Select hidden geo without xray display
This is about this little button:
One annoyance I have comming from other 3d applications, is the mashup of the select "hidden" components and xray view display - the "Limit Selection to visible" option does work, but I really feel the feature "select hidden elements" should be decoupled from the "xray view" display. It doesnt make too much sense to merge a selection option with a display feature - both by themselves are perfectly fine, just not merged together.
Personally i dont need the xray view most of the time, as in complex models it doesnt really help to make things more clear, as too much overlapping stuff is displayed anyways. All I want is to just select the whole top part of an object for example.
This would also fit very nicely into the new tool workflow for 2.8, as selections modes could just have a checkbox to ignore backface elements - and the xray thing is an overlay/display mode of the workbench engine or so.
here is a quick mockup for 2.8:
12 Comments
This is by far my number one problem with Blender 2.8 at the moment. I've worked several years using other 3D apps like Maya, Max and ZBrush, and none of these force you in this way. It is inconsiderate to think that all users need this level of handholding for making selections. Having to switch to XRay (and account for face-dot selections while in that mode, which is also another needless bullet point your mind needs to keep track of) every time is mentally tiring and time-consuming.
Please allow us to select backfaces whenever we want to, and don't force us to have to switch the entire scene to XRay mode. In more complex scenes, this becomes a dreadful task: many users have already expressed their frustration in this feedback thread: devtalk.blender.org/t/decoupling-x-ray-and-limit-selection-to-visible/3498/17
Many of my peers who want to get into Blender have told me the same thing: that at the moment, it's almost as if you need "pincers" to be able to select things.
What is being suggested here is nothing that would go against other users' preferences: simply give us the freedom to decide for ourselves what selection style we want. Personally I would also adopt this mentality for the manner in which XRay forces you into face-dot-selection mode, but that is for another discussion.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of this idea... certainly not as default behavior. Otherwise, if you're selecting what you can't see, it's too easy to make unintentional selections. Typically, if I want your desired selection, I just quickly bounce over to wireframe view. At least then, I know exactly what I'm selecting and there's much less guesswork.
@Jason van Gumster:
no the default should still be the regular backface ignored selection.
but saying no this is a bad idea and then purpose to even switch to wireframe sounds like something is wrong with they way it works - doesnt it?
I think this thing could even stay there, as it has its uses - but adding an option to the selection tool would be really appreciated.
@sauder.benjamin: I'm just not sure I see the advantage of being able to select vertices I can't see (aside from selecting all vertices. It feels like an accident waiting to happen.
@Jason van Gumster: maybe sounds alien, but its the way it works in many other applications.
and sure, sometimes you can select unwanted elements, but most of the time this is a non issue to be honest.
like i said already, the way it works now has its uses - but if it would be split appart, it would allow for a more industry standard way to operate.
Heck even an api only option in bpy.ops.view3d.select_border would be good enough for me, as it would be trivial to create my own selection script for it.
* @Jason van Gumster * I'm trying my hardest getting through the quirks of Blender even with it now being official 2.8. Coming from Maya, a competent 3D artist will know what they're selecting when they are working within the viewport. I believe there is merit to what @sauder.benjamin is asking about because it restricts the artist less instead of more. I don't need to be hand and protected from making wrong selections. The amount of time wasted by going into xray accumulates into a frustrating mess of time. If it was a bool toggle for default behavior in the preferences like a lot of other features like this would be amazing.
Comming from maya (8 years to work with it), it feel so slow to have to click on something or a hotkey to show the wireframe or xray to select faces behind the object :o I have them in my head i dont need to see them :o I dream for an option in the select tool like"noncamera-based selection" , just one click it doesnt go through all objects/faces, and with selection box it go trough all objects. I thing it's little thing like this which can make move more maya users to blender, more than crazy unused feature ^^
1000% agree. Please yes.
Script-writing maestros, please, write a script for it or something. Its really annoying to turn on x-ray mode all the time. Why we cant just turn on backface selection if we want?
"Select hidden element"? Where's that feature? All I see is "Limit selection to visible" which is besides the vertex/edge/face selection buttons in the 3d view footer. Are you refering to that?
@Wo! 262: I think that he wants a "select hidden element", rightly.
@Wo! 262:
im talking about this little button: