All contents of this file copyright 2003-2005 Nevercenter Ltd. Co.

Contents

Silo Quick Start Guide............................................................................ 1

Mouse Operation...................................................................................... 2

View Controls........................................................................................... 2

Manipulators............................................................................................. 3

Selection System..................................................................................... 3

Subdivision.................................................................................................. 5

Customization............................................................................................ 5

File.................................................................................................................. 7
New Scene............................................................................................................................. 7
Open Scene........................................................................................................................... 7
Save Scene............................................................................................................................ 7
Save Scene As....................................................................................................................... 8
Export Options........................................................................................................................ 8
Save Selected........................................................................................................................ 9
Save Screenshot.................................................................................................................... 9
Load Into Scene................................................................................................................... 10
Load Reference Into Scene.................................................................................................. 10
Revert To Autosaved............................................................................................................ 10
Run Plugin............................................................................................................................ 11

EDIT............................................................................................................... 12
Undo..................................................................................................................................... 12
Redo..................................................................................................................................... 12
Repeat.................................................................................................................................. 12
Undo/Redo Selection........................................................................................................... 13
Undo/Redo Selection........................................................................................................... 13
Copy..................................................................................................................................... 13
Paste.................................................................................................................................... 14
Delete................................................................................................................................... 14

CREATE......................................................................................................... 15
Cube..................................................................................................................................... 15
Cylinder................................................................................................................................ 16
Sphere.................................................................................................................................. 17
Cone..................................................................................................................................... 18
 Torus..................................................................................................................................... 18
Grid....................................................................................................................................... 19
Circle.................................................................................................................................... 20
Arc........................................................................................................................................ 20
Lathe Object......................................................................................................................... 21
Extrusion Object................................................................................................................... 21
Path Extrusion...................................................................................................................... 22
Line Tool............................................................................................................................... 23
Polygon Tool......................................................................................................................... 24
Array..................................................................................................................................... 24
Duplicate.............................................................................................................................. 24
Instance................................................................................................................................ 25
Instance Mirror..................................................................................................................... 25
De-instantiate Instance......................................................................................................... 26

MODIFY.......................................................................................................... 27
Numerical Editor................................................................................................................... 27
Booleans.............................................................................................................................. 28
Merge Objects...................................................................................................................... 29
Shell..................................................................................................................................... 29
Mirror.................................................................................................................................... 30
Append................................................................................................................................. 30
Bevel.................................................................................................................................... 31
Break.................................................................................................................................... 31
Bridge................................................................................................................................... 32
Connect................................................................................................................................ 32
Extrude................................................................................................................................. 32
Extrude Along Normals......................................................................................................... 33
Fill Hole................................................................................................................................ 33
Flatten.................................................................................................................................. 33
Inset Scale............................................................................................................................ 34
Merge Vertices..................................................................................................................... 34
Move Along Normals............................................................................................................ 35
Normal Scale........................................................................................................................ 35
Slide..................................................................................................................................... 35
Smooth................................................................................................................................. 36
Spin Edge............................................................................................................................. 36
Split Tool............................................................................................................................... 36
Split Loop............................................................................................................................. 37
Tesselate.............................................................................................................................. 38
 Topology Brush..................................................................................................................... 38
Unify Normals....................................................................................................................... 39
Reverse Normals.................................................................................................................. 40

SUBDIVISION................................................................................................ 41
Subdivide.............................................................................................................................. 41
Unsubdivide.......................................................................................................................... 41
Partial Subdivide.................................................................................................................. 42
Refine Control Mesh............................................................................................................. 42
Crease Edges....................................................................................................................... 42
Uncrease Edges................................................................................................................... 43

SELECTION................................................................................................... 44
Group Editor......................................................................................................................... 44
Select Affected Groups......................................................................................................... 45
Select Next Group................................................................................................................ 45
Selection Mode..................................................................................................................... 46
Convert Selection................................................................................................................. 46
Manipulator Tools................................................................................................................. 47
Enable Snapping.................................................................................................................. 48
Enable Soft Selection........................................................................................................... 48
Enable Mirror Seam Preserve.............................................................................................. 49
Area-Style Selection............................................................................................................. 49
Paint-Style Selection............................................................................................................ 49
Select All............................................................................................................................... 50
Deselect............................................................................................................................... 50
Deselect Inactive.................................................................................................................. 50
Invert Selection..................................................................................................................... 51
Expand Selection................................................................................................................. 51
Grow/Shrink Selection.......................................................................................................... 51
Grow/Shrink Selection.......................................................................................................... 52
Select Path........................................................................................................................... 52
Select Loop.......................................................................................................................... 52
Select Ring........................................................................................................................... 53
Special Geometry................................................................................................................. 53
Manipulator Edit Mode......................................................................................................... 54
Recenter Object Axis............................................................................................................ 54
Set Object Axis..................................................................................................................... 54
Orient Manipulator................................................................................................................ 55
Auto Orient Manipulator....................................................................................................... 55
MATERIALS/LIGHT........................................................................................ 57
Material Editor...................................................................................................................... 57
Apply Current Material.......................................................................................................... 58
Automap Selection............................................................................................................... 59
Add Light.............................................................................................................................. 59
Light Properties.................................................................................................................... 59
Use Custom Lighting............................................................................................................ 61
Render.................................................................................................................................. 61

DISPLAY......................................................................................................... 63
Object Display Mode............................................................................................................ 63
Frame Selection................................................................................................................... 64
Hide Selection...................................................................................................................... 64
Hide Unselected................................................................................................................... 64
Show All................................................................................................................................ 65
Unselected To Wireframe..................................................................................................... 65
Viewport Layout.................................................................................................................... 65
Set Viewport Camera........................................................................................................... 66
Walkthrough Mode............................................................................................................... 66
Show Work Grids.................................................................................................................. 66
Show Manipulator................................................................................................................. 67
Show Alternate Manipulator................................................................................................. 67
Show Viewport Images......................................................................................................... 67
Show Lights.......................................................................................................................... 68
Show Buttons....................................................................................................................... 68
Next Button Page................................................................................................................. 68
Set Viewport Image.............................................................................................................. 69
Select Viewport Image.......................................................................................................... 69
Delete Viewport Image......................................................................................................... 69
Scene Info............................................................................................................................ 70
View Shortcuts...................................................................................................................... 71

OPTIONS....................................................................................................... 72
General Options................................................................................................................... 72
Display Options.................................................................................................................... 73
Color Settings....................................................................................................................... 76
Button Settings..................................................................................................................... 76
Keyboard Shortcuts.............................................................................................................. 78
Mouse Setup........................................................................................................................ 79
Rib Format  . .............................................................................................. 81

Pov Format ............................................................................................... 81

Acknowledgements............................................................................... 82
Silo Quick Start Guide
This guide assumes you are using the basic setup that Silo comes with when it is first installed.  You can
customize the mouse and keyboard shortcuts completely, not to mention all of the interface buttons, so don’t
regard this as the way Silo always works.  You can make it work almost any way you want.  In particular, we
recommend that you try the alternate mouse setup built-in to Silo (Options > Mouse Setup) to get an idea of
what a difference different setups can make.

View controls
- Hold Alt + Left Mouse Button (LMB) to rotate the view. Rotation will occur around the manipulator.
- Hold Alt + Middle Mouse Button (MMB) to pan the view.
- Hold Alt + RMB to zoom the view, or use the scroll wheel or Alt + LMB + MMB.
- Hold Ctrl + Alt and scroll the mousewheel to cycle shading modes. (Or use the default hotkey, 0 on the number
pad.)

Selection
- Use LMB for visible selection (only the foremost components) or MMB for thru selection (all components
behind the mouse).
- You can select an individual component (object, face, texture, edge, or vertex) by clicking on it with the left or
middle mouse buttons. This will not preserve the previous selection unless modifier buttons are being held.
- Click and drag to perform an area select. This will not preserve the previous selection unless modifier buttons
are being held.
- Hold Shift while selecting to add components to the current selection.
- Hold Alt+Shift while selecting to remove components from the current selection.
- Hold Ctrl+Shift while selecting to toggle components between selected and deselected. In Silo, objects which
are selected while in object mode will be the only objects editable in texture, face, vertex, and edge modes.

Default selection mode hotkeys:

a - Vertex selection mode
s - Edge selection mode
d - Face selection mode
f - Object selection mode
g - Multi selection mode
h - Texture selection mode

Manipulators
- Move - Drag handles to move in indicated direction. Hold Ctrl to move in the plane of the screen.
- Scale - Drag handles to scale in indicated direction. The center handle scales in all directions. Hold Ctrl to
scale in the plane of the screen.
- Rotate - Drag handles to rotate in indicated direction. Hold Ctrl to rotate in the plane of the screen.
- Universal - Handle shapes indicate function. Drag to rotate, scale, or move. Hold Ctrl to move in the plane of
the screen.
- Snap- Drag outer handles to snap in that direction only. Drag inner handles to snap to position and orient to
handle. Hold Ctrl to snap to position without orienting.
- No Manipulator - Hold Ctrl to move in the plane of the screen.

Default manipulator hotkeys:

q - Universal manipulator
w - Move manipulator
e - Scale manipulator
r - Rotate manipulator
t - Snap manipulator
y - No manipulator

Subdivision


- Subdivide - Creates a smoothed version of an object underlying the original object. Edits applied to the
original polygon mesh will affect the subdivided shape. This operation can be performed multiple times to create
a smoother underlying shape.
- Unsubdivide - If an object has been subdivided, this undoes one level of subdivision. Can be performed until
there is no underlying subdivided shape.
- Refine Control Mesh - Deletes the polygonal control mesh and makes the underlying subdivided shape directly
editable.
- Crease Edges - Makes the subdivided shape more closely conform to the control mesh along the creased edges.
- Uncrease Edges - Removes creases (if applied) from the selected edges.

Default subdivision hotkeys:

c - Subdivide
v - Unsubdivide
Shift+c - Refine Control Mesh

Mouse Operation
    Silo has a completely customizable mouse, which is setup using the Mouse Setup dialog.  You can save
and load any number of different setups, in case, for example, you wanted to try the setup of another artist you
saw on the internet.  The default setup is summarized below, using the notation LMB, MMB, and RMB for
left, middle, and right mouse buttons, respectively.  For all selection operations, you can drag to perform an
area select or paint selection, depending on which of those two modes is active.  The difference between Select
Thru and Select Visible is that with Select Thru all of the geometry that lies beneath the selection area will be
selected, while with Select Visible, only the compnents you can see are selected.

Default:
LMB - Select Visible New
MMB - Select Thru New
RMB - Right-Click Menu, also button info (when over a button), and ends tools when a tool is active.

Alt+LMB - rotate view while dragging

Alt+MMB - pan view while dragging
Alt+RMB or Alt+LMB+MMB - zoom view while dragging (left to right)

Shift+LMB - Select Visible Add

Shift+MMB - Select Thru Add
Ctrl+Shift+LMB - Select Visible Complement
Ctrl+Shift+MMB - Select Thru Complement
Alt+Shift+LMB - Select Visible Subtract
Alt+Shift+MMB - Select Thru Subtract

Scroll - Soft Selection Radius Up/Down

Ctrl+Scroll - Soft Selection Falloff Up/Down
Alt+Scroll - Zoom In/Out
Ctrl+Alt+Scroll - Cycle Shading Modes

View Controls
    Silo’s view controls, in the default setting, are based on holding combinations of Alt and mouse buttons while
dragging the mouse. The view can only be rotated in Perspective and Free Ortho camera views. Shading modes
in Silo are per-object, so one object can be displayed in wireframe mode while another is flat shaded. If nothing
is selecting, cycling the shading mode will apply the same shading mode to all geometry in the scene. It may
be useful to have unselected objects displayed in wireframe mode (the Unselected To Wireframe function will
do this for you), so that you can more easily access your editable geometry in a complicated scene.  All of the
mouse buttons, including view controls, can be completely customized.


Default view controls:
- Hold Alt + Left Mouse Button (LMB) to rotate the view. Rotation will occur around the manipulator.
- Hold Alt + Middle Mouse Button (MMB) to pan the view.
- Hold Alt + MMB + LMB to zoom the view.
- Scroll to zoom the view
- Hold Ctrl + Alt and scroll the mousewheel to cycle shading modes. (Or use the default hotkey, 0.)

Manipulators
    Silo provides the option for manipulator-based editing, meaning that the editing geometry can be done by
clicking and dragging on the handles of an on-screen manipulator, or by holding Ctrl and dragging to perform
the manipulators’ actions in the plane of the screen. The different handles of the geometry manipulators allow
you to restrict your scaling, rotation, and translation to certain axes.  Many of Silo’s operations are based on
the position of the manipulator. There are five basic manipulator modes: universal, move, scale, rotate, and no
manipulator. Additionally, a tool manipulator with spherical handles will appear while using some tools, such
as bevel. These tools are interactive, and dragging on any of the handles will modify the effect of the tool, e.g.
change the amount of bevel.  The different handles of the tool manipulator do not perform different functions.

Default manipulator hotkeys:

q - Universal manipulator
w - Move manipulator
e - Scale manipulator
r - Rotate manipulator
t - Snap manipulator
y - no manipulator

    In the default mouse setup, if you hold down Ctrl while nothing is selected and keep it pressed you will enter
a “tweak” mode that allows you to click, drag, and release to quickly select, transform, and deselect components
(the transformation will depend on which manipulator you have selected). You will automatically leave this
tweak mode when you release Ctrl.  Using the Mouse Setup dialog, however, you can assign this tweak mode
(“Tweak Select”) to any mouse button/modifier combination.

    You can also work completely without the manipulator or with only the alternate manipulator (set the
visibility of each in the Display menu).  When using no manipulator, you’ll want to assign the constrain
functions (Constrain To X Axis, Constrain To Screen, etc) to keyboard shortcuts or mouse buttons to replace the
need to click on manipulator handles.

Selection System
Description:

    Silo supports object, texture, face, edge, and vertex selection modes, as well as a multi-selection mode that
allows you to automatically move between vertex, edge, and face selection modes. Silo’s workflow hinges on
the use of these selection modes. When in a particular selection mode, you will be able to select components of
the scene which are of that type.

    The object mode is really nothing more than a classification system. In general, whenever you create a piece
of geometry which is not attached to any other existing geometry it will be created as a new object. Objects can
be merged together or parts of a mesh can be cut out and made into a separate object. Thus any set of geometry
can be an object. In object mode, you edit each entire object as if it were a single component. Some tools,
such as Shell, can only be applied to whole objects. In any other selection mode, only the objects which were
selected while in object mode will be editable -- similar to a layer system. To edit the vertices of a sphere for
example, you would select the sphere in object mode and then enter vertex selection mode -- the vertices of that
sphere will be editable while the vertices of other objects that weren’t selected while in object mode will not
be editable. Face, edge, and vertex modes allow you to edit the faces, edges, and vertices of selected objects,


respectively. Texture selection mode is really the same as face selection mode, except that all manipulator edits
on a face selection in texture mode will edit the textures on those faces rather than the faces themselves.

    Selection highlighting, when enabled (Options > General Options) will automatically highlight vertices,
edges, or faces as you hover over or near to them with your mouse when in vertex, edge, face, texture, or multi
select modes, and clicking to select will select whichever component is highlighted even if you’re not exactly
over it. Additionally, many operations can be performed on a highlighted component when nothing is selected
-- you can mouse over an edge and press the shortcut key for the Bevel command and the highlighted edge wil
be beveled without you ever having to click on it. This allows you to work very quickly with accurate selections.

    Many of Silo’s operations are based on the position of the manipulator. There are six basic manipulator
tools: universal, move, scale, rotate, snap, and no manipulator. Additionally, a tool manipulator with spherical
handles will appear while using some tools, such as bevel. These tools are interactive, and dragging on any of
the handles will modify the effect of the tool, e.g. change the amount of bevel.  You can either work with the
manipulators, grabbing their handles to perform your transformations, or you can set up your keyboard shortcuts
and mouse to work completely without the manipulator. 

    Silo’s workflow depends on frequent cycling of selection and manipulator modes, so use of the default
hotkeys or hotkeys of your own is strongly recommended. Multi selection is the exception, as it allows you
to switch between vertex, edge, and face modes simply by selecting the appropriate component type, in effect
allowing you to work with all of them at once. If selection highlighting is enabled you can highlight all three
component types on the object by moving your mouse over them. Once a component is selected, you will enter
that component mode. When everything is deselected, you will return to multi mode and be able to select any
of those component types. This can provide for a much quicker workflow, especially in concert with tools such
as Bevel as mentioned above. Simply highlight a face, bevel, click once to exit the tool, and you are returned to
multi select mode to work with another component.

Default mode and manipulator key settings:

q - Universal manipulator
w - Move manipulator
e - Scale manipulator
r - Rotate manipulator
t - Snap manipulator
y - No manipulator
a - Vertex selection mode
s - Edge selection mode
d - Face selection mode
f - Object selection mode
g - Multi selection mode
h - Texture selection mode

    Silo supports two different types of selection: visible and thru. Imagine selecting all of the vertices of a sphere
using area select. With the visible selection, mapped to the left mouse button by default, only the vertices on the
side of the sphere facing you will be selected. With thru selection, however, any vertices within the area of the
selection will be selected, so the entire sphere would be selected. Thru selection is mapped to the middle mouse
button in the default setup. Any selection function (see list below) performed with the mouse can be performed
using either visible or thru selection. You can use Silo’s mouse customization dialog (Options > Mouse Setup) to
assign any selection type to any mouse button/modifier combination.

Selection functions in the default Silo setup:

- You can select an individual component (object, face, texture, edge, or vertex) by clicking on it. This will not
preserve the previous selection (Select Visible New or Select Thru New are the mouse function names for this).
- Click and drag to perform an area select or to paint selection, depending on which mode is currently enabled.
- Hold Shift while selecting to add components to the current selection.
- Hold Alt+Shift while selecting to remove components from the current selection.
- Hold Ctrl+Shift while selecting to toggle components between selected and deselected.


Subdivision
    Subdivision surface modeling is a method which allows you to create a rough, angular shape made up of a
low number of polygons and use a smoothing algorithm to create a smooth shape based on the rough shape. 
You can then edit the rough angular shape and watch the resulting changes on the smoothed inner shape in real
time.

    Silo’s subdivision surfaces are implemented in a manner intended to speed and simplify the process of
subdivision surface modeling. There are two ways to create a subdivision surface: using the Subdivide
command, and using the Partial Subdivide command. When you first subdivide an object, your original mesh
will be retained, while a new, smoothed mesh is created underneath it. This smooth mesh is not directly editable.
Instead, it is modified by making changes to the original lower-resolution mesh upon which it is based. You can
alter the display of this outer mesh so that it appears that you’re editing the inner mesh directly (see Display
Options).  Otherwise the outer control mesh will be displayed as a wireframe cage around the subdivided mesh.
You can still use all of Silo’s polygonal modelling tools to edit the control mesh. If you subdivide the same
object multiple times, the same outer control mesh will be used, while the inner subdivided mesh will have
increased resolution and get smoother and smoother. You can decrease the resolution, to the point of removing
all subdivisions, using the Unsubdivide command. Thus it is easy to switch between different resolutions of
subdivision while you’re working. If you desire to edit a subdivided shape directly, you can use the Refine
Control Mesh command, which will delete the original control mesh and turn the subdivided shape into a
regular polygon object.

    The Partial Subdivide command allows you to only subdivide a portion of your object, defined by a selection
of either faces or edges. Once you have partially subdivided an object, all Subdivide commands called when
that object is selected will further refine the same area, regardless of which areas of the object are currently
selected. Calling Partial Subdivide while non-subdivided faces/edges of an object are selected will cause those
faces/edges to become subdivided as well.  You can also perform a Partial Subdivide on one portion of the mesh,
edit it to your liking, and then use Refine Control Mesh to create a new object, which can have a different partial
subdivision. You can also Unsubdivide the mesh to the point where there is no underlying subdivision, at which
point you can define a new area to partially subdivide.

Customization
    Silo is designed to be extremely customizable, allowing you to make the program look and act just how you
like it, removing unnecessary obstacles between you and your creativity.  Imagine sitting down to design an
object or a space with all of the tools exactly where you want them, all of the colors exactly tuned to your tastes,
and the whole look and feel of the program reflecting your personality.

    Silo supports massive customization through its Mouse Setup window.  Here you can assign any of the usual
mouse functions or any of Silo’s other functions to and mouse/modifier combination.  For example, you could
set the left mouse button to do Tweak Select, or Alt + the middle mouse button to do an Extrude operation.

    Silo also has on-screen buttons in the form of button pages, edited through the Button Settings window. A
button page is a user-defined group of buttons which are displayed together on the screen, and can be assigned to
any of Silo’s functions. Multiple button pages can be defined, and then cycled or switched between, and certain
button pages can be set to follow your manipulator around the screen. Each button page has five lists of buttons.
There are four pre-defined lists which will put buttons along the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the screen.
For more complicated setups, there is also a custom list for which each button’s position is individually defined.

    There are several different ways of accessing and using button pages. If the Show Buttons option in the
Display menu is checked, then by default a button page will always be displayed. Press Tab to switch to the
next button page, or Shift+Tab to switch to the previous button page. Hold the Spacebar to temporarily hide the
buttons, e.g. to select a piece of geometry behind a button or to get a clearer view of your model. If the Show
Buttons option is unchecked, then by default the button page will be hidden. You can still cycle through button
pages using Tab and Shift+Tab. Hold the Spacebar to temporarily display the current button page.


    Keyboard shortcuts, or hotkeys, can be assigned in the Keyboard Shortcuts options window. Shortcuts are
an efficient way to quickly perform a task. As with the buttons, nearly all of Silo’s functions can be assigned
to a hotkey. All character keys are assignable (lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols). There are
other hotkeys which cannot be changed, which involve the use of the Ctrl and Alt keys. To see a complete list of
currently assigned shortcuts, use the View Shortcuts window in the Display menu.

    The color of almost every element in Silo is user-defineable, from the manipulator handles to the background
to the default material.  Open the Color Settings window to scroll through the different elements of the interface
and choose their colors.


File
New Scene

File > New Scene... (Ctrl+N)  

Description:

      The New Scene command (File > New Scene) will open a new, blank scene. You will be prompted to save
changes on your current scene, which will be closed when the new scene opens.

Notes:

-The default material will be carried over from the previous file, but all other materials will be lost.

-Other than the previous exception, starting a new scene is akin to closing Silo and opening it again.

Open Scene

File > Open Scene...

Description:

      The Open Scene command (File > Open Scene...) will open a dialog box and allow you to choose a different
scene to work in. The current scene will be closed after prompting you to save changes. You can open any of the
supported file types from this dialog.

Notes:

-Supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, and *.dxf.

Save Scene

File > Save Scene... (Ctrl+S)

Description:

      The Save Scene command (File > Save Scene...) allows you to save the current project. If the file has not yet
been saved or the current file type is not *.sia a dialog will open to allow you to choose a name, directory, and
file type. Otherwise the file will be saved with its current name and path.  When saving to file formats other than
.sia, some of the information may be lost (since some formats don’t support such things as holes in polygons).

Notes:

-Current supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, *.dxf, *.rib, and *.pov.  More formats can be supported
through plugins.


Save Scene As

File > Save Scene As... (Ctrl+Shift+S)

Description:

    The Save Scene As command (File > Save Scene As...) allows you to save the current project. A dialog will
open to allow you to choose a name, directory, and file type for the file.  When saving to file formats other than
.sia, some of the information may be lost (since some formats don’t support such things as holes in polygons).

Notes:

-Current supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, *.dxf, *.rib, and *.pov.  More can be supported through
plugins.

Export Options

File > Export Options...

Description:
    The Export Options dialog allows you to adjust settings for certain export formats (such as .rib files) that
contain information in addition to the geometry information, such as lighting and camera information.  This can
be especially useful when you link an external renderer to render directly from Silo.  Note that not all options
in this dialog will affect all export formats.  You should experiment with different formats to see which settings
affect which.

  

Render Size:
    For formats that allow you to specify the size of the output image when they are rendered. 

Include Header:
    For certain export formats, this will allow you to specify a file whose contents will be copied to the top of the
output file, immediately preceding the scene information written by the program.


Include Footer:
    For certain export formats, this will allow you to specify a file whose contents will be copied to the bottom of
the output file, immediately following the scene information written by the program.

Include Lights:
    For certain export formats that include ligting information, you can check this box to have that information
included in the output file or not.  An example of when you might want to leave this item unchecked is when
you’ve set up specialized lighting in an included header file which you want to use instead of the scene’s
lighting.

Include Camera:
    As with the Include Lights option, you can check this box to have camera information included in the output
file or not, for certain file formats which allow for camera information.  An example of when you might want to
leave this item unchecked is when you’ve set up a specialized camera in an included header file which you want
to use instead of the scene’s camera.

Override Material Names:

    A situation where you might use this option is when you’re writing to or rendering via a rib file.  The rib file
exporter uses the material names as the surface name parameter, and checking this option allows you to use the
name provided in this field for every material instead of using the names of each material.  Thus, if you wanted
everything rendered in a toon style, you could provide the name of your toon shader here and that shader would
be used in conjunction with the different material colors to render everything in a toon-shaded style.

Notes:

- Not all options will apply to all export formats, even if those formats support such things as lighting and
cameras.

Save Selected

File > Save Selected...  

Description:

      The Save Selected command (File > Save Selected...) allows you to save only the currently selected objects.
If you are in a mode other than object mode, it will save all shapes which are currently editable (and have
therefore been selected while in object mode). A dialog will open to allow you to choose a name, directory, and
file type for the file.

Notes:

-Supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, and *.dxf.

Save Screenshot

File > Save Screenshot...

Description:

      The Save Screenshot command (File > Save Screenshot...) allows you to save a screenshot of your project in
any of Silo’s supported image types. The screenshot will show the entire viewport area, including all viewports
if you are in a multiple viewport layout. On-screen buttons are automatically hidden.


Notes:

- If you want to take a screenshot with the buttons showing, you may be able to use your computer’s Print
Screen command.

Load Into Scene

File > Load Into Scene...

Description:

      The Load Into Scene command (File > Load Into Scene...) will load another project into the current
workspace, adding its materials and geometry to those of the current project. You can import any of the
supported file types.

Notes:

-Supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, and *.dxf.

Load Reference Into Scene

File > Load Reference Into Scene...

Description:

      The Load Reference Into Scene command (File > Load Reference Into Scene...) is similar to the Load Into
Scene command, however the geometry will exist as an instance of the geometry in the reference file. Thus
when the file from which the reference is taken is edited, any project containing the file as a reference will load
the updated shape. You may scale or rotate or move the imported reference, but you cannot edit it by vertex,
edge, or face unlesss you de-instantiate it with the De-Instantiate Instance command.  You can import any of the
supported file types as a reference.

Notes:

-Supported file types are: *.sia, *.obj, *.3ds, and *.dxf.

Revert To Autosaved

File > Revert To Autosaved

Description:
   
Silo will automatically save a backup copy of your work every ten minutes, and keeps several previous versions
in a row.  This is in case your file gets corrupted somehow or Silo crashes and you lose your work.  Use this
command to reopen the most recent autosaved file.  To open other previous autosaved files, open the files in the
Autosaves directory in your Silo install directory.

Notes:

10
Run Plugin

File > Run Plugin...

Description:

      The Run Plugin (File > Run Plugin...) dialog allows you to select and run a plugin which is not in your
startup plugins folder. Plugins in your startup folder are assignable to shortcut keys and buttons. Plugins which
are run from the Run Plugin dialog are executed once and are not made assignable, allowing you to keep less-
used plugins from cluttering up the interface.

Notes:

- Plugins have a .dll filetype.

- If you want a plugin to load with the program and be assignable to buttons and hotkeys, place the .dll file in the
Silo/Plugins/Startup Plugins/ directory. File format plugins should be placed in Silo/Plugins/Filetype Plugins.

11
EDIT
Undo

Edit > Undo (Ctrl+Z)

Description:

      Undo (Edit > Undo) is implemented in Silo much like in any other program - when you perform an action
such as dragging a face or rotating an edge or performing a boolean operation between two shapes, you can
reverse the effects of that action by calling this command from the Edit Menu (Edit > Undo) or with the hotkey
command Ctrl+Z. 

Notes:

-Certain actions cannot be undone, such as assigning materials to a face or changing certain preferences.  All
actions that change the geometry of shapes can be undone.

-You can change the number of undos available to you by setting the Undo Level field in the General Options
window (Options > General Options).  A higher number in this field lets you undo more commands but requires
more memory.

-There is also a Redo (Edit > Redo) command available to redo whatever action you undid with Undo.

Redo

Edit > Redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z)

Description:

      Redo (Edit > Redo) is implemented in Silo much like in any other program - when you perform an action
such as dragging a face or rotating an edge or performing a boolean operation between two shapes, you can
reverse the effects of that action by calling Undo and then re-perform the command by calling Redo from the
menu or by using the hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+Z).

Notes:

-You may Redo as many commands as you have undone with the Undo command.  However, if you use Undo
several times and then perform another action such as moving points or changing a shape’s geometry somehow,
the stack of commands you undid will be lost and you will not be able to Redo them.

-Also see the entry for Undo (Edit > Undo).

Repeat

Edit > Repeat

Description:

    The Repeat command (Edit > Repeat) will perform the last command called on whatever the current selection

12
is.  For example, if you select a face loop and call the Split Face Loop command, you can then call Repeat
(probably from an assigned hotkey or button) and it will call the Split Face Loop command on the current
selection.  This allows you to quickly cut up a model or perform other sequences of actions.

Notes:

- Some commands won’t register as the “last command.”  This is to try to make it so only useful commands will
override your previous last command.

Undo/Redo Selection

Edit > Undo Selection

Edit > Redo Selection

Description:

      Silo now features a separate stack for selection undos, allowing for undo and redo of selections
independently of geometry changes or other commands affected by the regular undo and redo. Multiple undos
are allowed with Undo Selection, just as with regular undo.

Notes:

-One of the most common uses of Undo Selection is to recover a selection after you have accidentally
deselected.

-Changing the geometry of your object may affect the ability to undo or redo a selection. (e.g. if you delete a
face which was selected)

Undo/Redo Selection
Edit > Undo Selection

Edit > Redo Selection

Description:

      Silo now features a separate stack for selection undos, allowing for undo and redo of selections
independently of geometry changes or other commands affected by the regular undo and redo. Multiple undos
are allowed with Undo Selection, just as with regular undo.

Notes:

-One of the most common uses of Undo Selection is to recover a selection after you have accidentally
deselected.

-Changing the geometry of your object may affect the ability to undo or redo a selection. (e.g. if you delete a
face which was selected)

Copy

Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C)

13
Description:

      The Copy command (Edit > Copy) will copy whatever shapes, faces, edges, or vertices you have currently
selected to the clipboard.  You can then use the Paste command to create a new shape that has the same structure
as that which you copied to the clipboard.  You could, for example, copy a sequence of edges from one shape,
paste them to make a new shape, then use that new shape as a path for a Path Extrusion Object to make an
extrusion that exactly follows the contours of the original shape.

Notes:

-Also see the Paste (Edit > Paste) help file.

Paste

Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V)

 Description:

      The Paste command (Edit > Paste) is used in conjunction with the Copy command.  If you use the Copy
(Edit > Copy) command to copy selected shapes, faces, edges, or vertices to the clipboard, the Paste command
will create a new shape that has the same structure as that which you copied to the clipboard.

Notes:

-You can use the Paste command repeatedly to paste as many duplicates as you want of whatever may be on the
clipboard.

-Also see the Copy command help file.

Delete

Edit > Delete (Delete Key)

Description:

      The Delete command (Edit > Delete) does its best to delete whatever geometry you have selected.  Different
types of geometry can or can’t be deleted depending on the geometry type and the way the geometry is attached
to other geometry.  See below for details.

Notes:

- You can only delete vertices if they have either two edges or no edges attached.

- You can only delete edges if they have two faces or no faces attached.

- You can delete any face or object.

14
CREATE
Cube
Create > Cube

Description:

      The Cube command will create a cube shape at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that you
specify in the Cube Options window (Create > Cube > ...).  In that window you can set the default values for
the height, width, and depth of the cube, as well as how many height, depth, and width sections the created cube
will have.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a cube using specific values, you must enter those values into the Cube Options dialog
before you create it.

15
Cylinder

Create > Cylinder

Description:

      The Cylinder command will create a cylinder shape at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that
you specify in the Cylinder Options window (Create > Cylinder > ...).  In that window you can set the default
values for the height, radius, height sections, radial sections, and if the top and bottom caps will have spokes.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a cylinder using specific values, you must enter those values into the Cylinder Options
dialog before you create it.

16
Sphere

Create > Sphere

Description:

      The Sphere command (Create > Sphere) will create a sphere shape at the center of the work grid, based on
parameters that you specify in the Sphere Options window (Create > Sphere > ...).  In that window you can set
the default values for the radius, height sections, and radial sections.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a sphere using specific values, you must enter those values into the Sphere Options
dialog before you create it.

17
Cone

Create > Cone

 

Description:

      The Cone (Create > Cone) command will create a cone shape at the center of the work grid, based on
parameters that you specify in the Cone Options window (Create > Cone > ...).  In that window you can set the
default values for the bottom radius, top radius, height, height sections, and radial sections, as well as whether
to create spokes on the flat caps of the cone.  You can set the bottom radius to 0 and the top radius to a positive
value if you want the cone to be inverted, or you can set neither value to 0 and neither end will come to a single
point.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a cone using specific values, you must enter those values into the Cone Options dialog
before you create it.

Torus
Create > Torus
 

18
Description:

      The Torus command (Create > Torus) will create a torus shape at the center of the work grid, based on
parameters that you specify in the Torus Options window (Create > Torus > ...).  In that window you can set
default values for the inner radius, outer radius, radial sections, and circumference sections of the torus.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a torus using specific values, you must enter those values into the Torus Options dialog
before you create it.

Grid

Create > Grid

 

Description:

      The Grid command will create a grid shape at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that you
specify in the Grid Options window (Create > Grid > ...).  In that window you can set default values for the
width, depth, height, width sections, depth sections, and height sections.  If you give the grid values for width,
depth, and height it will create a 3-dimensional grid-like shape.

Notes:

- Remember that to create a grid using specific values, you must enter those values into the Grid Options dialog
before you create it.

- One thing grids can be very useful for is to make template shapes to use with the Array command.

19
Circle
Create > Circle

Description:

      The Circle command will create a circle shape at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that you
specify in the Circle Options window (Create > Circle > ...).  In that window you can set default values for the
radius and radial sections, as well as whether to fill the circle and whether to add spokes if the circle is filled.

Notes:

-Remember that to create a circle using specific values, you must enter those values into the Circle Options
dialog before you create it.

Arc

Create > Arc

20
Description:

      The Arc command will create an arc or spiral shape at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that
you specify in the Arc Options window (Create > Arc > ...).  In that window you can set default values for the
outer radius, inner radius, radial sections, height, and degrees of rotation. 

Notes:

-Remember that to create an arc or spiral using specific values, you must enter those values into the Arc Options
dialog before you create it.

Lathe Object

Create > Lathe Object

Description:

    The Lathe Object (Create > Lathe Object) command allows you to revolve a 2D profile around an axis,
creating a new 3-dimensional object. Properties of the lathe can be changed in the Lathe Options (Create >
Lathe Object > ...) dialog. Here the axis, degrees of rotation, and number of sections for the lathed object can all
be set. There is also an option to cap the ends of the lathed object with a polygon (the ends are empty by default)
and define a merge tolerance, which will determine how close end points need to be to be merged at the ends of
the lathe.

Notes:

- Lathe will also work with a closed polygon or 3-dimensional object as a source, but may produce unexpected
results. A line segment profile is recommended.

- You can Lathe an open or closed line segment.

Extrusion Object

Create > Extrusion Object

Description:

    The Extrusion Object (Create > Extrusion Object) command allows you to extrude a surface along a vector to
create a 3-dimensional shape. In the Extrusion Object options (Create > Extrusion Object > ...) you can change
the height of the extrusion, the number of sections the new object will have, and the vector along which the
extrusion will be created.

Notes:

-Extrusion Object will work on a 3-dimensional shape such as a cube, but works best on relatively flat non-
closed shapes, such as a polygon, line segment, or grid.

- Extruding an object that consists of faces will create a closed object (caps on the end), whereas extruding an
object that consists of only edges (i.e. a line segment) will create an object that is open on the ends.

21
Path Extrusion

Create > Path Extrusion

Description:

    The Path Extrusion Object (Create > Path Extrusion Object) command works much like the Extrusion Object
(Create > Extrusion Object) command, except that the extrusion is performed along a path of your choosing. A
path is represented by a set of edges with no faces attached. Each segment of the line represents one extrusion
segment. The Path Extrusion Options (Create > Path Extrusion Object > ...) dialog allows you to change the way
the extrusion behaves, by letting you edit the amount which the source object is scaled or rotated. The scale and
rotation parameters denote the rotation and size of the final segment of the extrusion in relation to that of the
beginning segment (i.e. the shape you started with).

    To perform a path extrusion, position a polygon or line segment object so that it lines up as a cross-section of
the path you want to extrude it along.  Select the cross section, Shift-select the path, then call the Path Extrusion
Object command.

Notes:

-The Line Tool (Create > Line Tool) provides an easy way to create a path for your extrusion.

-Path Extrusion Object works on 3-dimensional objects, but may have undesired results. It’s best used with flat
objects or outlines.

- If the path is subdivided, the extrusion will follow the subdivided shape.

22
Line Tool
Create > Line Tool

Description:

      The Line Tool command (accessed from the menu via Create > Line Tool) will initialize the line creation
tool.  Use this tool by left-clicking on the work grid to add successive points to the line segment, dragging to
position them.  Press Enter or Esc to finish off the line segment and exit the tool if you do not want to make a
closed line segment.  Alternately, you can make a closed loop by clicking on the first point of the line segment,
after which the tool will end.
    While still in the tool, you can use the manipulator to reposition the last point you created by using the
manipulator in move mode (Selection > Manipulator Tools > Move) and dragging by its handles, or by using
the Numerical Editor (Modify > Numerical Editor...).  If you drag the point out of the plane of the work grid, the
next point you place will position itself in the plane of the last three points of the line segment rather than the
plane of the work grid.
    Line segments can be used as paths or profiles for Path Extrusion Objects, Extrusion Objects, and Lathe
Objects.  If you subdivide the line segment, the subdivided shape will be used for the Create Path Extrusion,
Create Extrusion Shape , and Create Lathe commands.
    You can set the number of sub-segments per segment drawn in the Line Tool Options window (Create > Line
Tool > ...).

Notes:

-You can subdivide a Line Segment just as you would subdivide any other shape in Silo (using the Subdivide,
Partial Subdivide, and Unsubdivide commands).

-A line segment in Silo is really just a sequence of regular edges, i.e. a line segment is just a regular shape which
contains only edges.  This means that you can copy the edges from any shape and paste them to make a line
segment that can be used for extrusions or lathes.

23
Polygon Tool

Create > Polygon Tool

Description:

    The Polygon Tool (Create > Polygon Tool) allows you to interactively create a new polygon vertex by vertex.
The vertices will be placed where you click, in the plane of the current work grid. Once you have placed as
many vertices as you wish, press Enter to exit the tool and create the polygon.

Notes:

-The normal vector of a face created with the Polygon Tool will be deternined based on whether the vertices
were placed in a clockwise or counter-clockwise manner. It can be reversed with the Reverse Normal command.

Array

Create > Array

Description:

    The Array (Create > Array) command requires you to select two objects. An instance of the first object will be
created for each vertex of the second object, and placed at the position of that vertex. The result is an “array” of
instances of the first object in the shape of the second object.

Notes:

-This is a useful way to create many instances of an object at once. See the help topic for the Instance (Create >
Instance) command for more information on instances.

-You may wish to use the De-Instantiate Instance (Create > De-Instantiate Instance) command to create editable
shapes from the instances made using the Array command.

Duplicate

Create > Duplicate

Description:

    The Duplicate (Create > Duplicate) command allows you to create a copy of the currently selected objects.
The copy will be placed in the same location as the original and will be selected, allowing you to easily move it.

Notes:

-This is the same as using the copy and paste commands on an object.

-Unlike an Instance, the copy is entirely independent of the original object once it has been created.

-Duplicate only works in object selection mode.

24
Instance

Create > Instance

Description:

    The Instance (Create > Instance) command allows you to create an instance of each of the currently selected
objects. Each instance is a copy of the original object which is updated whenever you edit that object. Instances
can only have their scale, position, and rotation edited directly. The instance will be created in the same position
as the original and selected so you can easily move it. You can have multiple instances of the same object,
allowing you to update many objects at once by only editing one.

Notes:

- Instances will be deleted when the original object is deleted.

- Instances cannot be used with many functions and operations.

- Instance only works in object selection mode.

- Instances cannot be taken into vertex, edge, or face selection mode, but are only editable in object selection
mode.

Instance Mirror

Create > Instance Mirror

Description:

    The Instance Mirror command (Create > Instance Mirror) will create an instance of the selected object that is
mirrored according to the settings in the instance mirror options dialog (Create > Instance Mirror > ...).  This is
useful when you want to create a bi-laterally symmetrical object, but you want to be able to see both sides of the
object update automatically when you change one.  Such examples of this might be when you are creating a face
or a character.  The mirrored side is a separate object from the original side, and must either be de-instantiated
(Create > De-Instantiate Instance) and merged with the original half (using Modify > Merge Objects followed
by Modify > Merge Vertices), or be deleted and replaced by a call to the regular mirror command (Modify >
Mirror) which will create regular editable geometry as part of the same object as the original half.
    When you are working with an object and its instance mirror, you often want open edges (edges with only one
face attached) along the seam between the two objects to stay in the seam plane.  You can enable this behavior
with the Enable Mirror Seam Preserve command (Selection > Enable Mirror Seam Preserve).  When enabled,
any open edges that are within the tolerance set in the Instance Mirror Options dialog will be automatically
pulled in to close the seam between the object and its instance mirror.

Notes:

- Instances cannot be edited in vertex, edge, or face modes.  You must edit the original half of the face to make
changes on these levels, and they will be automatically updated on the instanced side.

- See also the Mirror command.

25
De-instantiate Instance

Create > De-instantiate Instance

Description:

    The De-instantiate Instance (Create > De-instantiate Instance) command allows you to create a fully editable
copy of an instance. An instance of an object is a copy of the object that updates automatically with every edit
made to its parent object, but is not editable in vertex, edge, or face modes itself.  A de-instantiated copy of an
instance is editable in all modes, and will not be deleted when the former instance’s parent object is deleted.

Notes:

- See also the Create Instance command to learn about instances.

- This is the same as using the copy and paste commands on the object the instance is referencing.

- De-instantiate Instance only works in object selection mode with one or more instances selected.

26
MODIFY
Numerical Editor

Modify > Numerical Editor...

Description:
   
    The Numerical Editor (Modify > Numerical Editor...) window allows you to read exact values of different
paramters as well as modify the selection by inputting numerical values. The Numerical Editor works in either
world coordinates (based around the work grid origin) or local coordinates (based around the manipulator),
depending on which option is selected.

Position:
    In world coordinates, entering new X, Y, or Z values in the position fields will cause the manipulator to be
moved to those coordinates, taking the selected geometry with it. In local coordinates, these values determine
the relative amount the manipulator (and selection) should be moved in each direction. For example, entering a
value of 1 in the X field while in local coordinates will cause the selection to move along the manipulator’s X
direction 1 unit each time you press Enter.

Rotation:
    In local coordinates, entering a value in degrees in the X, Y, or Z field will cause the selection to be rotated

27
around the manipulator’s X, Y, or Z axis. In world coordinates, rotation still happens around the manipulator, but
instead the world’s X, Y, and Z axes are used.

Scale:
    As with rotation, scaling in either mode still occurs around the manipulator. In world coordinates the world
axes are used to determine the direction of the scale, while in local coordinates the manipulator’s axes are used.

Distance:
    The distance field allows you to edit the distance between the selected components. The distance is
determined as the length of a line drawn between all of the selected components, in the order they were selected.
In vertex selection mode, this is simply from one vertex to the next.  In edge selection mode, the distance is the
closest distance between the two edges if they were infinite lines.  in face mode, the distance is measured as
that of a line starting at the center dot of the first selected face, projected along the face’s normal vector until it
intersects the plane of the second face.  If two faces are parallel, it will give the distance between the planes of
the two faces.  When the distance is changed, the first selected component remains in its original position, and
other components are updated so that the length of the line drawn between them is equal to the new distance.
The operation is most straightforward when only two components are selected.

Angle:
    The Angle field shows the angle between the currently selected components where appropriate. For faces, this
is the angle formed where the planes of two selected faces would intersect.  For edges, this is the angle formed
by the vectors represented by the two selected edges (if the edges share a vertex, this vertex will be the pivot of
the angle).  For vertices, this is the angle formed by a path drawn from the first vertex selected to the second to
the third.  The angle cannot be edited from within the Numerical Editor.

Notes:

-You can choose between the metric and English systems of measurment in the General Options (Options >
General Options...) dialog.

Booleans

Modify > Booleans

Description:

    The Booleans (Modify > Booleans) submenu contains tools for performing boolean operations on two
objects.  Boolean operations make a new third object based on the way the volumes of the two selected shapes
interact with each other.  In the Boolean Options window (Modify > Booleans > ...) you can choose whether to
have Silo delete the original two shapes or keep them in the scene.

    Intersect will create a shape that includes only the volume enclosed by both shapes. (This is often described in
terms of the shared volume of the two objects.)

    Combine is the inverse of Intersect in that it creates a shape that includes all volume from both shapes except
that which is enclosed by both shapes simultaneously, thus including the geometry which Intersect would
remove.

    Subtract will create a shape that removes the volume of the second object from that of the first object.

Notes:

-You may wish to perform a Merge Vertices command after performing a boolean operation to merge vertices
that are very close to each other.

-If a face from the first shape is perfectly aligned (meaning parallel to it and intersecting it) with a face from the

28
second shape, the resulting boolean operation can have unexpected results.  The same is true if an edge from the
first shape is perfectly aligned with an edge from the second shape.  To perform a good boolean operation, make
sure the geometry isn’t aligned in this way.

- All the face normals of the involved objects must be pointing outwards for the boolean operations to behave
as expected.  You may wish to use the Show Normals command to see which direction the normal vectors are
pointing.

Merge Objects

Modify > Merge Objects

Description:

      The Merge Objects (Modify > Merge Objects) command makes all selected objects into a single object.
It is similar to a Group command in that it has has no effect on the geometry of the merged objects, but rather
changes the way the program represents that geometry internally.

Notes:

-Merge Objects is particularly useful for operations such as booleans or the Append Polygon Tool which require
that a specific number of objects be selected, since you can merge several objects to make one object.

-Merge Objects only works in object selection mode.

Shell

Modify > Shell

Description:

      The Shell (Modify > Shell) tool allows you to give thickness to the individual polygons of an object by
making a shell of new polygons which mimics the shape of the object but is displaced slightly. This operation is
useful, for example, in giving thickness to the walls of a modeled house or to a character’s clothing. When the
command is executed, the tool manipulator will load - dragging on its handles will adjust the thickness of the
shell. Press Enter or right-click to create the shell and exit the tool.

29
Notes:

-Shell can only be performed in object selection mode.

-Shell is different from simply scaling a copy of the geometry, because all of the new polygons move along the
direction of the original polygons’ normals.

-There are many situations in which it is mathematically and logically impossible for the Shell operation to work
as you may wish.  You cannot perform a shell operation when one or more of the edges in the shape has more
than two faces attached to it.

- All of the object’s face normals must be oriented in the same direction (“in” or “out”) for Shell to work
properly.  Use the Reverse Normals command to change the normal vectors for selected faces.

Mirror

Modify > Mirror

Description:

      The Mirror (Modify > Mirror) command will mirror an object over a world-coordinates axis. If the object
overlaps the axis, the overlapping portion will be deleted and replaced by the mirror. All vertices within the
merge tolerance will be merged. The axis and merge tolerance can be set in the Mirror options (Modify > Mirror
> ...). If the +X axis is selected, for example, all of the object’s geometry on the positive side of the X axis will
be kept, and all of the object’s geometry on the negative side of the X axis will be replaced by the mirror. The
object will be divided by the Y-Z plane. The merge tolerance allows for the object to be reconnected if there are
vertices close to the dividing plane.  If a vertex’s mirrored counterpart is within the merge tolerance from the
original vertex, it will be merged with the original vertex.

Notes:

-The mirror operation requires that only one object be selected.

Append

Modify > Append

Description:

    The Append (Modify > Append) submenu contains tools for appending new polygons or lines to the existing
object.

    Appen Polygon From Vertices will create a polygon from three or more selected vertices.  Note that it does
matter which order you select the vertices in: they must be selected in the order that they will appear along the
new face’s border.

    The Append Polygon Tool allows you to interactively choose or create vertices for a new polygon. The first
vertex chosen must be an existing vertex on the object. After that, you can either select another vertex on the
mesh or click somewhere else to create a new vertex. (Silo will endeavour to create this new vertex in the plane
of those already created or chosen.) Press Enter once or right-click to create the polygon. The tool will remain
active upon pressing Enter, should you wish to create another polygon. Otherwise, press Enter again to exit the

30
tool.

    Append Line From Vertices will create edges between the selected vertices, in the same order they were
selected.  Note that if you select two vertices on opposite sides of a face and call this command, it will not split
the face into two faces, but will instead add a new edge across the middle of the face.  To properly split a face,
use the Connect command or the Split Tool.

    The Append Line Tool behaves much like the Append Polygon Tool. Again the first vertex must be on the
object, but subsequent vertices may be chosen from those already on the object, or you may left-click where
there isn’t already a vertex to create a new vertex.

Notes:

-Only one object may be selected in order to use the Append Polygon and Append Line tools. You may have
to switch into object selection mode and deselect other objects in the scene. This restriction does not apply
to Append Polygon From Vertices or Append Line From Vertices, although these operations also cannot be
performed on vertices from two or more different objects.

-The normal vector of a face created with the Append Polygon From Vertices command will be deternined based
on the normal vectors of neighboring faces. It can be reversed with the Reverse Normals (Modify > Reverse
Normals) command.

Bevel

Modify > Bevel

Description:

      The Bevel (Modify > Bevel) tool is used for creating a bevel along vertices, selected edges or the edges
of selected faces. On edges and faces it is akin to slicing off the corner where two faces meet, revealing a new
face and two edges where one used to be. On vertices, it is akin to slicing off the vertex corner. The bevel
amount can be controlled interactively using the manipulator (or dragging anywhere on the screen while the tool
manipulator is active). Pressing Enter or right-clicking will complete the bevel and exit the tool. Bevel can be
used in all component selection modes as well as Object mode.

Notes:

-On a subdivided object, bevels can be used to sharpen edges and corners, because it creates geometry which is
close together.  You can see the result interactively by adjusting the bevel amount while the shape is subdivided.

Break

Modify > Break

Description:

      Using the Break (Modify > Break) command allows you to separate different parts of a single object into
separate objects.  You simply select the faces that you want to break off into their own object and then call the
Break command. 

Notes:

- You can also use the Copy and Paste commands to separate geometry from an object, though you may need to
go back and delete elements of the original object.

31
Bridge

Modify > Bridge

Description:

      The Bridge (Modify > Bridge) command can be used to connect objects or faces with new geometry. In Face
mode, select precisely two faces with the same number of edges, and Bridge will create new geometry (basically
a tunnel) joining the faces. If the faces are from separate objects, the objects will also be merged. In Object
mode, select two or more objects, and Silo will attempt to bridge the objects in the order they were selected, by
bridging the two closest faces between each pair of objects.

Notes:

- Bridge can be used to make windows or other holes in your model by bridging faces on opposite sides of the
model.

- One quick way to block out a character or other shape is to place cubes where you want the joints to be, and
then bridge the cubes in object mode.

Connect

Modify > Connect

Description:

      The Connect (Modify > Connect) command is a quick way of splitting faces and adding extra edges. In
vertex mode, if two or more vertices in a face are selected when the call to Connect is made, the face will be
cut by edges connecting those selected vertices.  In edge mode, if two or more edges of a face are selected,
each of those edges will be split in half by a new vertex and the face will be split by edges connecting the new
midpoint vertices.  If more than two edges of a polygon are selected, this will have the effect of insetting a new
polygon into the first. In face mode, the command will perform as Split Loop (Modify > Split Loop), dividing
the selected faces and allowing you to drag the dividing line.

Notes:
- This command is often used in conjunction with Select Ring (Selection > Select Ring) in order to quickly
subdivide a ring of edges.

Extrude

Modify > Extrude

Description:

      The Extrude (Modify > Extrude) command is an effective way of adding new geometry to an object by
essentially pulling or extending faces or edges out of the model. In edge selection mode, Extrude creates a new
copy of the selected edges, and connects each new edge to the original with a face. The new edge will then be
selected, allowing you to move or otherwise edit it as desired. In face selection mode, new faces are similarly
created for the boundaries of the selection, allowing you to pull out the selected faces from the original object.
      You can access the Extrusion Options dialog (Modify > Extrude > ...) to toggle whether the extrusion
will extrude adjacent faces together or separately.  This can also be toggled with the command Extrude Faces
Together Toggle which is assignable to any key/button.

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Notes:

- Extrude only works in face or edge selection mode.

- Extrude sets up the new geometry, but does not actually move the selection.  Use the manipulator to move the
selection.

- Extrude Along Normals (Modify > Extrude Along Normals) is similar to Extrude, but allows you to
interactively move each face along its normal.

Extrude Along Normals

Modify > Extrude Along Normals

 Description:

      The Extrude Along Normals (Modify > Extrude Along Normals) command is similar to the Extrude (Modify
> Extrude) command, except that each face is extruded in the direction of its own normal. An interactive tool
allows you to control how far out the faces are extruded. When the command is first called you can drag the
mouse without clicking to perform the extrude.  You can click and drag additional times to further adjust the
extrusion length.  Press Enter to exit the tool and complete the extrusion.
    You can access the Extrusion Options dialog (Modify > Extrude Along Normals > ...) to toggle whether the
extrusion will extrude adjacent faces together or separately.  This can also be toggled with the command Extrude
Faces Together Toggle.

Notes:

- Extrude Along Normals can only be performed on faces, while Extrude can be performed on faces or edges.

- You can flip a face’s normal vector using the Reverse Normals command (Modify > Reverse Normals).

Fill Hole

Modify > Fill Hole

Description:

      The Fill Hole (Modify > Fill Hole) command can be used to cap or fill a hole in your mesh with a single new
polygon. To use it, select exactly one edge along the border of a hole, and run the command. 

Notes:

- This is akin to selecting the vertices around the hole in order and using the Append Polygon From Vertices
command.

Flatten

Modify > Flatten

Description:
   
    The Flatten command (Modify > Flatten) will take whatever your selection is and scale it by a factor of zero

33
in the direction specified in the flatten options dialog (Modify > Flatten > ...).  In this dialog you can choose
the local (manipulator) x, y, or z axis, the world-coordinate x, y, or z axis, or the selection’s normal vector.  For
example, if you have a face that is non-planar and you want to make it planar, you can select it with the the
manipulator set to orient itself to the face normal (Selection > Auto Orient Manipulator > To Normal), and then
call Flatten with the options set to flatten along the local y axis. 

Notes:

- Flatten will work on instances.

Inset Scale

Modify > Inset Scalel

 Description:

      The Inset Scale (Modify > Inset Scale) tool is used to scale faces such that the edges of the faces selected
all move an equal distance from their original position.  If you perform an extrude followed immediately by an
inset scale, it will have the efffect of what many other programs would call an Inset command.  Basically, inset
scale ensures that each edge of a selected face moves the same distance inward from its original position, rather
than simply scaling down the entire face to a smaller size.  This can be a handy tool for doing things like making
walls of uniform thickness.
    Once you initialize the tool, drag to adjust the amount of the scale operation.  You can click and drag
additional times to further adjust the scale amount.  Right-click or press Enter to exit the tool.

Notes:

- At first glance, the Inset Scale tool might appear to be the same as the Normal Scale tool.  Too see the
difference between the two, try creating a sphere, selecting several adjacent faces, performing an extrusion (with
the faces set to stay together), and then testing both inset scale and normal scale on the extruded faces.

Merge Vertices

Modify > Merge Vertices

 
Description:

      The Merge Vertices (Modify > Merge Vertices) command will join two or more selected vertices of an
object, or collapse selected edges or faces into single vertices. If you select two vertices, the first will be joined
to the second, i.e. the resulting vertex will be in the position of the second selected vertex. The initial distance
between two vertices is irrelevant. If more than two vertices are selected, then all selected vertices which are
less than the merge tolerance apart in distance will be merged with one another. There is no gaurantee as to
which of these vertices will be chosen as the position for the new vertex. The Merge Vertices option window
(Modify > Merge Vertices > ...) allows you to set the merge tolerance.  You can “sew” two objects together by
first using the Merge Objects command and then selecting the vertices along the seam of each side you wish to
bridge (assuming you have lined them up more or less) and calling Merge Vertices. Silo 1.4 introduced powerful
additional functionality to the Merge Vertices command. In face or edge selection mode, Silo will merge or
“collapse” the vertices of the selected, contiguous components. Thus edges and faces can be turned into a single
vertex. Performing the operation on an entire edge ring will in effect remove the ring and sew its two boundaries
together, as each edge in the ring becomes a vertex.

Notes:

- The merge tolerance must be changed before rather than after performing the merge operation in order for the

34
change to have an effect.

- Faces collapsed in a Merge Vertices command will be removed from the shape.

Move Along Normals

Modify > Move Along Normalsl

Description:

      The Move Along Normals (Modify > Move Along Normals) tool will move each element of your selection
(vertices, edges, or faces) along its individual normal vector.  Once you initialize the tool, drag to adjust the
amount of the move operation.  You can click and drag additional times to further adjust the amount.  Right-
click or press Enter to exit the tool.

Notes:

- Some selections don’t have a clear way in which Silo should move them with this tool, so you won’t always
get the exact results you expect.

Normal Scale

Modify > Normal Scalel

Description:

      The Normal Scale (Modify > Normal Scale) tool will scale each group of selected faces in the plane
perpendicular to their respective normal vectors.  Once you initialize the tool, drag to adjust the amount of the
scale operation.  You can click and drag additional times to further adjust the scale amount.  Right-click or press
Enter to exit the tool.

Notes:

- At first glance, the Inset Scale tool might appear to be the same as the Normal Scale tool.  Too see the
difference between the two, try creating a sphere, selecting several adjacent faces, performing an extrusion (with
the faces set to stay together), and then testing both inset scale and normal scale on the extruded faces.

Slide

Modify > Slide

Description:

      The Slide (Modify > Slide) tool allows you to slide any number of selected edges proportionally along the
surface of the model. This is done by treating edges which intersect the selection as rails to slide along. Slide
currently works only with edges.

Notes:

- Slide is often used in conjunction with Select Loop to quickly modify or enhance a shape.

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Smooth

Modify > Smooth

Description:

      The Smooth (Modify > Smooth) command will in essence average the positions of the selected vertices,
evening out irregularities and extremes and generally smoothing the surface. The command works in any
selection mode, but always works on the vertices of the selection.

      The Smooth options (Modify > Smooth > ...) offer two parameters. The first, Preserve Volume, is a factor
intended to counter the natural side effect of shrinking the model which Smooth can have. The closer this value
is to 1, the more the algorithm will attempt to expand the vertices while performing the Smooth operation. The
second parameter, Iterations, determines how many times the algorithm will be run when you use the Smooth
command, and thus the amount of smoothing which will occur.

Notes:

- Smooth is also known in some other applications as Average Vertices, Tighten, or Relax, and is often used in
conjunction with UV mapping.

Spin Edge

Modify > Spin Edge

Description:

      The Spin Edge (Modify > Spin Edge) command allows you to change the way an edge divides two faces,
by rotating the edge. A single edge which is connected to precisely two faces must be selected in order for
this command to work. The edge will in effect be rotated by using a different pair of the faces’ vertices for its
endpoints.

Notes:

- It may be necessary to perform this operation multiple times in a row to achieve the desired edge placement.

Split Tool

Modify > Split Tool

36
Description:

      The Split Tool (Modify > Split Tool) allows you to interactively split your model by drawing in new edges.
Once the tool is activated, you can place a vertex by clicking and dragging. If you place another vertex on a
contiguous face (or one of that face’s edges or vertices), a new edge will be drawn between your two vertices.
In this manner you can quickly draw new edges across your model. Vertices can be placed on faces, edges, and
existing vertices. Simply clicking on an edge will place the vertex at the midpoint of the edge. Clicking and
dragging will allow you to drag the vertex to position it more accurately along the edge. Clicking on a vertex
will make the split go through that vertex, and clicking and dragging on a face will allow you to position a
vertex on the face. Press Enter or RMB to finish a particular split sequence, and press Enter or RMB again to
exit the tool.  You can press Delete to remove the last point you’ve placed in a multi-point split, or use Undo
to go back. To draw an embedded polygon, start your split on the interior of a polygon rather than an edge and
draw out the interior polygon as above. Otherwise, be sure to start your split on an edge or vertex.

Notes:

- If you are splitting a subdivided shape, the subdivision will be updated each time you press Enter.

Split Loop

Modify > Split Loop

Description:

      The Split Loop command (Modify > Split Loop) will split any loop or strip of faces that you have selected
down the middle, along the path of the selection, and will likewise split edge loops and edge rings.  When this
command is called on faces, the faces will be split and the tool manipulator will initialize.  Dragging any handle
of this manipulator will adjust the position of the splitting edges.  If single faces are selected, Silo will guess the
orientation of how you want the face to be split. If a single edge is selected, Silo will endeavor to select an edge
ring based around that edge, and then split that in half. If multiple contiguous edges are selected, the edges will
be beveled, in effect splitting the partial edge loop(s) in two. If multiple non-contiguous edges are selected, Silo
will split any partial edge rings in half. You will be able to slide the newly created edges with the manipulator.

37
Notes:

- You can only split loops from one object at a time, i.e. you can’t select components on multiple objects and
then call the Split Loop command.

Tesselate

Modify > Tesselate

Description:

      The Tesselate (Modify > Tesselate) command will tesselate all selected objects or faces by dividing faces
with more than three edges into multiple faces, all with three edges. The program will determine where to
add the necessary edges, but the object is gauranteed to have only three-sided faces. If a face has been made
extremely non-planar to the point where it can’t be drawn, then it can’t be tesselated either.  Tesselate can be
used in object or face selection modes.

Notes:

-Tesselate can be useful for exporting to some file types or programs which only support three-sided faces.

Topology Brush

Modify > Topology Brush

Description:

      The Topology Brush (Modify> Topology Brush ) is a geometry creation tool based on a pen-like drawing
system. The user draws directly on top of existing objects to describe a new topology, and can add, edit, erase,
and delete strokes. Upon pressing Enter, a new object is created based on the drawn topology. This freeform
system for redefining topology can be used for cleaning up high res models, adding clothes, creating a skin
over multiple objects, and more. (Visit http://www.nevercenter.com for more information, tips and tutorials.)
Topology Brush strokes are saved with the model, and can be further edited by re-entering the tool.

Settings:

Settings can be changed via the Topology Brush Options dialog (Modify > Topology Brush > ...). The quality of
the mesh generated from your strokes is dependent upon good settings.

Tolerance - The maximum distance at which separate intersections will be treated as a single point during mesh
generation. If some intersections are not detected and you get subdivision errors, raise the tolerance. If separate
intersections are getting merged to a single point, lower the tolerance.

Auto-Detect Tolerance - Silo 1.4 introduced a new auto-detection algorithm which, when enabled, determines
the tolerance setting for you. Unless you are encountering specific issues, it may be best to leave this option
checked.

Offset - This determines how far the generated mesh will be offset from the source. It does not change how far
away the strokes are drawn.

Max Face Sides - Any faces generated by the topology brush which have more sides than this will be left as
holes. Useful for things like eyes and borders anytime you do not have a closed mesh.

Delete All Strokes - Deletes all strokes currently drawn, allowing you to start over with a new topology.

38
Controls:

LMB - draw new stroke

MMB or Shift + LMB - continue closest stroke
RMB or Ctrl + LMB - close loop
Undo - erase part of current stroke
Delete - erase all of current stroke
Enter - generate mesh from strokes
Esc - exit Topology Brush
Selection - selecting edges before entering the Topology Brush will cause those edges to be drawn automatically.

Notes:

-To select a particular stroke, continue it from either end with MMB.

-You can erase a stroke in increments starting from either end by first selecting that end and then using Undo.

-If the source object is small when you first load it into the scene, scale the object larger rather than zooming in.
The Topology Brush is more inconsistent with small scale models.

-A quick way to find distances and scale is to select two points on a model and go to Modify > Numerical Editor
>... and check the distance field.

-Your edge loops do not have to be one continuous stroke each. You can just start a new stroke which crosses the
same intersection point as another stroke. This is also useful for joining two separate strokes.

-You can terminate as many edges as you want at a single intersection. As long as they all intersect within the
tolerance, they will all join at a single vertex after mesh generation.

-You may need to Unify Normals and/or Reverse Normals after mesh generation.

Unify Normals

Modify > Unify Normals

Description:

      The Unify Normals (Modify > Unify Normals) command will attempt to align each selected face’s
normal vector to those of the faces around it, or, if in object selection mode, it will attempt to align all of the
object’s face’s normal vectors to each other. On unusual geometries a complete unification of normals may be
impossible, but in the majority of cases this will have the effect of finding an “interior” and “exterior” of the
object, with all normals either facing in or facing out.

Notes:

- Unify Normals can be performed on the selected faces of multiple objects simultaneously.

-You can set an object to display its normals by choosing Display > Object Display Mode > Show Normals.

- Several operations, including Shell, Boolean, and Extrude Along Normals require that an object’s normals be
aligned in a certain way (usually all pointing out).

39
Reverse Normals

Modify > Reverse Normals

Description:

      The Reverse Normals (Modify > Reverse Normals) command will reverse the direction of each selected
face’s normal vector.  If you are in object selection mode, all the normal vectors on the selected objects will be
reversed.  Normal vectors determine which direction a face considers to be pointing “out”.

Notes:

-Reverse Normals can be performed on the selected faces of multiple objects simultaneously.

-You can set an object to display its normals by choosing Display > Object Display Mode > Show Normals.

- Several operations, including Shell, Booleans, and Extrude Along Normals require that an object’s normals be
aligned in a certain way (usually all pointing out).

40
SUBDIVISION
Subdivide

Subdivision > Subdivide

Description:

      The Subdivide (Subdivision > Subdivide) command will subdivide all active objects one level. When an
object is subdivided it has two elements: an editable control mesh and an underlying refined mesh. The refined
mesh represents the visible object, but it can’t be edited directly. (Use the Refine Control Mesh command if
you want to edit this mesh.) Instead it is edited by making changes to the coarser control mesh. When an object
is subdivided for the first time, its original geometry is used for the control mesh, and the refined mesh is a
smoothed version of that geometry. An object can be subdivided multiple times, which results in a smoother
refined mesh which is controlled by the same control mesh.

    In Silo you can subdivide anything, whether it be an object with faces or a sequence of edges used as a line
segment.  Many actions, when performed with a subdivided shape, will use the subdivided mesh rather than the
control mesh.  These include Create Lathe Object, Create Extrusion Object, Create Path Extrusion, and boolean
operations.  This allows you to create a profile for a lathe in rough form, then subdivide (or partial subdivide) the
profile to a desired smoothness, adjusting the shape with the outer control mesh, then create the lathe with the
inner subdivided object.

Notes:

- When you subdivide an object several times, each level of the subdivision is saved in memory, so subdividing
a large object several times can use a lot of memory.  When you unsubdivide, the subdivided shapes are
still retained in memory until you alter the object’s geometry, allowing you to go back to the higher level of
subdivision without the program having to recalculate the subdivided mesh.

- Subdivide can be performed on whole objects only. To subdivide part of an object use the Partial Subdivide
command.

- Subdivide will be applied to all active objects, no matter the selection mode.

- Subdividing an instance will cause its parent shape to be subdivided.

Unsubdivide

Subdivision > Unsubdivide

Description:

      The Unsubdivide (Subdivision > Unsubdivide) command will decrease the smoothness of the refined mesh
on a subdivided object, removing one level of the recursive subdivision. If the object was only subdivided once,
this will return it to it’s original non-subdivided state.

Notes:

- See the Subdivide help topic for more information on subdivided shapes.

- Unsubdivide will be applied to all active objects, no matter the selection mode.

41
Partial Subdivide

Subdivision > Partial Subdivide

Description:

      The Partial Subdivide (Subdivision > Partial Subdivide) command will create a subdivided object where
only the selected faces or edges get subdivided. This partially subdivided portion can then be further partially
subdivided by the same command. On subsequent partial subdivisions on the same object, if a non-subdivided
portion of the object is selected that portion will become partially subdivided as well.  You can also refine the
control mesh (Subdivision > Refine Control Mesh) to lock in the previous partial subdivision, then select and
partially subdivide a new area.  You can use the Subdivide command on a partially subdivided object, which will
cause the partially subdivided portion to be refined one step further.

Notes:

- See the Subdivide help topic for more information on subdivided shapes.

- Partial Subdivide will be applied to all active objects, no matter the selection mode.

- One way to achieve the effect of partially subdividing an object which has already been subdivided in a
different area is to use the Refine Control Mesh command on the subdivided object, and then apply the new
partial subdivision. However, the object will only be able to be unsubdivided to the level of the new control
mesh.

Refine Control Mesh

Subdivision > Refine Control Mesh

Description:

      The Refine Control Mesh (Subdivision > Refine Control Mesh) command will cause a subdivided object’s
refined mesh to become its new control mesh. The old control mesh is deleted, and the underlying refined mesh
simply becomes an editable non-subdivided object.

Notes:

- See the Subdivide help topic for more information on subdivided shapes.

- Refine Control Mesh will be applied to all active objects, no matter the selection mode.

Crease Edges

 Subdivision > Crease Edges

Description:

      The Crease Edges (Subdivision > Crease Edges) command allows you to change the way an object is
subdivided. Creasing an edge lessens the smoothing effect of the subdivision algorithm for that edge, resulting
in a creased or hardened line on the subdivided object. In terms of the subdivision algorithm, a crease causes the
vertices of that edge to be less displaced, i.e. less smoothed, than they would otherwise be. Creased edges have a

42
cumulative effect on the vertices they share, so a vertex with three or more attached edges creased will be in the
same place on the subdivided shape as it was on the control mesh, while a vertex with none of its edges creased
will be smoothed normally.  Experiment with this command to learn how to use it effectively.

Notes:

- A crease can be removed from an edge with the Uncrease Edge (Subdivision > Uncrease) command.

- Crease Edge only works in edge selection mode.

Uncrease Edges

Subdivision > Uncrease Edges

Description:

      The Uncrease Edges (Subdivision > Uncrease Edges) command allows you to un-crease and edge which has
previously been creased with the Crease Edges (Subdivision > Crease Edges) command.  This command and the
Crease Edges command only affect the inner mesh of subdivided shapes.

Notes:

- For an explanation of creases, see the Crease Edges help file.

- Uncrease Edges only works in edge selection mode.

43
SELECTION
Group Editor

Selection > Group Editor...

Description:
   
    The Group Editor (Selection > Group Editor...) dialog allows you to manage Silo’s groups. A group is a
collection of objects, faces, edges, or vertices which can be treated as a single object for certain operations. A list
of the scene’s groups is displayed in a window on the left. Select a group in the window to cause changes in the
dialog to affect that group. The buttons on the right allow you to perform actions on the group.

Name:
    In this field you can change the name of the currently-selected group. Press Enter to update the group’s name.

Groups:
    This list allows you to select which group you’d like to perform actions on.

Select:
    This button allows you to select the current group in the scene. The selection mode will be changed to the
group’s selection type.

Set Members:  
    This button will assign the current selection in the scene to the current group selected in the editor. Note that
this does not append group members, but replaces them, so all members of the desired group should be selected
before performing this operation.

New Group:
    Creates a new group and assigns the current scene selection to that group.

44
Delete Group:
    Deletes the current group from the group editor. This does not actually delete the group’s geometry.

Hide:
    Hides the selected group’s geometry. Hide only works on groups of faces or objects.

Unhide:
    Unhides the selected group’s geometry.

Hide Unselected:
    Hides all geometry which is not a part of the currently-selected group. Works in face and object selection
modes.

Unhide All:  
    Unhides all geometry of the current selection type in the scene. Works in face and object selection modes.

Close:
    Closes the group editor.

Notes:

-The Select Affected Groups (Selection > Select Affected Groups) command is an easy way to select groups
without opening the Group Editor.

-The hide and unhide commands within the Group Editor always apply to the group selected in the Group
Editor, regardless of the scene’s current selection. They are not the same as the hide and unhide commands
available in the Display menu.

Select Affected Groups

Selection > Select Affected Groups

Description:

      The Select Affected Groups (Selection > Select Affected Groups) command will select all members of any
groups which the current selection is a member of. Any parts of the selection which are not a member of any
group will be deselected.

Notes:

- Select Affected Groups allows you to easily work with groups as a whole.

Select Next Group

Selection > Select Next Group

Description:

      The Select Next Group (Selection > Select Next Group) command allows you to switch between selected
groups without opening the Group Editor (Selection > Group Editor...). If you have created more than one
group, this command will select the next group listed in the Group Editor. Note that the Group Editor window
is non-modal, which means that whether it is open or closed you can still make changes to it as well as to the
scene. If no group is selected, the first group on the list will be selected by this command.

45
Notes:

- For more information on groups, see the Group Editor help file.

Selection Mode

Selection > Selection Mode

Description:

      The Selection Mode (Selection > Selection Mode) submenu allows you to switch selection modes. The
available modes are: Vertex Mode, Edge Mode, Face Mode, Multi Mode, Object Mode, and Texture Mode.
Object selection mode allows you to select or deselect objects as a whole. If you go into vertex, edge, face,
or texture selection modes while a certain set of objects is selected in object mode, only those objects will be
editable in the new mode.  These objects will remain as the only editable objects until you go back into object
selection mode and select different objects.  This system allows you to not worry about selecting elements of an
object that you aren’t trying to edit.

    Face selection mode allows you to select faces by clicking anywhere on the face with the left mouse button
(allowing you to only pick faces on the same side of the object as you are on), or by selecting the face’s middle
point using the mouse’s middle button (allowing you to pick a face on the far side of an object).

    Texture selection mode allows you to edit the textures of an object using the regular manipulator tools.
Texture Mode is really just a special version of Face Mode- if a face is selected in face selection mode, it will be
selected when switching to texture mode, and vice versa.

    Multi selection mode allows you to switch between vertex, edge, and face modes simply by selecting the
appropriate component type, in effect allowing you to work with all of them at once. You can highlight all three
component types on the object by moving your mouse over them. Once a component is selected, you will enter
that component mode. When everything is deselected, you will return to multi mode and be able to select any of
those component types. This can provide for a much quicker workflow, especially in concert with tools such as
Bevel which can work directly with a highlighted component. Simply highlight a face, bevel, click once to exit
the tool, and you are returned to multi select mode to work with another component.

Notes:

-Except for conversions between Face and Texture modes, switching between selection modes this way will not
preserve your selection. Use the Convert Selection (Selection > Convert Selection) submenu to preserve your
selection when changing modes.

- In all selection modes, selecting with the left mouse button will pick only the items that are “in front”, while
using the middle mouse button will select everything behind the mouse selection.  This is true for area selection
as well as point selection.

- When selecting, use Alt+Shift to deselect items and Ctrl+Shift to toggle selected items.

Convert Selection

Selection > Convert Selection

Description:

      The Convert Selection (Selection > Convert Selection) submenu allows you to switch selection modes

46
while retaining the current selection. You can convert the current selection to faces, edges, or vertices. Only
components of the new selection mode which had all of their elements selected in the old mode will be selected.
For example, if in vertex mode three of four vertices of a 4-sided face are selected, then converting the selection
to faces will not select that face.

Notes:

-Some prefer this mode of converting selection to the default mode of switching selections which does not
maintain the selection.

-Changing the selection mode from face to texture (and vice-versa) always maintains face selections, which is
why there is no conversion to texture mode.

-Although you cannot convert a selection to object mode, you can convert a selection from object mode to any
of the other modes.

Manipulator Tools

Selection > Manipulator Tools

 
Description:

    Manipulator Tools allow you to edit the current selection in various ways.

Move
    Move allows you to move the selection in the workspace. Drag one of the arrow handles to move the
selection in that direction. Use Tweak Select (Ctrl + left or middle mouse button in the default setup) to move
the selection in the plane of the screen.

Scale
    Scale allows you to change the size of the selection. Drag one of the handles to scale the selection in that
direction only. Drag the center square of the manipulator to scale the object in all directions. Use Tweak Select
to scale the selection in the plane of the screen.

Rotate
    Rotate allows you to change the orientation of the selection. Drag one of the handles to rotate in the indicated
direction. Use Tweak Select to rotate in the plane of the screen.

Universal
    The Universal manipulator allows you to change the orientation, position, and size of the selection. The shape
of the handle indicates which manipulator function that handle performs.  Using Tweak Select will allow you to
drag the selection in the plane of the screen.

Snap
    The Snap manipulator allows you to snap the current selection to another surface. The outermost handles are
for directional snapping: dragging on the X handle will move the current selection in the X direction to align
with whatever the mouse is over. The middle handles are for snapping and rotating: dragging on the x handle
will move the component to the surface position under the mouse, and also rotate the component to align the
handle with the surface. This is useful for example for dragging a chair around on a floor. The Snap manipulator
is often used while in object selection mode. You may want to set the object’s axis to something more useful by
selecting a component and using Selection > Set Object Axis from the menu. (e.g. the foot of the chair.) Then
when you switch to object mode, the object’s axis will be aligned with that component, allowing you to align it
more easily.

No Manipulator
    Use this command to hide the manipulator.  Using Tweak Select will still allow you to drag the selection in

47
the plane of the screen.

Notes:

-If enabled, the alternate manipulator will perform the same function as the main manipulator.

Enable Snapping

Selection > Enable Snapping

Description:

      The Enable Snapping (Modify > Enable Snapping) toggle allows you to turn snapping on or off. If the menu
item is checked, snapping is enabled. Otherwise, snapping is disabled. When snapping is enabled, the center of
the manipulator will snap to the incremental values of the grid line spacing. Rotations will snap to the world x,
y, and z axes.

Notes:

Enable Soft Selection

Selection > Enable Soft Selection

Description:

      The Enable Soft Selection (Modify > Enable Soft Selection) toggle allows you to turn soft selection on
or off. If the menu item is checked, soft selection is enabled. Otherwise, soft selection is disabled. When soft
selection is enabled, the effects of move, scale, and rotate manipulator edits will be the same as usual on selected
elements (vertices, edges, or faces), but will also be distributed to adjacent vertices based on how far away
they are from the manipulator. You can tell how much the transformations will affect individual vertices by the
coloring of those vertices when soft selection is enabled (and these colors can be changed in the Color Settings
dialog).  This causes edits to have a smoothed or softened effect on the model. The radius and falloff of the soft
selection, or amount which the effect decreases with distance away from the manipulator, can be edited in the
Soft Selection Options window (Selection > Enable Soft Selection > ...).  You may also consider assigning soft
selection adjustments to the mouse scroll wheel with the Soft Selection Falloff/Radius Up/Down commands

48
found in the command list.

Notes:

- Changes made using the Numerical Editor (Modify > Numerical Editor...) will also be affected by soft
selection.

Enable Mirror Seam Preserve

Selection > Enable Mirror Seam Preserve

Description:

    When you are working with an object and its instance mirror, you often want open edges (edges with only one
face attached) along the seam between the two objects to stay in the seam plane.  You can enable this behavior
with the Enable Mirror Seam Preserve command (Selection > Enable Mirror Seam Preserve).  When enabled,
any open edges that are within the tolerance set in the Instance Mirror Options dialog will be automatically
pulled in to close the seam between the object and its instance mirror.

Notes:

- You set the options for this functionality in the Instance Mirror options dialog.

Area-Style Selection

Selection > Area-Style Selection

Description:

      Choosing Area-Style Selection (Selection > Area-Style Selection) allows you to draw a rectangle on the
screen to select anything enclosed by the rectangle (as opposed to Paint-Style Selection, which allows you to
select whatever items your mouse drags over). As with all other selection, you can use either thru selection or
visible selection styles (in the default setup thru selection is assigned to the middle mouse button while visible
selection is assigned to the left mouse button).

Notes:

- When selecting faces via thru selection in area-style selection mode, you must select the center point of the
face to select a face.

Paint-Style Selection

Selection > Paint-Style Selection

Description:

      Choosing Paint-Style Selection (Selection > Paint-Style Selection) allows you to select whatever items your
mouse drags over (as opposed to Area-Style Selection, which allows you to draw a rectangle on the screen to
select anything enclosed by the rectangle). As with area-style selection, you can use all of the Select Visible and
Select Thru mouse selection commands with paint-style selection.

Notes:

49
- When selecting faces with thru selection in paint-style selection mode, you can drag anywhere in the area of
the face to select it, rather than needing to drag over the face center.

Select All

Selection > Select All (Ctrl+A)

Description:

      The Select All (Selection > Select All) command will select all objects, faces, edges, or vertices which are
currently selectable, based on the current selection mode.

Notes:

- To change whether or not the faces, edges, or vertices of an object are selectable, either select or deselect it in
object selection mode before changing to the appropriate selection mode.

Deselect

Selection > Deselect

Description:

      The Deselect (Selection > Deselect)  command will deselect all objects, faces, edges, or vertices which are
currently selected, based on the current selection mode.  I fyou use this command often, you may want to assign
it to a mouse button/modifier combination in the Mouse Setup window.

Notes:

- To change whether or not the faces, edges, or vertices of an object are selectable, either select or deselect that
object in object selection mode before changing to the appropriate selection mode.

Deselect Inactive

Selection > Deselect Inactive

Description:

      The Deselect Inactive (Selection > Deselect Inactive) command will deselect all objects which are currently
selectable but have no components selected. For example, if a cube’s vertices are selectable, but none of the
vertices are selected, then that cube is an inactive object. This command allows you to narrow the selected (i.e.
editable) objects to those you are currently working on.

Notes:

-Deselect Inactive has no effect in object selection mode.

-This command has the same effect as switching to object selection mode, deselecting the objects you want to
make uneditable, and returning to the current selection mode.

50
Invert Selection

Selection > Invert Selection

Description:

      The Invert Selection (Selection > Invert Selection) command will deselect all currently selected objects or
components (faces, edges, or vertices) and select all selectable objects or components which were not previously
selected.

Notes:

-Invert selection can sometimes be useful in selecting hard-to-reach areas.

Expand Selection

Selection > Expand Selection

Description:

      The Expand Selection (Selection > Expand Selection) command will expand the current selection to all
contiguous elements. For example, if sphere has been cut into two separate halves, and one vertex is selected
on one half of the sphere, then Expand Selection will select all the vertices of that half of the sphere. Even if the
entire sphere is one object, only that half will be selected.

Notes:

-Expand selection has no effect in object selection mode.

-This command can be particularly useful when working with separate pieces of a single object.  To break pieces
of an object into separate objects, Copy each piece and Paste it as a new object.

Grow/Shrink Selection

Selection > Grow Selection

Selection > Shrink Selection

Description:

      The Grow Selection and Shrink Selection commands are used to change the size of your selection. Grow
Selection will grow the selection one level to all immediately neighboring components of the current selection,
while Shrink Selection will deselect the outermost ring of selected components.

Notes:

-There is also a command called Expand Selection, which will extend the current selection to ALL contiguous
components.

51
Grow/Shrink Selection

Selection > Grow Selection

Selection > Shrink Selection

Description:

      The Grow Selection and Shrink Selection commands are used to change the size of your selection. Grow
Selection will grow the selection one level to all immediately neighboring components of the current selection,
while Shrink Selection will deselect the outermost ring of selected components.

Notes:

-There is also a command called Expand Selection, which will extend the current selection to ALL contiguous
components.

Select Path

Selection > Select Path

Description:

      The Select Path (Selection > Select Path) command allows you to select two components (faces, edges, or
vertices,) and have the shortest path of contiguous components between them selected. The command only looks
at the last two selected components, so you can add a path selection without disturbing anything that might
already be selected. You can also then immediately select one more component and perform the operation to
continue the path to that component, and repeat the process as much as you like.

Notes:

-The shortest path between two elements on a loop is frequently (though not always) a partial loop.

Select Loop

Selection > Select Loop

Description:

      The Select Loop (Selection > Select Loop) command allows you to select rows of edges or faces on an
object. Each edge selected designates the orientation of an edge loop. In face mode, at least two adjacent faces
need to be selected to determine which way the face loop runs.  Edges/faces will then be selected which are
contiguous with the currently selected edges/faces and along the same orientation, until either an already-
selected edge/face is encountered or an intersection of more or less than four edges is encountered, in which
case the program cannot determine how to continue the loop.

    Silo now also supports partial loop selection. If you select two edges or faces along the same loop, only the
portion of the loop between them will be selected.

Notes:

-Select Loop will not work if edges or faces from more than one object are selected.

-Face loops and edge loops are a powerful concept in organic modelling.

52
Select Ring

Selection > Select Ring

Description:

      The Select Ring (Selection > Select Ring) command allows you to select parallel edges that form a ring
around (or partially around) an object, or a face loop if in face selection mode (see Select Loop). Each edge
selected designates the orientation of an edge ring. Edges which are on the opposite side of a four-sided face
from the selected edge will be in turn selected, and edges on the opposite sides of four-sided faces from those
edges will be selected recursively, continuing until either an already-selected edge is encountered or a face with
more or less than four sides is encountered, in which case the program cannot determine how to continue the
edge ring.

Notes:

- Many people use the Connect command in conjunction with Select Ring to add detail to a model.  This can
also be accomplished using Select Loop followed by Split Face Loop.

- Face loops, edge loops, and edge rings are a powerful concept in organic modelling. 

Special Geometry

Selection > Special Geometry

Description:

      The Special Geometry (Selection > Special Geometry) submenu allows you to select different types of
geometry with special characteristics. If you are in object selection mode and no objects are selected, these
commands will apply to all geometry in the scene. Otherwise it will only apply to that geometry which has been
selected in object selection mode, regardless of which selection mode you are currently in. If the command
selects faces, then the selection mode will be changed to face selection mode, and if the command selects edges,
the selection mode will be changed to edge selection mode.

Select Non-4-Sided Faces

    This option will select all faces which have either more or less than four sides.

Select Non-3-Sided Faces

    This option will select all faces which have more than four sides.

Select Over-4-Sided Faces

    This option will select all faces which have more than four sides.

Select Over-2-Faced Edges

    This option will select all edges which have more than two faces attached. This is known as non-manifold
geometry and can cause subdivision errors, disallow boolean and shell operations, and cause other difficulties.

Notes:

- These tools are designed in part to help locate potential problem areas, depending on the purpose of your
model.

53
Manipulator Edit Mode

Selection > Manipulator Edit Mode

Description:

      The Manipulator Edit Mode toggle (Selection > Manipulator Edit Mode or the Insert key) command will
switch the manipulator between affecting the selection (regular mode) and having no effect on the selection
(manipulator edit mode - by default the manipulator will be drawn all white when in this mode). When the
manipulator has no effect on the selection, you can freely change its position and rotation so that when you
leave manipulator edit mode it will relate to the selected geometry differently. This is one way you can edit the
selection’s pivot point.  You can also set specific pivots and axes by turning off the manipulator repositioning
in the Auto Orient Manipulator menu.  If you have a single object selected in object selection mode and enter
manipulator edit mode, you can edit the object’s local axis.  These changes in the local axis will remain after you
leave manipulator edit mode (i.e. the object’s axis will remember it’s new position).

Notes:

- The scale manipulator has no effect when in manipulator edit mode.

Recenter Object Axis

Selection > Recenter Object Axis

Description:

      The Recenter Object Axis (Selection > Recenter Object Axis) command will put the object’s manipulator
at the current center (average postion of components) of the model. Some operations, such as merging and
un-merging (via Break) two objects, or editing the manipulator position by hand, can lead to non-centered
manipulators, and this command allows you to reset that position.

Notes:

Set Object Axis

Selection > Set Object Axis

Description:

      The Set Object Axis command can be used to assign the currently selected object’s axis to wherever the
manipulator is currently. You can use this to place the object’s pivot point (which is normally at the center of
the object) wherever you like. A common example is rotating an object about an edge. Select the edge, use Set
Object Axis, switch to object mode, and rotate the object.

Notes:

-If you have any of the Auto Orient Manipulator options enabled (Selection > Auto Orient Manipulator > ...),
then the orientation of the manipulator will update appropriately when you switch to object mode.

54
Orient Manipulator

Selection > Orient Manipulator

Description:
   
    The Orient Manipulator (Selection > Orient Manipulator) submenu allows you to reorient the manipulator for
the current selection.

> To Normal

     This will cause the manipulator to be aligned with the normal vector of the selection. In face mode, the
normal vector will be the average normal of the faces.  In vertex and edge selection mode, Silo will attempt to
deduce the best normal vector.  In object selection mode, this command will orient the manipulator to the work
grid (world coordinates).

> To Object Axis

     This orients the manipulator to the local axis of the selected shape or the shape whose components are
selected.  If components from multiple shapes are selected, the axis of the first shape selected will be used.

> To World

     The manipulator will be oriented to the world-coordinate x, y, and z vectors.

> To World With Selection

     Same as To World, but the current selection will be reoriented along with the manipulator.

Notes:

-Silo will do its best to determine where the selection’s normal ought to be, but in some cases, such as with a
random non-planar collection of vertices, there is no clear choice.

Auto Orient Manipulator

Selection > Auto Orient Manipulator

Description:
   
    The Auto Orient Manipulator (Selection > Auto Orient Manipulator) submenu allows you set how Silo will
orient the manipulator on each new selection.

> Standard

     When checked, this option orients the manipulator differnetly depending on the selection and the manipulator
in use.  In object selection mode, it will orient the manipulator to the selected shape’s axis.  If the universal
manipulator is in use, it will orient the manipulator to the best normal vector of the selection.  Otherwise the
manipulator will be oriented according to world x, y, and z axes.

> To Normal

     When checked, this option will cause the manipulator to be aligned with the normal vector of the selection.
In face mode, the normal vector will be the average normal of the faces.  In vertex and edge selection mode,
Silo will attempt to deduce the best normal vector.  In object selection mode, this command will orient the
manipulator to the work grid (world coordinates).

55
> To Object Axis

     When checked, the manipulator will orient itself to the local axis of the selected shape or the shape whose
components are selected.  If components from multiple shapes are selected, the axis of the first shape selected
will be used.

> To World

     When checked, the manipulator will orient itself to the world x, y, and z vectors.

> Off

     When this option is checked, the manipulator will not reorient itself on each new selection, but will remain as
previously oriented.

> Enable Repositioning

     When this option is checked, the manipulator will reposition itself to the center of the current selection. 
Otherwise it will remain fixed.  This option can be very helpful for rotating selections around specific axes or
points.

Notes:

-Silo will do its best to determine where the selection’s normal ought to be, but in some cases, such as with a
random non-planar collection of vertices, there is no clear choice.

56
MATERIALS/LIGHT
Material Editor

Materials/Light > Material Editor...

Description:
   
    The Material Editor (Materials/Light > Material Editor...) dialog allows you to manage the scene’s materials.
Silo’s materials are applied on a per-face basis, with one material allowed for each face and one texture image
for each material. The workflow for assigning materials after they’ve been created generally consists of selecting
a group of faces, giving them texture coordinates with the Automap Selection (Materials/Light > Automap
Selection) command, applying the material to the faces with the Apply Current Material (Materials/Light >
Apply Current Material) command or applying it from within the Materials Editor, and then editing the material
placement on the model using the manipulator while in texture selection mode. Materials are created within
the Material Editor. A list of scene materials is displayed on the left. Select a material from the left to edit that
material.

Name:
    In this field you can change the name of the currently selected material. Press Enter to update the material’s
name.

Color:
    The color submenu allows you to edit various properties of the material. These values have an effect even if a
texture image is applied.
> Diffuse
    Sets the base color for the material.
> Ambient
    Sets the ambient color for the material. The ambient color affects the default amount of light the material is
treated as receiving, i.e. the brightness and color of the model before any lights are applied.
> Specular

57
    Sets the color of specular highlights, i.e. areas where the light is reflected most directly off the model and
therefore brightest.
>Emissive
    The emissive property simulates a material which casts light of the chosen color. Note that this is a material
property only, and will not cast light on other scene objects.
>Shininess
    This field allows you to set how shiny the material is, which affects its degree of specularity. More shininess
means smaller, more intense specular highlights.

File:  
    The texture file allows you to associate an image texture with the material. The image will be mapped
according to the faces’ UV coordinates created with the “Automap Selection” command, and can be adjusted
using the regular manipulators while in texture selection mode.

New Material:
    Creates a new material with default colors and name.

Apply to Selection:
    Applies the current material (selected in the Material Editor) to the selection. This command only works in
object, face, or texture selection modes.

Automap Selection:
    Prepares the selection for mapping by creating UV coordinates.

Delete:
    Deletes the currently selected material from the Material Editor. The default material will be applied to all
surfaces which had that material assigned. The default material cannot be deleted.

Close:
    Closes the Material Editor.

Notes:

-The Material Editor window is non-modal, so you can still edit your scene with the window open. This is
helpful for modifying textures.

-Automap Selection can be applied repeatedly to different groups of surfaces. If your texture is not applied
correctly, automapping separate groups of faces may be helpful.

Apply Current Material

Materials/Light > Apply Current Material

Description:
   
    The Apply Current Material (Materials/Light > Apply Current Material) command will apply the material
currently selected in the Material Editor (Materials/Light > Material Editor) to the selection. This command
works in object, face, and texture selection modes.

Notes:

-The texture coordinates of the selection are not automatically mapped, so you may need to use the Automap
Selection command (Materials/Light > Automap Selection) before the texture will show up correctly.  You can
use the standard manipulators while in texture selection mode to adjust the texture coordinates.

58
Automap Selection

Materials/Light > Automap Selection

Description:
   
    The Automap Selection (Materials/Light > Automap Selection) command will prepare the current selection
for texturing by automatically creating UV coordinates for it. This command works in object, face, and texture
selection modes.  Creating UV coordinates is necessary to make the texture maps display correctly on faces. 
Once these texture coordinates are generated, you can use the standard manipulators in texture selection mode to
move, rotate, and scale the textures for all or some of the faces on a shape.

Notes:

- Silo stores separate texture coordinates for every face.  If you want to have the textures on a particular set of
faces line up, select the faces all at once and use the Automap Texture Coordinates command, and Silo will do
its best to align their textures.  Models from Silo can be exported to several other programs using the .obj format
for more accurate texture mapping.

Add Light

Materials/Light> Add Light

Description:

      The Add Light command will create a light at the center of the work grid, based on parameters that
you specify in the Light Options window (Materials/Light > Add Light > ...).  In that window you can set
default values for the type of light (point, spot, or directional), the color of the diffuse, ambient, and specular
components of the light, and several values that affect the way the light grows dimmer with distance from the
source (constant attenuation, linear attenuation, polynomial attenuation, spot exponent, and spot cutoff).  See the
help file on the Light Properties dialog for more information on these settings.

Notes:

- Once a light is created, you cen edit its type and settings using the Light Properties dialog.

- You can enter vertex selection mode while a light is selected to change its direction for directional and spot
lights.

Light Properties

Materials/Light > Light Properties...

Description:
   
    The Light Properties (Materials/Light > Light Properties...) dialog allows you to edit the lighting in Silo. 
Select one or more of the lights you’ve added to the scene (via the Add Light command) and open this dialog to
change the lights’ properties.

59
Type:
    Lights can be one of three types.  Point lights are a single point in space which emits light in all directions. 
Directional lights are like the sun in that they emit parallel light in one direction only, no matter where they are
placed in the scene (it’s as if they’re infinitely far away and have no falloff).  Spot lights are like point lights but
their light is restricted to a certain area by a cone, much like a spotlight in a play or theater.

Diffuse:
    This button sets the diffuse color component of the selected light(s).

Ambient:
    This button sets the ambient color component of the selected light(s).

Specular:
    This button sets the specular color component of the selected light(s).

Constant Attenuation:
    This setting affects the intensity of the light.  Higher numbers make the light more dim.

Linear Attenuation:
    This setting affects the intensity of the light as objects get further away from it.  This atenuation has a linear
effect, i.e. an object twice as far away will receive has a much light.  Higher numbers make the light more dim.

Polynomial Attenuation:
    Same as linear attenuation, except the effect is amplified so that moving twice the distance away from the
light will cause the object to recieve several times less light, depending on the number entered.

Spot Exponent:
    This setting adjusts how the light of a spot light fades as it gets further from the center of where the spot light
is aiming.  Higher numbers make the light fade quicker as it goes from the center to the edges.  Play around with
it to find a good value for the effect you’re trying to acheive.

Spot Angle:

60
    This setting adjusts how wide the angle of a spotlight will be.

Notes:

- This dialog is basically the exact same as the Light Options dialog that allows you to determine the settings for
new lights when they are created.

Use Custom Lighting

Materials/Light > Use Custom Lighting

Description:
   
    The Use Custom Lighting (Materials/Light > Use Custom Lighting) toggle, when checked, will light your
model with lights that you have placed in the scene rather than the default light which moves with the camera. 

Notes:

- You can have your custom lights be displayed but not light the model or you can have the lights be hidden
from view but still act as the lighting for your model, depending on how you use this option in conjunction with
the Show Lights toggle.

Render

Materials/Light > Render

Description:
   
    The Render command (Materials/Light > Render) and accompanying options dialog allow you to set up Silo
to work with an external renderer so that you can export and render your Silo scenes at the touch of a single
button.  What happens when the render command is called depends on the information you provide in the
Render Options dialog pictured below.

Render File Format:

    This is the format in which a temporary file will be written when the render command is called.  It needs to
be a format recognized by the renderer that you choose, as the renderer will then automatically be called on the
temporary exported file.  The Options button will take you to the Export Options dialog.

61
Render Command/Program:
    This field lets you enter the render command or choose the rendering program that you want to use. 
Examples of what could go in this field are “renderdl”, which is the render command for the 3Delight renderer. 
Entering something similar to “C:\Program Files\Povray\bin\pvengine.exe /RENDER” will allow you to use
the Povray renderer.  You must be sure the renderer supports rendering of the file type that you choose for the
Render File Format.  No renderer is included with Silo - these must be installed separately.

Render Command Options:

    Here you can enter options that will be given on the command line when the render command is called.  See
your renderer’s documentation for details about command line options.

Notes:

- Not all renderers may work with all export formats as expected, even if they say they support the format.

- You must install your renderer separately - no renderer is included with Silo.

62
DISPLAY
Object Display Mode

Display > Object Display Mode

Description:
   
    The Object Display Mode (Display > Object Display Mode) submenu allows you to change the way currently
selected objects are displayed.

> Wireframe

    Displays the object in wireframe mode, meaning faces are not rendered.

> Flat Shade

    Renders each polygon of the object as a flat shape, without displaying the object’s wireframe.

> Flat Shade Wire

    Renders each polygon of the object as a flat shape, also displaying the object’s wireframe.

> Smooth Shade

    Renders the object as a smooth surface.

> Smooth Shade Wire

    Renders the object as a smooth surface, also displaying the object’s wireframe.

> Fast Shade

    Renders the object as a smooth surface with the default material and no textures (for extra speed gain).

> Fast Shade Wire

    Renders the object in fast shade mode, also displaying the object’s wireframe.

> Ghosted Shade

    Renders the object as a semi-transparent smooth surface.

> Show Textures

    Displays the current objects’ textures.

> Hide Textures

    Hides the current objects’ textures.

> Show Normals

    Displays the current objects’ normals.

63
> Hide Normals

    Hides the current objects’ normals.

Notes:

-These options affect the entire object, not just the selected area.

Frame Selection

Display > Frame Selection

Description:

    The Frame Selection command (Display > Frame Selection) will center the current selection in the active
viewport.  This is useful for times when you may have rotated the camera to a position where you cannot find
the object you’re working on, or to quickly center a new selection in the viewport.  If you have chosen to use
Framed Selection for the View Rotation Center setting in the General Options window (Options > General
Options), then a call to Frame Selection will cause the center of the view rotation to be updated to the position
of the manipulator on the current selection, where it will stay until a subsequent call to Frame Selection is made.

Notes:

-If you have chosen Manipulator for the View Rotation Center setting in the General Options window, calling
Frame Selection will have no effect on the center of the view rotation.

Hide Selection

Display > Hide Selection

Description:
   
    The Hide Selection (Display > Hide Selection) command will hide the current selection in face or object
mode. The faces or objects are not selectable in this mode.  Hidden elements will remain hidden when you save
a file and open it again.

Notes:

-You can use the Show All (Display > Show All) command to restore hidden elements.

Hide Unselected

Display > Hide Unselected

Description:
   
    The Hide Unselected (Display > Hide Unselected) command will hide all objects which currently are not
editable. This is an easy way to hide objects you are not currently working with.

Notes:

64
-You can use the Show All (Display > Show All) command to restore hidden elements.

Show All

Display > Show All

Description:
   
    The Show All (Display > Show All) command will show/unhide all objects and faces in the scene if you are
in object mode, or faces of editable objects if you are in another selection mode.

Notes:

- You can also unhide items using the Group Editor (Selection > Group Editor...) and unhiding by group.

Unselected To Wireframe

Display > Unselected To Wireframe

Description:
   
    The Unselected To Wireframe (Display > Unselected To Wireframe) command will set all objects which are
not currently selected (or editable if not in object selection mode) to display in wireframe mode.

Notes:

-This is an easy way to clear the screen of unnecessary objects without hiding them completely, as the affected
objects are not selectable.

Viewport Layout

Display > Viewport Layout

Description:
   
    The Viewport Layout (Display > Viewport Layout) submenu allows you to choose the way your workspace is
divided.  Each viewport can have its own camera assigned to it.

> Single View

    The entire screen will be filled with a single viewport.

> Four Panel

    The screen will be divided into four equal viewports.

> Horizontal Split

    The screen will be split horizontally into two viewports.

> Vertical Split

    The screen will be split vertically into two viewports.

Notes:

65
-When more than one view is onscreen at once, the user must first click in another viewport to make it active
before using that viewport.

Set Viewport Camera

Display > Set Viewport Camera

Description:
   
    The Set Viewport Camera (Display > Set Viewport Camera) submenu allows you to choose the camera for
the current viewport. All cameras besides the perspective camera are orthagonal.  For all cameras except the
perspective camera and the free orthographic camera, view rotation is disabled.

    The different cameras you can choose from are: Free Perspective, Free Ortho (“ortho” meaning orthographic
projection, as in objects further away from the camera won’t be made smaller to adjust for perspective), Top
Ortho, Left Ortho, Right Ortho, Front Ortho, Back Ortho, and Bottom Ortho.

Notes:

-When more than one viewport is onscreen at once, only the active viewport’s camera is changed.

-There is only one of each type of camera. Multiple viewports with the same camera setting will not have
independent position and rotation controls.

-Camera options can be edited in the Display Options (Options > Display Options...) dialog.

- You can set a background image to use as a modeling guide for top, bottom, front, back, left, and right
orthographic cameras using the Set Viewport Image command.

Walkthrough Mode

Display > Walkthrough Mode

Description:
   
    The Walkthrough Mode (Display > Walkthrough Mode) option, when checked on the menu, enables a
separate set of camera controls which mimic a first-person perspective. Rotation occurs around the camera rather
than around the manipulator, and zoom and pan move with different speeds.

Notes:

-This option affects all viewports, not just the active viewport.

-The speed of zooming and panning in Walthrough Mode can be edited in the Display Options (Options >
Display Options...) dialog.

Show Work Grids

Display > Show Work Grids

Description:
   

66
    The Show Work Grids (Display > Show Work Grids) option, when checked, displays work grids representing
XY, YZ, or XZ plane in each viewport, as appropriate. All grids are hidden when this option is unchecked, and
shown when checked on the menu.

Notes:

-This option affects all viewports, not just the active viewport.

-Grid options can be edited in the Display Options (Options > Display Options...) dialog.

Show Manipulator

Display > Show Manipulator

Description:
   
    The Show Manipulator (Display > Show Manipulator) option, when unchecked, allows you to work without
the manipulators.  You’ll probably want to assign the Constrain commands to keyboard shortcuts or mouse
buttons if you’re working in this way.  You can also make your own manipulator-centered button page to
essentially create your own completely-customized manipulator.

Notes:

-When you have the main manipulator turned off, you can leave the alternate manipulator on to see which type
of transformation is active (move, rotate, etc).

Show Alternate Manipulator

Display > Show Alternate Manipulator

Description:
   
    The Show Alternate Manipulator (Display > Show Alternate Manipulator) option, when checked, displays a
smaller, useable copy of the current manipulator in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Editing a selection
with this manipulator is identical to using the regular manipulator.

Notes:

-This option affects all viewports, but the alternate manipulator is only displayed in the active viewport.

-The alternate manipulator is particularly useful when the selection places the manipulator off-screen.

Show Viewport Images

Display > Show Viewport Images

Description:

      The Show Viewport Images (Display > Show Viewport Images) option allows you to show or hide all the
viewport background images. Note that this option affects all viewports, not just the current viewport.

Notes:

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- For more information on viewport images, see the Set Viewport Image (Display > Set Viewport Image...)
window help file.

Show Lights

Display > Show Lights

Description:
   
    The Show Lights (Display > Show Lights) toggle, when checked, will display the custom lights that you
have added to your scene.  Often you may want to use custom lighting but not have the physical appearance of
the lights cluttering your scene.  To take care of this, you can turn the display of the lights off while leaving the
lighting effects on (via the Use Custom Lighting command).

Notes:

- You can have your custom lights be displayed but not light the model or you can have the lights be hidden
from view but still act as the lighting for your model, depending on how you use this option in conjunction with
the Use Custom Lights toggle.

Show Buttons

Display > Show Buttons

Description:
   
    The Show Buttons (Display > Show Buttons) option, when checked, enables the display of buttons in the
modeling window.

Notes:

- This option affects all viewports.

- One alternative to hiding buttons is to create a blank button page.

- You can hold down the space bar to temporarily show the buttons if they are hidden, or to temporarily hide
them if they are shown.

- You can assign the Toggle Buttons command to a keyboard shortcut or a button.

Next Button Page

Display > Next Button Page, Previous Button Page, Button Page 1, Button Page 2, etc

Description:

      The Next Button Page (Display > Next Button Page) command allows you to switch to the next button page,
if you have created multiple button pages. This command will work whether button pages are hidden or shown. 
You can use the Previous Button Page command to cycle the button pages in reverse, or Button Page 1, Button
Page 2, etc to skip directly to those button pages.  The latter commands aren’t found in the menus, but can be
assigned to keyboard shortcuts, image buttons, or mouse buttons.

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Notes:

- For more information on button pages, see the Button Settings (Options > Button Settings...) window help file.

- You can also switch to the next button page by pressing the Tab key, and to the previous button page by
pressing Shift+Tab.

Set Viewport Image

Display > Set Viewport Image...

Description:

      The Set Viewport Image (Display > Set Viewport Image...) command allows you to choose an image to use
as a background or reference in the current viewport. Background images can be any image in any of Silo’s
supported image formats. Once set, this image will be drawn behind all geometry and cannot be selected except
with the Select Viewport Image (Display > Select Viewport Image) command. When the viewport image is
selected with that command, it can be edited with the regular Move, Rotate, Scale, and Universal manipulators,
allowing you to position it as desired. It can also be edited with the Numerical Editor (Modify > Numerical
Editor) for precise positioning. The background image can be changed by using the Select Viewport Image
command again, and it can be removed with the Delete Viewport Image (Display > Delete Viewport Image)
command. No viewport image can be set for the Perspective and Free Ortho cameras.

Notes:

- The background image will be drawn using Silo’s texture resolution, which can be set in the General Options
(Options > General Options...) window. Images may appear blocky or blurry if the resolution is low.

- Supported image formats are: *.jpg, *.bmp, *.png, and *.tif.

Select Viewport Image

Display > Select Viewport Image

Description:

      The Select Viewport Image (Display > Select Viewport Image) command will select the background
image, if any, in the current viewport, allowing you to edit its position, orientation, and size with the standard
geometry manipulators. To avoid unwanted selection while modeling, this is the only way to select a viewport’s
background image. Once selected, the image can be edited using the regular Move, Rotate, Scale, and Universal
manipulators, allowing you to position it as desired. It can also be edited with the Numerical Editor (Modify >
Numerical Editor) for precise positioning.

Notes:

- For more information on viewport images, see the Set Viewport Image (Display > Set Viewport Image...)
window help file.

Delete Viewport Image

Display > Delete Viewport Image

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Description:

      The Delete Viewport Image (Display > Delete Viewport Image) command will remove the background
image, if any, in the current viewport.

Notes:

- For more information on viewport images, see the Set Viewport Image (Display > Set Viewport Image...)
window help file.

Scene Info

Display > Scene Info..

.
Description:
   
    The Scene Info (Display > Scene Info...) window provides information about the scene geometry and about
the current selection. The window can be left open and refreshed when changes are made in the scene.

Scene:
    Items within the scene box relate to the scene as a whole, not just the current selection.

Scene Faces:
    This displays the total number of faces in the scene.
  
Scene Objects:
    Displays the total number of objects in the scene.

Selection:
    Items within the selection box refer to the current selection. Some of these items are dependent on selection
mode. For example, if you are in edge selection mode then the number of faces and vertices will be displayed as
0. All fields are active in object selection mode.

Faces:  
    Displays the total number of faces in the selection. The count is also shown divided between faces with 3

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sides, faces with 4 sides, and faces with 5 or more sides.

Edges:
    Displays the number of edges in the current selection.

Vertices:
    Displays the number of vertices in the current selection.

Objects:
    Displays the number of objects in the current selection.

Refresh:
    Recounts scene elements and updates the Scene Info window.

Close:
    Closes the Scene Info window.

Notes:

- If faces are more than 3-sided, they are still drawn as a combination of 3-sided polygons by the renderer. (i.e.
a 4-sided face is drawn as two 3-sided polygons.) Thus the current display may be rendering far more 3-sided
polygons than faces.

View Shortcuts

Display > View Shortcuts...

Description:
   
    The View Shortcuts (Display > View Shortcuts...) window allows you to see what keyboard shortcuts are
currently assigned. Unchangeable system shortcuts are listed first, followed by the user-assigned keyboard
shortcuts.

Notes:

- Silo differentiates between lower-case and upper-case (Shift+Key) characters for shortcuts.

- Keyboard shortcuts can be changed in the Keyboard Shortcuts (Options > Keyboard Shortcuts...) dialog.

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OPTIONS
General Options

Options > General Options...

Description:
   
    The General Options (Options > General Options...) dialog allows you to change options which affect the
operation of the program in general. 

Units:
    Silo can operate in either the English (feet and inches) or Metric systems. This will update all unit-related
fields in all dialogues, as well as the scene’s representation.

Unit Factor:
    This value adjusts the relative size of the units without changing the scene geometry.  If, for example, you
wanted a box that was 1m square to represent a box that was 2m square, you would change this value from 1 to
.5, and then all fields would show that the box was now 2m square.

View Rotation Center:

    This allows you to choose which point the camera will rotate around when you rotate the view.  If
Manipulator is chosen, the camera will always rotate around the manipulator or the place where the manipulator
last was.  If Framed Selection is chosen, the camera will rotate around the center of the grid until a call to Frame
Selection is made, at which point it will begin to rotate around the place where the manipulator was when this
call was made.  Rotation will continue to be around this point until the next call to Frame Selection is made.

Persistent Selection:
    This setting, when checked, makes it so that Silo will not deselect your current selection unless you explicitly
perform the deselection using the Deselect command or Ctrl+Shift or Alt+Shift dragging with the mouse.

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Tesselate Quads (slower):
    This is an option relating to the way Silo displays geometry. When this option is deselected, a quad (4-sided
polygon) which is concave may not be displayed correctly. When the option is checked, the program performs
extra calculations to better display such polygons. Note that this does not affect the actual geometry of scene
objects or the way they are edited, it merely affects the way geometry is displayed.

Selection Highlighting:
    Selection highlighting, turned on by default, will highlight the component the mouse is currently over, or
the closest component within the Highlight Radius. Clicking to select will select the currently highlighted
component. For many operations you can perform the operation on the highlighted component directly, without
actually selecting it. For example, you can highlight a face, and press b to bevel it. Clicking will exit the bevel
tool, deselect, and allow you to immediately work on something else.

Texture Size:
    This field allows you to change the resolution at which Silo displays texture images while you’re working.
Higher resolutions will look closer to the original image, but also consume more memory and may cause the
program to run slower.

Highlight Radius:
    This value determines the highlighting radius for selection highlighting. If a component is not directly under
the mouse, Silo will highlight the nearest component within this radius, in pixels, from the current mouse
position. It is helpful to have at least a small radius.

Mouse Pick Area:

    This setting adjusts the sensitivity of the mouse in selecting the manipulator and geometry on screen.  The
number represents the size in pixels of a box centered around the mouse which will act as the picking area. 
Thus, larger numbers mean the mouse is less sensitive and will have a larger hit area.

Undo Level:
    This field allows you to set how many operations Silo will keep in memory in order to undo. A larger number
of undos will allow you to undo more operations in a row, but will also take up more memory.

Max SubD Level:

    This field allows you to set the maximum number of levels which you can subdivide an object. Each
subdivision level becomes increasingly more memory-dependent, so an upper limit is advisable. This limit
represents the maximum difference between a control mesh and its underlying refined mesh. If a control mesh is
refined using the Refine Control Mesh (Subdivision > Refine Control Mesh) command, its number of available
subdivisions is reset to this number.

Minutes to Autosave:
    Silo offers an autosave feature to help you back up your work. The ten most recent autosaves are saved in the
Autosaves folder, on a rotating basis. This means that save9.sia may not be the most recent autosave, so be sure
to check the dates if you need to retrieve one of these files. You can also open the most recent autosave using
File > Revert to Autosaved. To disable autosaves, set this value to 0.

Notes:

- Many of the options offered in the General Options dialogue relate to system performance. Experimentation
may be the best way of determining how to get the most out of your particular setup.

Display Options

Options > Display Options...

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Description:
   
    The Display Options (Options > Display Options...) dialog allows you to edit several components that affect
the look of Silo. 

Backface Culling:
    If this box is checked, OpenGL won’t draw polygons that are facing away from you (that is, their normal
vector is pointing into the screen rather than out towards you).

Show Face Centers:

    When checked, a dot will be shown in the center of each face in Face selection mode. This can be useful when
area selecting, as only faces whose centers are included in the bounding box will be selected.

Show Subdivision Cages:

    If this box is checked, the outer cage of a subdivided shape will always show.  If it is unchecked, you will
only see the subdivided shape in every mode except for object selection mode, and you can make your selection
and edits directly from the subdivided surface (the “iso surface”).

Show Cage Selections:

    If this option is checked and Show Subdivision Cages is unchecked, on subdivided shapes you will only see
the portion of the control cage which is currently selected (i.e. the particular edges, faces, or vertices that are
currently selected).

Edge Width:
    This field allows you to change the width in pixels of unselected geometry lines. This will not affect the

74
manipulator or grid lines.

Vertex Size:
    This field allows you to change the size in pixels of all vertices.

Selected Edge Width:

    This field allows you to independently set the width of a selected edge. It can be useful to set this value higher
than the regular Edge Width to help make it more apparent which edges are selected.

Selected Vertex Size:

    This field allows you to independently set the size of a selected vertex. It can be useful to set this value higher
than the regular Vertex Size to help make it more apparent which vertices are selected.

Face Alpha (0-1) :

    This field allows you to set the opacity of selected faces. the closer to 0 this value is, the more the color
underneath the selection will be blended with the selection color.

Edge Alpha (0-1) :

    This field allows you to set the opacity of unselected edges. The closer to 0 this value is, the more the color
underneath the edges will be blended with the edge color. A lower value makes for a more appealing blending
effect between the wireframe and the model. A value of 0, however, will cause the edges to disappear altogether.

Normals Length:
    When normals are displayed, they are displayed at a fixed length. This field allows you to change that length.

Walkthrough Speed:
    In Walkthrough Mode (Display > Walkthrough Mode), you may find that the camera zooms and pans at an
undesirable speed. This field allows you to change the speed.

Camera FOV:
    The perspective camera’s FOV (field of view) is the angle in degrees which determines how much of the
scene the camera can see at once. Large angles will result in a “fisheye” effect.

Near Clip Dist:

    The near clip distance is the distance from the camera which geometry has to be in order for it to be displayed
in the viewport. Values must be larger than 0 and not equal to 0 for the display to function properly.

Far Clip Dist:

    The far clip distance is the distance from the camera at which an object ceases to be displayed. In a large
scene, this can speed up performance by not displaying irrelevant geometry.

Manipulator Size:
    This field allows you to change the size, in pixels, of the manipulator. Changing this value will also update the
size of the alternate manipulator accordingly.

Grid Spacing:
    This field allows you to change the spacing between grid lines. This change affects all work grids.

Grid Width :
    This field allows you to change the overall width of the grid. This value refers to the distance from the origin
to each side of the grid. (So a grid with width 10m will be 10m in the positive X direction as well as 10m in the
negative X direction.)

Heavy Line Spacing :

    This field allows you to set how many lines of the grid to skip before making a thick line.  This allows you to,
for example, have the grid spacing set at 1 inch and set the heavy line spacing to 12 so that every foot (i.e. every
12 inches) is marked with a heavy line while inches are marked with a lighter line.

75
Notes:

- Other ways to change the look of the program include editing the colors in the Color Settings (Options > Color
Settings...) dialog and editing the buttons in the Button Settings (Options > Button Settings...) dialog.

Color Settings

Options > Color Settings...

Description:
   
    The Color Settings (Options > Color Settings...) dialog allows you to edit the colors of Silo. Select a scene
item from the list, and then click on the color bar below it to edit that color. All changes will be represented in
the scene as they are made. Click OK when you are satisfied or Cancel to return to the color settings which were
in place when you opened the dialog. You can also save and load color schemes, and share them with others.
Silo’s color settings files have their own format, *.scl.

Notes:

- Color settings will automatically be remembered when you close the program, so your changes will last until
you edit the colors again.

Button Settings

Options > Button Settings...

Description:
   
    The Button Settings dialog (Options > Button Settings...) allows you to customize Silo’s on-screen buttons.
Buttons are arranged in a series of button pages. A “button page” is a set of buttons which is on-screen at a given
time. You can cycle through multiple button pages, like turning pages in a book, using the Next Button Page
command or by pressing the Tab key. If the buttons are set to be shown (Display > Show Buttons) then holding
down the space bar will temporarily hide them; otherwise holding down the space bar will temporarily show
the hidden buttons.  This allows you to work with a clean screen for most of the time, letting you hold down the
space bar and tab through button pages when you need them.

    Each button page is composed of lists of buttons. There is a button list for the left, right, top, and bottom of
each page, which will automatically arrange buttons you insert. There is also a custom list, which is a list of

76
buttons for which you set your own positional values, allowing you to place buttons literally anywhere on the
page. In addition, each button can be assigned any image for its up and down states. This setup offers a large
amount of control over the look and functionality of Silo.

    The Button Settings Dialog is arranged in three horizontal sections. The section on the left refers to page-
specific information and is where a new page can be created, pages can be renamed, reordered, or selected for
editing. The middle section of the dialog refers to list-specific information, and allows you to edit the button lists
for the button page selected on the left. Here you can choose between the five different lists, and insert buttons
with associated functions into each of the lists. The section on the right refers to button-specific information, and
allows you to edit the button selected in the button menu immediately to the left. Here you can assign an image
to the button and edit the positional values of the buttons in the custom list.

Page Name:
    This field allows you to rename the currently selected button page.

Button Page:
    This list allows you to select and edit a button page. The Up and Down buttons directly beneath the list allow
you to change the order of the button pages within Silo. The Remove button allows you to delete the currently
selected button page, while Insert allows you to create a new button page and inserts it just before the current
selection.

Relative To Manipulator
    If checked, this means that the button page will be positioned relative to the manipulator rather than relative
to the window.  Thus, the buttons will follow your selection around the screen - this option basically allow syou
to make a customized manipulator.  Note that these buttons only show when there’s a selection.

Always Show
    If checked, this button page won’t be in the regular rotation of buttons (for when you use the Tab key or Next/
Previous Button Page commands) but will always show when the buttons are being displayed.  Use this option

77
for button pages that you want to always have showing, no matter what the current button page is.

Button List:
    This drop-down menu allows you to select which list to edit for the current button page.

Button
    This list allows you to select and edit individual buttons in the current button list, on the current button page.
The Up and Down buttons directly beneath the list allow you to change the order of the buttons on the list. The
Remove button allows you to delete the currently selected button, while Insert allows you to add a new button
just before the currently selected button. The new button will have the function selected in the Button To Insert
list.

Button Image
    These buttons (Up Image and Down Image) will open a dialog which allows you to choose an image for
the up or down state of the currently selected button. There is no formal limit on the size or shape of a button,
except that if the image is larger than the window, it will not be displayed correctly. The image can be in any
of Silo’s available image formats - to take advantage of transparency effects (i.e. if you have a button image
with an alpha channel) use the png format.  When you set the Up Image a new image for the down state will
automatically be created.  Thus, if you want to set an image for the button’s down state, you must first set the up
image and then set the down image.

Button Percentages and Offset

    These fields are editable when you have the Custom list selected in the Button List menu.  The percentage
value sets the percentage from left to right or from bottom to top of the screen that the button will position itself
relative to, and the offset value will offset the button from that percentage point by the specified number of
pixels.  If you wanted to create a bar of buttons that hovered in the middle of the screen (you would probably
want to keep these hidden and hold down the space bar to use them), you could set each button’s percentage
field value to 50 (for both the x and y coordinates) and then space them apart from each other by giving them
different offset values in their x offset fields.  The group of buttons would then move as a whole when you
resized the window, but they would maintain their position relative to each other.
    This system may sound complicated at first, but it allows you to specify exactly how you want the buttons to
move when you resize the window.

Notes:

- Some users may wish to create a blank button page which can be cycled to, avoiding the need to toggle display
of button pages on and off.

- Button setups have their own format, *.sbl, to allow for easy finding and trading of different setups.  When
trading setups, be sure to include the image files for the buttons in a folder with the .sbl file.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Options > Keyboard Shortcuts...

Description:
   
    The Keyboard Shortcuts (Options > Keyboard Shortcuts...) dialog allows you to assign your own keyboard
shortcuts in Silo. All character keys are assignable, in conjunction with any combination of Ctrl, Alt, and Shift
keys. All of Silo’s functions and windows can have a shortcut assigned to them. To assign a shortcut, select the
function and then press the desired modifiers and key.  To unassign a function’s shortcut key, select the function
and click the Unassign button. Keyboard shortcut settings can be saved and loaded via the Save and Load
buttons, allowing users to share and download different shortcut setups. When you are done making changes,
click the Close button to exit the dialog.

78
Notes:

- If you assign a key which is already assigned to another function, it will be removed from the previous
function before it is assigned.

Mouse Setup

Options > Mouse Setup...

Description:
   
    The Mouse Setup dialog (Options > Mouse Setup...) allows you to completely customize Silo’s mouse.  At
the top of the dialog you’ll find buttons that load in presets to mimic other programs.  Pressing any of these
buttons will let you quickly be able to work as with a program you may already be familiar with, though you
can achieve much more customization than this.  You can also load and save mouse setups for sharing with other
Silo users.
    Below these buttons you’ll find a drop down list for each of the possible mouse button/mofidier combinations. 
Simply choose the command from each list that you want to have assigned to that mouse button/modifier.  Each
of these drop-down lists has a small group of functions at the top which are only found in the Mouse Setup
dialog.  These are special mouse-specific functions.  Below these is a full alphabetical list of all the other
functions available in Silo, and any can be assigned to any mouse button.  Below you’ll find an explanation of
each of the mouse-specific functions.

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Mirai-Style View Manipulation:
    This command can be assigned to the middle mouse button to emulate the way Mirai and several other similar
programs handle camera positioning.  Clicking on the middle mouse button will send the program into camera
mode.  While in this mode, dragging the mouse will rotate the view, clicking and dragging the middle mouse
button will zoom the camera, and clicking and dragging the right mouse button will pan the camera.

Rotate View:
    Rotates the camera around the selection.

Zoom View:
    Zooms the camera in and out.

Pan View
   Pans the camera in the plane of the screen.

Select Visible New:

    Deselects the current selection and then selects only the visible elements (front-most) under the mouse
selection area.

Select Visible Add:

    Selects the visible elements and adds them to the current selection.

Select Visible Subtract:

    Chooses the visible elements and subtracts them from the current selection.

Select Visible Complement:

    Chooses the visible elements and deselects those that were previously selected and selects those that were
previously unselected.

Select Thru New:

    Deselects the current selection and then selects all elements (including obscured elements) under the mouse
selection area.

Select Thru Add:

    Selects all elements under the mouse selection area and adds them to the current selection.

80
Select Visible Subtract:
    Chooses all elements under the mouse selection area and subtracts them from the current selection.

Select Visible Complement:

    Chooses all elements under the mouse selection area and deselects those that were previously selected and
selects those that were previously unselected.

Right-Click Menu:
    Opens the context-sensitive right-click menu (though you may assign it to a different mouse button than the
right button).

Tweak:
    Tweak select allows you to do several things.  If an element is already selected, using tweak select will
perform the operation of the current manipulator (move, rotate, etc) in the plane of the screen, no matter where
you click.  If no element is selected, it will temporarily select what’s under your mouse (visible elements only),
allow you to perform the manipulator’s function in the plane of the screen, and then deselect everything when
you release the mouse button.

Notes:

Rib Format 
Description:

      The rib format is for exporting your Silo scenes to Renderman-compliant renderers, including when calling
such a renderer from within Silo through the Render command. 
    When Silo exports to rib files, it uses the material name given in Silo as the name of a surface shader in the
rib file.  There must be a shader in your renderer’s shader library with the same name as each material for this to
work properly.  You can override material names with a single shader name using the appropriate checkbox and
field in the Export Options dialog.
    Most renderman-compliant renderers have subdivision surfaces built-in to them, and if an object is subdivided
in your Silo scene, it will export it as a subdivision surfaces object in the rib file.  Refine your control mesh
before exporting/rendering if your renderer doesn’t seem to suport subdivision information.  Objects which are
partially subdivided will not render properly.
    All of the options in the export options window will have an effect on rib file exports, except the Include
Materials checkbox.  If you choose to include a header or footer file, they will be added to the beginning or end
of your rib file, respectively.

Notes:

- The only export option not supported by the rib format is the Include Materials checkbox, since no renderman
materials are defined in the rib files anyway.

- You must install your rib renderer separately - no renderer is included with Silo.

Pov Format 
Description:

      The pov format is for exporting your Silo scenes to be rendered with the Povray renderer, including when
calling such a renderer from within Silo through the Render command. 
    All instances and subdivision surfaces are written to the pov file as actual geometry, so there’s no need to de-
instantiate instances or refine control meshes.  Default lighting will be provided if no user lights appear in the

81
scene.
    All of the options in the Export Options window will have an effect on pov file exports, except the Render
Size fields.  You must set your render size through the command options or in the Povray interface.  If
you choose to include a header or footer file, they will be added to the beginning or end of your pov file,
respectively.  A header file might, for example, include special lighting information or additional materials.  You
can then choose to not include materials (in the Export Options window) but use material names in your scene
that are the same as special materials you’ve set up in your header file, and the renderer will use those materials
from the header.
    An example of what you might put in the Render Command/Program field of the Render Options dialog for
Povray rendering is “C:\Program Files\Povray\bin\pvengine.exe /RENDER”.  The location of your exe file may
be different, but adding the “ /RENDER” to the end of the path will cause the file to be rendered with Povray
immediately rather than being opened in its editor.

Notes:

- The only export options not supported by the pov format are the Render Size fields.

- You must install your Povray renderer separately - no renderer is included with Silo.

Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the creators of the Dev-C++ development environment, MinGW compiler, and wxWindows
windowing system. These programs were integral to the development of Silo.

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