3ds Max – Named Selection Sets

By Dennis Collin

3ds Max models can get very involved and complex, especially when working with Point Cloud, Revit and other CAD data. It is frequently necessary to select and reselect items for modification and the assignment of materials, texture mapping etc. Whilst users can utilise layers and selection filters, it is still sometimes difficult to repeatedly select elements in a view. However, 3ds Max does have a useful selection set feature, which permits users to save a named selection of objects, geometry, shapes or lights and recall that selection from a drop-down list.

In this industrial plant scene, I want to add the pipes against a wall to a selection set to apply several some modifiers and materials. Simply select the pipes.

To setup a selection set, access the manage selection sets command from the edit menu, the selected objects are automatically added to the set as shown in the image in figure 3.

This selection set can be easily recalled applying different material options etc. This set can be modified later if necessary.