Selecting

This page discusses specific selecting tools for surface objects in Edit Mode. The Surface Edit more also uses the general select tools used which are described in the interface section.

Surface selection in Edit Mode is very similar to NURBS curve selection. The basic tools are the same as with meshes, so you can select a simple control point with an LMB-click, add to current selection with Shift-LMB clicks, B order-select, and so on.

Select Menu

The Select menu (in the 3D Viewport header) is even simpler than for curves…

All these options have the same meaning and behavior as in Object Mode (and the specificities of Box Select in Edit Mode have already been discussed here).

All A
Select all.
None Alt-A
Select none.
Inverse Ctrl-I
Selects all the geometry that are not selected, and deselect currently selected components.
Box Select B
Interactive box selection.
Circle Select C
Interactive circle selection.
Select Random
Select random control points.
Checker Deselect
Select every Nth control point.
Select Linked Ctrl-L
Select control points that are connected to the current selection.
Select Similar Shift-G
Select control points that have similar properties to the current selection.
Select Control Point Row
Select a whole row of control points.
Select More/Less
Select objects based on their parent child relationships.

Select Random

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ Select Random

Select random control points.

Percent
Selects the defined percentage of control points.
Random Seed
Seed used by the pseudo-random number generator.
Action
Controls whether the operator Selects or Deselects control points.

Checker Deselect

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ Checker Deselect

This tool applies an alternating selected/deselected checker pattern. This only works if you already have more than one control point selected.

It works by changing the current selection so that only every Nth control points will remain selected, starting from the active one.

Nth Selection
Skip every Nth element leaving it selected.
Skip
Number of consecutive elements to skip (keep selected) at once.
Offset
Offset from the starting point.

Select Linked

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ Select Linked
Hotkey:L, Ctrl-L

Select Linked will add to the selection the mouse cursor’s nearest control point, and all the linked ones, i.e. all points belonging to the same surface.

Select Similar

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ Select Similar
Hotkey:Shift-G

Selects control points that have certain similar properties to the active one. The Adjust Last Operation panel provides several selection options:

Type
Type
Selects splines that have the same spline Type i.e. Bézier, NURBS or Poly.
Radius
Selects control points that have a similar Radius value.
Weight
Selects all points that have a similar Weight value.
Direction
Selects control points that have a similar handles direction.
Compare
Equal, Greater, Less. (only for Radius, Weight) (ToDo 2.76)
Threshold
Precision (ToDo 2.76)

Select Control Point Row

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ Control Point Row
Hotkey:Shift-R

This option works a bit like edge loop selection for meshes, inasmuch it selects a whole row of control points, based on the active (the last selected) one. The first time you press Shift-R, the V row passing through (containing) the active point will be added to the current selection. If you use again this shortcut, you will toggle between the U and V row of this point, removing everything else from the selection.

Select More/Less

Reference

Mode:Edit Mode
Menu:Select ‣ More/Less
Hotkey:Ctrl-NumpadPlus / Ctrl-NumpadMinus

Expand or contract the selection based on current selected control points.

More
For each selected control point, select all its linked points (i.e. two, three or four).
Less
For each selected control point, if all points linked to this point are selected, keep it selected. For all other selected control points, deselect them.

This implies two points:

  1. First, when all control points of a surface are selected, nothing will happen (as for Less, all linked points are always selected, and of course, More cannot add any). Conversely, the same goes when no control point is selected.
  2. Second, these tools will never «go outside» of a surface (they will never «jump» to another surface in the same object).