Locking objects fast?

#1

How can I quickly lock and unlock camera and objects?

Usually I have to do add a protection tag or put the object in a layer then lock it.

Check out the Rhino video below in which I’m quickly locking and unlocking objects . I would like to do the same in Cinema 4D. How to do that?

#2

What type of lock? There are so many… layers alone have like 7 or 8 types of lock; protection tags can lock certain axes and movements alone; then there is lock against selection in the selection filters; and of course the visibility filters but I guess you wouldn’t call that lock.

If you often change the lock status of many objects, keeping a “lock layer” for this purpose alone is very useful (since layers can be applied easily on several objects at once). Sadly, an object can only be in one layer at a time so solving the issue per layer prevents the affected objects from being in any other layer in the first place.

If you need to lock against movement, you could create a script that adds (or changes) a protection tag for each selected object. This would not affect the layer assignments.

#3

As seen in my video, I would like to lock the entire set of objects or a single object totally. Once locked, the object cannot be selected at all. I have to click on the unlock button on the toolbar in order to unlock the objects for moving and selection.

I don’t know how to create scripts. I think it requires knowledge of coding in which I am absolutely zero.

#4

Well, Rhino doesn’t help much since the locking concept seems to be different. You just cannot lock objects in the same way in C4D.

  • It is generally not possible at all to protect individual objects against deletion. There is no such tag or state.
  • It is not possible to protect individual objects against selection. You can use the selection filter to disallow the selection of whole classes, e.g. Generator or Camera, but you cannot say “I want my_object28 to be unselectable”.
  • It is possible to protect an object against being moved with a protection tag. This also has options to specify the details.
  • It is possible to lock a whole layer. The objects on that layer will then be protected against deletion, selection, moving, and whatever. That is probably the closest you get to what you want. HOWEVER: While you can push objects on that “lock layer” dynamically, you cannot pull them out individually again while the layer is locked. This is because you cannot select them, nor can you change the layer in the OM while the layer is locked. Thus, the layer needs to be unlocked as a whole, before you can pull an object from the layer.
    (I actually don’t see how Rhino handles that if the object is not selectable.)

I suggested scripts but actually that’s not that easy when I look at the layer behavior. As you can’t select an object to pull it out of the “lock layer”, a script wouldn’t even help unless it stores the objects and offers an alternative “remove from lock” option. sigh

The only script possible would be the one that creates / enables a protection tag, but that does not protect against selection or deletion.

#5

In 25 years of working in various 3d apps needing to lock and unlock objects has never been an issue for me.

I’ve only ever used protection tags on cameras in scenes with multiple cameras and once protected they stay protected.

I think it might be helpful to understand why the OP needs to constantly lock/unlock objects quickly? I’m struggling to understand the need for locking/unlocking on a regular basis.

#6

Maybe I may have found a workaround. Put attached folder into c4d user scripts folder.

Lock_Unlock.rar (77.6 KB)

explained
explained.jpg1729x912 310 KB

#7

hmm, I only have R23, so you can actually select objects on a locked layer in S26 now?

#8

No, I’m afraid you don’t. In my example you have to unlock the layer first (the check button in the viewer)