Browser

Select View > Browser to open the Browser. The Browser is used to manage all the elements of a scene in Shade3D. Not only can you view the hierarchial structure of the scene, but selecting, grouping, renaming, searching, and changing properties of objects can all be done in the Browser.

The Browser is composed of four main areas: the buttons along the top, the hierarchy structure displayed on the left, checkboxes on the right, and a status bar along the bottom.
The checkboxes can be shown or hidden by clicking the show/hide triangle icon in either the top right or bottom right corners of the Browser.

Top Buttons

Select Pop-up Menu
Attributes Pop-up Menu: If plugins with custom information are installed, this menu displays a list of settings related to those plugins. When plugins have custom attributes that can be applied to the selected object, those settings become available from this menu. These settings are also accessible from the Tools > Custom Attributes sub-menu.

See also Attributes Pop-up Menu
Boolean: Click this button to show or hide the boolean operators: * - = \ $ & + ! ^ Click on a boolean operator to add it to the currently selected object. (Boolean operators are displayed at the front of the object name in the Browser.) Click the Clear button to remove the boolean operator added last.

See also Boolean Rendering
Find: This button shows the Find Window, where you can search for objects and parts by type, diffuse color, and marker color.

See also Find Window

Scene Hierarchy and Object Checkboxes

Generally, object checkboxes in the Browser have three modes, or states: On, Normal, and Off. For details on each of the modes, see Checkbox Modes.

See also Checkbox Modes

Show/Hide

Deselect this checkbox to hide the object in the Figure Window.

Render

Deselect this checkbox if you wish to ignore the object when rendering, regardless of whether it is selected or not.

Expand/Collapse Part

An expand/collapse triangle is displayed before the name of a part or joint that contains other objects. Click this triangle to open and close the part, just like opening and closing a folder.
This has no effect on the objects in the Figure Window.
If the currently selected object is inside a collapsed part or joint, the expand/collapse triangle will be highlighted.

Object Names

The names of the objects in the scene are hierarchically listed.
Double-clicking the name of an object opens the Name dialog box, allowing you to rename the object.

See also Name Dialog Box

Checkboxes

These checkboxes allow you to set properties for objects individually.

Lock: When selected, prevents Modify Mode on the object.
Any control points on the object are not displayed in Modify mode. Locked objects can still be moved and copied.
Diffuse Color: This shows the diffuse color of the object.
The icon indicates that surface attributes have been applied to the object. The icon indicates that surface attributes have been applied to a parent of the object.
Flip Face: When selected, the object's normals are inverted.
To clear child parts of the object as well, hold Ctrl (Win) or Option (Mac) while clicking the checkbox.
Solid: When selected, objects with transparency are considered solid for determining the number of intersections.
Bind: Available only for parts and joints.
When selected, allows the object to be bound when applying skin settings.
Shadow Catcher: When selected, shadows cast on the object are rendered, but the object itself is not.
Shooter: When selected, calculates indirect light generated by the object for the radiosity solution.
Receiver: When selected, calculates effects of indirect light on the object for the radiosity solution.
Cast Shadow: When selected, calculates shadows cast by the object for the radiosity solution.
Double Sided: When selected, both front and back sides of each face are used in calculations.
Group Selection: Available only for parts and joints.
When selected, objects inside the part or joint are grouped. In the Figure Window, selecting an object that is part of a group will select all the objects in that group.
MultiPass Rendering: Mask: When selected, the object and its surface attributes are masked when using MultiPass rendering.
Cage: These icons represent a cage and association of an object it binds.
represents a cage, and represents an object it is binding, automatically coloring the object by association type.

Browser Partitions

You can split the Browser into two or more partitions by dragging one of the partition bars at the top or bottom of the Browser window. The number of partitions is only limited by the size of the monitor.
Drag the top partition bar down to create a partition identical to the first. Drag the bottom partition bar up to reveal the scene's master objects, master surfaces, image objects, and group objects.

Checkbox Modes

Each of the Browser's property checkboxes has three modes, or states:

On (icon + checkmark): The property is enabled.
Example of the Render checkbox enabled:
Normal (dimmed icon or blank): The property state is inherited from a parent object.
Example of the Render checkbox inherited state: (enabled), (disabled)
Off (blank + checkmark): The property is disabled.
Example of the Render checkbox disabled:

With some exceptions, holding Ctrl (Win) or Option (Mac) while clicking a property checkbox will apply the setting to child parts as well.
To show or hide the property checkboxes, click the expand/collapse triangle in the upper right or lower right corner of the Browser.
Some checkboxes are hidden by default. To select which checkboxes to display, right-click (Win) or Control-click (Mac) in the checkbox area on the right side of the Browser to open a pop-up menu.