) all objects that are inside its volume.
- The selection would be applied by pressing the apply selection button, which would deactivate the tool and keep the current selection.
This would probably also be quite easy to implement, right? Many CAD programs have something like this, so why not Blender as well.
12 Comments
You can assign the Box Select tool in the Input editer under User Preferences - buuut that will replace the default single select tool. It also would replace the ability to move objects. The hotkeys/system conflicts - but it would be nice.
Concept: Lclick+drag = box select. Lclick = select single.
@draise14: you can already do that through a manipulation in blender input preferences, but it actually breaks some other selection behaviour so i stick with B
@: Yehp, this breaks the ability to drag objects around without a widget, for example. You'd need to change the workflow quite a bit - a quick fix would be the ability to "HOLD" a hotkey/mousclick, so when held down, it activates (or activates a combo ability), but when pushed it won't activate. I think I'll post this as a seperate thread.
Hmmm, maybe I miss something, there IS a box select in blender: Hit B and drag a box around it with your mouse (use middle mosue for deselect). You could also use Circle select (C) with a big radius (mousewheel) to get the behaviour you want.
@chris4: I believe that @jari.nevala is looking for a 3-dimensional selection tool
@Jason van Gumster: Jason is correct. I mean a 3D select tool. In my opinion the current box select tool is poorly named, as "box" refers to 3 dimensional object, when the tool is actually 2D. "Rectangular select" would make more sense. EDIT: I just noticed that the tool is actually named "Border select" in the select menu. Still, I think "Rectangular select" would make more sense.
@jari.nevala: your concept of a 3d selection is hard to implement because how can we see how deep the tool goes into the screen view? The only way I can think of is bring preselection visualization in blender
@: Could you elaborate a bit? Maybe I dont see what you mean, but the box selection tool im trying to describe would just work pretty much as creating a cube mesh works. You see its dimensions for example by rotating the camera.
How would that work in Blender's interface? This could really use a series of images that shows how you envision the specific workflow behaving. How does someone activate this selection tool? Is it with a button or a menu item or a hotkey? How do you foresee people adjusting the size of this selection box? Would it require additional manipulators?
@Jason van Gumster: The tool activation would be like it is for the circle and border select tool - from the select menu. No need for a hotkey (but of course the user can assign one as for all other tools).
I added a step by step explanation to the original post on how I would imagine the tool working.
Do you guys think this is enough for a specification? I can also create a series of images for this if you guys think this is something that would be possible to implement.
@Jason van Gumster: Hi Jason, I see you often have to ask questions like "How would that work in Blender?" "How would that be presented in Blender's interface?" and the like. Wouldn't it be easier if there was a template for writing new posts?
@lsscpp: Yes. It probably would help to have a template. Will need to check to see if/how that's supported here.
Might be worth it to create a Meta proposal.