Of course you can also apply these properties by selecting the layer(s) that you want to apply them to, and choosing Get > Property > [name of property] from any toolbar.
Setting Scene Layer Properties
Although you can apply a variety of properties at the layer level, two properties can be easily applied from the scene layer manager. These are:
• A display property, which controls the layer’s display color.
• A geometry approximation property.
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Of course you can also apply these properties by selecting the layer(s) that you want to apply them to, and choosing Get > Property > [name of property] from any toolbar. |
Setting Scene Layer Display Properties
By default, layers don’t have a display property of their own, but rather inherit the scene’s display property. You can, however, create a display property for each layer in your scene. This is generally used when you wish to change the wireframe display color for the layer.
A layer’s display color defines the wireframe color for objects in the layer, provided that the objects are not selected.
To apply a custom display property to a scene layer
1. Open the Scene Layer Manager (press 6).
2. Do one of the following:
- Double-click the Color cell in any layer’s row.
or
- Right-click the row of the layer that you wish to apply the property to, and choose Custom Display Settings from the menu.
or
- Apply a display property to the current layer by choosing Layers > Custom Display Settings for Current Layer from the scene layer manager menu.
The Display property editor opens.
3. Set the display options as needed. Changes that you make will affect all objects in the layer, provided they don’t have local display properties of their own.
To set the display color, simply choose a color from the palette in the Wireframe Color options.
For more information about display properties, see Setting Display Options per Object in the Interface and Tools guide.
Setting Scene Layer Geometry Approximation Properties
Geometry approximation specifies how polygons, NURBS surfaces, and curves should be tessellated (divided into triangles at rendering time). The various methods of approximation let you reduce the number of triangles in the geometry of an object and still render a very smooth surface.
To apply a custom geometry approximation property to a scene layer
1. Open the Scene Layer Manager (press 6).
2. Do one of the following:
- Right-click the row of the layer that you wish to apply the property to, and choose Custom Geometry Approximation from the menu.
or
- Apply a geometry approximation property to the current layer by choosing Layers > Custom Geometry Approximation for Current Layer in the scene layer manager.
The Geometry Approximation property editor opens.
3. Set the geometry approximation options as needed. Changes that you make will affect all objects in the layer, provided they don’t have local geometry approximation properties of their own. See Geometry Approximation in the Rendering guide.
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