There are many different types of properties that define many different elements in a scene. The following is a description of the basic properties that are automatically set for most objects in an Softimage scene. For each one, you can click on the node’s icon in the explorer to open its property editor.
Geometry
If the object is a 3D object, it has either a Polygon Mesh or Surface node, which contains the geometry properties of the object. If the object is a camera or light, there is no geometry for it. For more information on polygon mesh or surface objects, see Surface and Curve Modeling.
These properties define the transformations of an object, not to be confused with forward or inverse kinematics on a skeleton. Transformations to an object can be either global or local.
You can set the position, rotation, and scaling coordinates of an object’s X, Y, and Z axis in global or local space. You can also activate and deactivate any transformation constraints that may have been applied to the object, or set positional and rotational limits for the object.
For more information on transformations, see Transformations [Transformations].
Visibility
These properties basically set how an object is viewed in a 3D view. On a per-object basis, you can determine whether an object is visible, renderable, or selectable.
You can also set some rendering properties that determine whether the object itself, its reflection, or its shadow is rendered, as well as if the object is a caustic or global illumination transmitter or receiver. See Setting Object Visibility Properties [Interface and Tools].
Ambient Lighting
A scene’s ambient color is multiplied with an object’s ambient color. If the scene ambience is set to black, nothing can alter the ambient color of an object except, of course, a light.
Editing the value of this node affects the ambient lighting of the whole scene, not just the object. For more information, see Scene Ambience [Lights and Cameras].
Display
These properties define how individual objects are displayed in the 3D views. Some display types provide less detail and therefore speed up the refresh rate, while others provide more detail, and as such, require more time to redraw.
Objects can be displayed differently, depending on whether they are selected, unselected, and/or interacted upon. See Setting Display Options for Individual Objects [Interface and Tools].
These properties let you specify how polygons, 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.
For more information on using geometry approximation for modeling, see Geometry Approximation Parameters [Modeling and Deformation Basics]. For information on using it for viewing/rendering, see Surface Approximation [Interface and Tools].
Material
Every renderable object has a material that determines its appearance. A material has several aspects (such as surface, environment, and shadow) to which you can attach different shaders to control the total look of the object. See The Default Scene Material [Texturing].
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5