how to identify shapes?

[i8bozo]

hello,

i'm trying to figure out a good (ie: simple) way to be able to look at a screen full of say, 40 shapes and be able to tell (either by using a hotkey and moving the mouse over the shape to get a shape name popup identifier) what that shape's name is so i'm not hunting and pecking through my shapes list turning on and off eyeballs to see which one goes off. :eek: i know...

all my shapes are named vine1, vine2, vine3, vine4, vine5, vine6 etc so i can't simply look at the name to derive which one is which. naming alone in this case just will not work so i need another means with which to identify shapes in the viewer window to the names of the shapes in the shapes list.

i'm sure others might find this feature useful as well.

thank you!

.g.

[perryk]

If you click on a shape in the viewer, doesn't it's name get selected in the shape list?

[i8bozo]

nope.

all of my shapes are locked except for the one i'm working with.

.g.

[jbills]

it does, but only if it is unlocked.

might be nice to have a way to still be able to click on a shape and have it's name be highlighted even when locked.

a hotkey might be nice. Call it "finding" mode. Where perhaps when holding it and scrubbing the viewer, it pops up little tool tips windows with your spline name as you mouse over shapes in the viewer.

that would be handy.

[i8bozo]

two votes for SOMETHIN!

[paulm]

I've got it - the shape name will appear in the status bar when you hover over a shape (even locked ones).

[jbills]

hmmm... hovering might be a little overkill, unless you had a modifier key held down.

But it would be safe to say that the shape could light up when clicked on, and if the picking logic is fixed with b-splines then the hovering mode isn't really necessary, I guess.

I guess a lot of the problem I have with any ideas that involve the words "click on shapes" is that a couple builds ago, at least, clicking on a b-spline didn't always yield a predictable result.

I'm running a shot through shake at the moment (need axis/multiple trackers) so I haven't been able to notice if this behavior has improved. If so, thanks!

[i8bozo]

what about giving us access to a user definable keybind that when set by the user...allows us to envoke said keystroke and then draw a rubber band box around part of a spline. at that point, the spline in question (locked or unlocked) is presented at the top of the shapes list?

are there any aspects of that solution that either don't make sense or would not work?

having it present the shape in question at the top of the list would eliminate scrolling a long shapes list. how would this work if we only had four shapes and no scroll bar? how about highlighting the shape or doing some other visual que so that it's blatantly obvious that the shape you're trying to find the name of is now without doubt...that one right there that is sticking out at you!

just thoughts off the top of my head. i'm sure stuff like this will make it to my 'nit pick wish list' when that time comes.

thanks!

.g.

[paulm]

It sounds like you're not using the latest build. These things are all in the latest build:

1. hovering over a shape will show its name in the status bar
2. you can now SELECT locked shapes
3. selected shapes scroll so they are visible in the timeline and shape list

I believe all of these things should make it easy for you to identify you shape(s).

The problem with moving the shape to the top of the list is it changes the draw order - if you shape is set to subtract, then it won't render anything.