Selecting

Select Tool

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select…
  • Toolbar » Vertex Tools² - Transform » Select

Activates the last used selection shape tool. Normal selection modifies applies to all selection shapes:

Adding to selection:
  • Press and hold Ctrl (Windows) or ⌥ Option (macOS).
Remove from selection:
  • Press and hold Ctrl + ⇧ Shift (Windows) or ⌥ Option (macOS).
Toggle selection:
  • Press and hold ⇧ Shift.

Selection Types

The vertex selection tool has a variety of selection of selection types to allow for precise selection depending on the situation.

Rectangular Select
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select » Select Rectangle
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Rectangle Selection
  • Press and hold down the left mouse button to create a rectangular selection area or click a vertex to add individual vertices.
Circular Select
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select » Select Circle
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Circle Selection
  • Press and hold down the left mouse button to create a circular selection area or click a vertex to add individual vertices.
Polygon Select
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select » Select Polygon
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Polygon Selection
  • Click to add points to polygon selection. Double click to finish polygon.
Freehand Select
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select » Select Freehand
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Freehand Selection
  • Press and hold down the left mouse button while moving the cursor to create a freehand selection shape.

Soft Selection

Accessible via:
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Soft Selection Radius
  • Vertex Mode » VCB

Soft Selection is set by typing in a distance in the VCB while a selection tool is active. Vertices within this distance from the selected vertices are also affected by tools that modify the geometry. The further away from the selection, the less they are affected. This is illustrated by colour-coding the vertices from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue – where Red is 100% and Blue is 0%.

Soft Selection Shapes

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Linear/Cosine Soft-Selection
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Linear/Cosine

There are two types of fall-off for the soft-selection radius. Linear falloff affects the vertices directly proportional to their distance from the selected. Cosine falloff affects the vertices using a cosine curve.

Connected Geometry

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Connected Soft Selection
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Connected Soft Selection
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » Connected

By default the soft-selection affects all geometry in the current context. This means that selecting entities in one mesh might affect another mesh if they are both in the same entities collection and the radius is large enough to cover both of them.

To limit the soft-selection to only affect the meshes of connected geometry, toggle this option.

(See screenshot example below)

Connected by Edge Length

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Connected Soft Selection by Edges
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Connected Soft Selection By Edges
  • Vertex Mode » Sidebar » Selection » By Edge Length

Some times you might even want to limit the soft-selection to expand more strictly by following the shape of the mesh. One example of this is if you select one tip of an U-shaped mesh but don't want to affect the other end of the U.

Ignore Backfaces

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Ignore Backfaces
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Ignore Backfaces

Turn this on, from the context menu, to prevent selecting vertices attached to faces pointing away from the camera. Faces perpendicular to the camera is considered visible.

See this video for further description and examples of how to use this feature: youtube.com

Note: this option has no effect while wireframe mode or X-Ray mode is active.

Note: this is not the same as selecting only visible vertices. Vertices connected to faces pointing towards the camera but obscured by other objects will still be selected.

Modifying the Selection

Select Only Visible

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Select Only Visible
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Select Only Visible

Use this function if you want to filter out only the selected vertices that is visible to the camera. It is a slow function that might take a while if you have many vertices in your selection.

Select All

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Select All
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Select All

Selects all the vertices in the current context.

Select None

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Select None
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Select None

Deselects any selected vertices.

Invert Selection

Accessible via:
  • Menubar » Tools » Vertex Tools² » Select… » Invert Selection
  • Vertex Mode » Context Menu » Invert Selection

Inverts the selection such that everything already selected becomes deselected and vice versa.