Blender 2.8 quick tip: Isolated mode?
In some projects, you may have a massive amount of objects in your 3D Viewport, which could make the editing process a lot harder. For instance, you may want to select a single object and preview the results of texture tiling.
If you don't have any way to isolate that object from the rest, you will have a hard time trying to visualize the changes.
Luckily for us, we have a simple way to isolate selections in Blender 2.8 (also works with version 2.9). The trick is you use a simple shortcut:
- / Key: From your numeric keyboard
Select the object you wish to isolate and press this key. Once in isolate mode, you can press it again to exit.
If you don't want to use that key, you can also work with the Hide options. Select and object and press:
- SHIFT+H: “Isolate” the selected object. It hides everything but the selected objects.
- ALT+H: Exit “isolate” mode. Unhide all objects.
That will become a massive help for projects where you have hundreds of objects and want to edit or manipulate just one.
Does it work as an isolated mode? The best approach is to use the / Key for a true isolate mode.
What about the hide options?
Technically in Blender that is not isolate mode. Instead, it is only a shortcut to hide and unhide objects. The SHIFT+H hides everything but the selected object (Hide Unselected). With the ALT+H you will unhide everything (Show Hidden Objects).
You can also use the H key to hide selected objects.
Updated: Thanks to Darren for pointing the / Key shortcut.
Comments
CivilVisions
Blender’s true Isolate mode is accessed using forward-slash “/” on the Numpad. It isolates the selected object(s) and immediately zooms in to them. Hitting the key again exits Isolate mode and pulls the view back to its original position.
This is the preferred way to isolate objects because it doesn’t mess with the viewport visibility (eye icon in the outliner) of the objects, so you don’t have to remember what was on/off when you isolated the selected object(s) and then have to reset all those visibility toggles manually. Using the Alt-H method mentioned in the original tip unhides everything, which often times is not what you want, especially in dense scenes!
Allan Brito
Hi Darren,
I thought they had removed the “/” shortcut! For some time, it wasn’t working with Blender 2.8.
I will update the article, thanks!
Dzejk
Nope they never remove / shortcut for isolate.
Shift + H hide all except selected and Alt + H unhide all objects. Simle H hide all selected.
MINTUN SOE
it’s still working with ‘/’ in v2.83
Henrik Cederblad
Seeing that, in Edit mode, while working with parts of a mesh and using Shift-H and Alt-H – the Alt H doesn’t unhide hidden objects in Object mode. Which is good. I’m thinking of binding the / key to Shift-H in Edit mode … for consistency with the “hide selected” counterpart in Object mode. Thoughts?
Erik
My heroe! thanks