Outliner: Synced Selection #63988

New Issue

William Reynish · 2019-04-29T16:41:03+02:00

William Reynish commented

2019-04-29 16:41:03 +02:00

In Blender, the selection state is not shared between the Outliner and the scene. This is inconvenient and often impractical, but it’s also confusing. If you select something in the viewport, the same object is not selected in the Outliner. But if you select something in the Outliner, it overrides the selection inside the viewport. The selection is synced one way but not the other. It’s half syncing in a confusing way.

It also means that we need two confusing ways of showing selections - the highlighted row and the icon circle.

I think we can make this a lot easier to use. Here’s how:

We add a toggle inside the Filter popover called Synced Selection, just like we have in the UV Editor. This should be on by default.

Synced Selection: On

With this option on, the selection state is shared between the Outliner and the viewport. This makes everything simpler, because users don’t have to worry about selecting things twice. If something is selected, it’s selected in both Outliner and viewport, always.

One of the great benefits of this, is that we then don't need two separate selection states inside the Outliner, which makes it much simpler to read and understand.

Synced Selection: Off

With this option off, the selection state is completely decoupled, rather than the current half-syncing system that tries to only sync one way. This could mainly be useful if you have multiple Outliners with different selections.

These changes should make selection in the Outliner a lot more straight forward, in a way that’s both more efficient and less confusing in the vast majority of use-cases.

Special Cases

When simply selecting objects in the Outliner, it's easy to figure out what to do. But there are other cases where it's not so clear:

Outliner Selection	3D View Result
Sub-element of object (obData, material etc) in Outliner	Select the object they are attached to
Collection in Outliner	Select containing objects
View Layer in Outliner	Deselect all objects

In Blender, the selection state is not shared between the Outliner and the scene. This is inconvenient and often impractical, but it’s also confusing. If you select something in the viewport, the same object is not selected in the Outliner. But if you select something in the Outliner, it overrides the selection inside the viewport. The selection is synced one way but not the other. It’s half syncing in a confusing way. It also means that we need two confusing ways of showing selections - the highlighted row and the icon circle. I think we can make this a lot easier to use. Here’s how: We add a toggle inside the Filter popover called Synced Selection, just like we have in the UV Editor. This should be on by default. ![Screenshot 2018-12-07 at 21.07.08.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5874632/Screenshot_2018-12-07_at_21.07.08.png) ## Synced Selection: On With this option on, the selection state is shared between the Outliner and the viewport. This makes everything simpler, because users don’t have to worry about selecting things twice. If something is selected, it’s selected in both Outliner and viewport, always. One of the great benefits of this, is that we then don't need two separate selection states inside the Outliner, which makes it much simpler to read and understand. ![Screenshot 2018-12-07 at 21.07.48.png](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F5874644/Screenshot_2018-12-07_at_21.07.48.png) ## Synced Selection: Off With this option off, the selection state is completely decoupled, rather than the current half-syncing system that tries to only sync one way. This could mainly be useful if you have multiple Outliners with different selections. -------- These changes should make selection in the Outliner a lot more straight forward, in a way that’s both more efficient and less confusing in the vast majority of use-cases. ## Special Cases When simply selecting objects in the Outliner, it's easy to figure out what to do. But there are other cases where it's not so clear: | **Outliner Selection** | **3D View Result** | | -- | -- | | Sub-element of object (obData, material etc) in Outliner| Select the object they are attached to | | Collection in Outliner | Select containing objects | | View Layer in Outliner | Deselect all objects |

William Reynish commented

2019-04-29 16:41:03 +02:00

Added subscriber: @WilliamReynish

Dalai Felinto was assigned by William Reynish

2019-04-29 16:52:52 +02:00

Duarte Farrajota Ramos commented

2019-04-29 17:47:46 +02:00

Added subscriber: @DuarteRamos

William Reynish changed title from ~~Outliner Synced Selection~~ to Outliner: Synced Selection

2019-04-29 18:04:45 +02:00

Vyacheslav commented

2019-04-29 18:53:27 +02:00

Added subscriber: @Ghostil

Vyacheslav commented

2019-04-29 18:53:27 +02:00

Good idea. In the same 3d max it works synchronously with scene explorer.

Vyacheslav commented

2019-04-30 07:38:15 +02:00

This problem only in 2.8.
In 2.79 this normal selected and Synced outliner and 3d view.

This problem only in 2.8. In 2.79 this normal selected and Synced outliner and 3d view.

William Reynish commented

2019-04-30 08:42:13 +02:00

@Ghostil that is in fact not the case. It only tries to sync in one direction in both versions of Blender.

William Reynish commented

2019-05-01 17:17:28 +02:00

We have a choice to either include this as an option (enabled by default) or to simply change the behavior fully with no option. I don't have a strong opinion, as long as the default syncs the selection.

However, I expect there may be cases where we need to be able to turn it off, such as when users have multiple Outliners.

We have a choice to either include this as an option (enabled by default) or to simply change the behavior fully with no option. I don't have a strong opinion, as long as the default syncs the selection. However, I expect there may be cases where we need to be able to turn it off, such as when users have multiple Outliners.

Juan Hernandez commented

2019-08-01 01:00:14 +02:00

Added subscriber: @ArmoredWolf

Nathan Craddock commented

2019-08-17 00:17:39 +02:00

Added subscriber: @natecraddock

Nathan Craddock commented

2019-08-17 00:17:39 +02:00

Changed status from 'Open' to: 'Resolved'

Nathan Craddock closed this issue

2019-08-17 00:17:39 +02:00

Nathan Craddock commented

2019-08-17 00:17:39 +02:00

Committed in 71eb653280

Committed in 71eb65328078

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Outliner: Synced Selection #63988

Synced Selection: On

Synced Selection: Off

Special Cases