# selecting object elements Maya gives you the ability to select entire objects or sub-select the components that make up the object. The **Selection Tool** is the White Arrow in the main menu on the left side of the interface. The quick-key is **Q**. It is the main tool you default back to in Maya. ## Object Mode In this mode, you are selecting an entire object, whether that is a mesh, surface, light, camera, etc. This is the default selection method. ## Component Mode With the Selection Tool active, Right-Click on an object to get the Marking Menu where you can choose to select different components that make up the object. With a polygon mesh object, you can choose to work with Faces, Edges, Vertexes, UV elements, etc. ![[Pasted image 20221003101341.png]] ## Soft Selection By default, you are able to select individual elements to manipulate. Shift-Left-Click allows you to select multiple elements a click at a time. You can paint a selection or draw a window to pick multiple elements. Manipulations will be either on/off, full/none, either/or. Alternatively, you can turn on [Soft Selection](https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2023/ENU/Maya-Basics/files/GUID-FF7C8670-97C7-4C13-9A6F-3B0A8F881EC9-htm.html) to have a transitional range from on/off so that manipulations fade out from the selected components. This is a more organic and gentle way of manipulating an object. Manipulating a selected component will give a full effect and the effect will fade down across the falloff range. Two quick methods to turn on Soft Selection: - Double-Click on any of the Selection Tools or basic manipulation tools (Move, Rotate, Scale) to open Tool Settings. Scroll to Soft Selection. - Open the Modeling Toolkit. Scroll to Soft Selection. ![[Pasted image 20221003101439.png]] Selecting a component of the object will show a gradient of yellow through red and into black. In the Tool Settings, the size and falloff range can be adjusted. You can also adjust the curve of the range to control how the effect is added. --- tags: #3d #maya #resources home: [[! 3d modeling- maya]]