Hi I have got a few questions regarding SI. Please answer them, if you can spare a few moments. Thanks.


(1) Harden or Soften the normal of edges selectively.

(2) Any way to hook up the command in the MCP Ref "set to edges" to a hotkey.

(3) Is there an option to use the Lasso selection without Raycast.

(4) Can I have more than four memo cam or is there a camera bookmark option somewhere.

(5) Is there a script for changing grid size on the fly.

(6) The wires look nasty . Is there an Anti Aliasing option inside SI.


Thank you for your attention.

I'm definitively no master, but here are my attempts at an answer:

(1) Modify > Component > Mark Hard Edge/Vertex?
(2) Yes, sort of, through the creation of a custom command,
but I am not near my SI right now to tell you exactly how.
(3) No, AFAIK
(4) No, AFAIK
(5) Please explain what you mean exactly...
(6) No, AFAIK

Hi Hirazi he.. he.. you are being modest

I am sorry but I guess I was not clear,

(1) Harden or Soften the normal of edges as in Max's Smoothing Angle or Maya's Harden or Soften Edges Command. Softimage's Mark Hard Edge or Crease Edge works only in Subdivided mode.

(2) I will try to create a custom command, but If you can please help me with it

(4) What do you do when you run out of memo cam and you don't want to clear the old ones ?

(5) I meant is it possible to make the Floor/Grid Denser or Coarser with some kind of script or command, since we are missing a dynamic grid.

Like I feared most of the questions had a No, AFAIK answer

(2) Try the Python-Plugin attached here (User folder > Application > Plugin)


No guarantees, use at own risk, obviously...



P.S. Concerning (1) I don't know how Max or Maya do this sort of thing, but as far as I can tell, setting (and "unsetting") hard edges doesn't work on subdivided meshes ONLY...

Hi Hirazi thanks for the script. It works. And yes the Mark Hard Edge/Vertex also worked. Thanks again. Now if only I could get dynamic grid in SI:D

I'm not certain, if this is what you mean, but under the "Camera Visibility Property Editor" there are options ("Floor/Grid Setup"), to customize the floor/grid ("U, V Cell Size", "Floor Size" and "U, V Snap Size").

Yes, I want to control the floor Grid Settings with a hotkey. If you have used C4D you will know what I am saying. Basically what the Grid does is when zooming in or out in the viewport the grid automatically adjusts itself. Since dynamic grid is not available in SI I wish to control the Grid/Floor settings with some hotkeys. As reaching that option from the camera properties every few seconds becomes tiresome. Thanks for your help.

A quick and dirty cheat. Take the attached custom property, apply it to your scene. Now lay an expression on this parameter based on the way you want the cells to resize. I tried it with a "Camera.kine.global.posz / 10"-expression but that was just for testing purposes. The custom parameter writes its value every time it gets changed to both the "U Cell Size" and the "V Cell Size" and by adding the expression manually you can get something like the dynamic resizing (more or - probably - less) you're after....
I doubt however if it's truly safe to work with such an obvious cheat, but that's for you to decide...


edit: I updated the custom property so the parameter has more "acceptable" values: its minimum is set to 0.1 and its default value is set at 1. If you come up with some kind of formula to use as a generic expression, I'd be willing to try incorporating the setting of this expression into the creation phase of the parameter as well.

You are asking me? A person who gives the shopkeeper the money and asks for how much change should he get back, to come up with a formula. I can spend the entire day sculpting, modeling, animating, texturing, rendering and I must say that I am pretty good at those, but maths I can barely wrap my head around it. Okay enough of self humiliation

Anyway, I have put your .py in C:\Users\user_name\Autodesk\Softimage_2012_SP1\Application\Plugins. If this is the correct location where should I look for the property. In the Model>Property menu? Because I can't find it there.

And thanks again for spending your precious time on my silly questions Hirazi.

No, you'll have to open up the Plug-in Manager (File > Plug-in Manager), find the plugin, expand it (click on the plus-sign), right-click on the entry "gridhelper (Property)" and choose "Create Property".
This is what it looks like on my laptop Mod Tool:

(please ignore the other plugins, I know I do!!! )

And concerning the behavior of the expression you want, describe how you envision it. Default the cell sizes are set to "1". When do you want them to turn bigger and when do you want them to turn smaller. And how much? I can't guarantee I can figure it out, but I'd be willing to give it a try... And maybe if I get clear instructions from you, I can code it, instead of using an expression...