The Toolbox - Groups

The Group tab of the tool box allows the organisation of your model into distinct parts. This image shows the Group tab of the Toolbox, click the part you wish to see the description for.

Group Selector Box

This list box is used to highlight the group you want to operate on. The name of the group is displayed along with any materials that are assigned to it. Each group occupies one line in the box.

Select

This button is used to select a group (the same action can be performed from the Model tab by clicking Select, Group then clicking on the appropriate group). To select a group from this tab, indicate which group you want to select by clicking on its name in the Group Selector Box, then click the Select button, to deselect a group press it again.

Hide

When you have a group name highlighted in the Group Selector box you can press this to hide the particular group from view in the viewports. Use this when you find that your workspace is becoming cluttered, so as to ease your workflow. This is one of the primary reasons for organising your polygons into groups.

Delete

When there is a group highlighted in the Group Selector Box press this button to remove the group from the workspace. Note that this permanently deletes the group from the model, so use it wisely.

Regroup

This button is used to regroup collections of polygons (that may belong to another group or not) into a newly created group. Several groups can be selected then regrouped or selected polygons can be regrouped. Remember to rename your group once you have created it.

Rename Button & Box

In order to rename a group you must highlight it in the Group Selector Box, the type the name you wish to rename it to then click the rename button. It is wise to do this as you create groups so that you can easily refer to them in the future.

Smoothing Group Select

Pressing this key then one of the Smoothing Group Numbers will select the polygons assigned to that smoothing group. Smoothing Groups can only be selected on the numbers that have been assigned.

Smoothing Group Assign

When you have a group of polygons selected you can press this button then one of the Smoothing Group Numbers to assign all selected polygons to a smoothing group. Additional groups of polygons can be added to the same group without overwriting the previous contents of the Smoothing Group.

Smoothing Group Numbers

These numbers act as a storage bank for groups of polygons. They can have polygons assigned to them and selected from. Assigning groups of polygons to a Smoothing Group number will Smooth Shade them (Smooth Shaded shading has to be enabled to view the effect of this, right click the 3D perspective view and click Smooth Shaded from the pop-up menu) if the Auto Smooth check box is ticked.

Smoothing Group Clear All

This button will remove the assigned Smoothing Groups from the Smoothing Group Numbers. The polygons will remain smooth shaded but they will no longer be in the same Smoothing Group.

Smoothing Group Auto Smooth

When assigning Smoothing Groups ensure this is checked if you wish the selected polygons to be smooth shaded.