I must admit that i disable the "Lock Object Modes" option whenever i start a new project. (Yes i know how to disable this permanently, but that is not what i am asking about). I probably am very ignorant about the true value and benefit of this option, but i honestly can not find anything about why to use this option, when to use it and how to use it for practical use.
All i find is when to disable it, why to disable it and how to disable it. So i am a bit lost, but apparently i am not at all alone with that :)
So the question i have is:
Is there any fundamental information on the benefit of "Lock Object Modes" ? (manual, tutorial, documentation, explanations, Youtube, whatever... )
Again: I am not asking for opinions but for reasons why this option is useful and how to make use of it. And i believe this is a question that fits well here (as it is also about sharing knowledge and not just about solving practical issues)
A Use case for demonstration
For more clearness let me add a use case that i try to handle with the default settings. This works smoothly in Blender 2.79 but i have not figured out the nice and correct way to get this done with the default Lock Object Modes enabled (available since Blender 2.80). Maybe it is important to mention that my workflow in Blender 2.79 does not involve the Outliner.
Lock Object Modes disabled
So... Say you have an armature and a rigged set of meshes (here 3 body parts):
Now lets say i want to weight paint the meshes and for ease of use i also want to select the weight groups by using CTRL-LMB on a bone. This is what we are using all the time with Blender 2.79 and the setup is done as follows:
- Select the armature and set it to Pose mode
- Select a mesh and set it to Weight Paint mode
- switch weight groups with CTRL-LMB in the viewport
You can do exactly the same workflow in Blender 2.80 and newer when you disable Lock Object Modes.
Lock Object Modes enabled
But we want to understand how to use Blender with its default settings. However, when the defaults are enabled, then in first place can not find a way how to use a similar workflow as mentioned above (and this is why i am asking for fundamental information about how when why use Lock Object Modes).
The problem is: When i set the Armature to pose mode, then i can no longer select the meshes. When i select the meshes and go to weight paint mode, then i can no longer set the armature to pose mode and i can no longer select the bones. However, there is one workflow that actually does something useful (as for my understanding):
- First disable Lock Object modes !
- select each mesh one by one and set it to weight paint mode
- select the armature and put it to pose mode
- select one of the meshes
- Finally enable Lock Object Modes !
Now i can select the bones with CTRL-LMB and the meshes with CTRL-LMB as usual. And because of the Lock Object Modes enabled, i now can only select the meshes in weight paint mode. I see how this has benefits.
But ... now i can rephrase my initial question into several smaller parts:
1.) Is there a better way to setup weight painting for multiple Objects while the default settings are not changed? (How?)
2.) Is it discouraged to use CTRL-LMB on the bones to switch weight maps? (Why?)
3.) What is the encouraged way to do weighting on rigged objects (When?)