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Blender Shaders 26
Blender Shaders 26
Figure 6-18: All objects assigned to a layer can be viewed in the Layer Properties dialog box.
Summary
Selecting objects enables you to work with them, and Max includes many different ways to
select objects. In this chapter, you’ve done the following:
✦ Learned how to use selection filters
✦ Selected objects with the Edit menu by Name, Color, and Region
✦ Selected multiple objects and used a named selection set to find the set easily
✦ Selected objects using other interfaces
✦ Accessed the Object Properties dialog box to set Display and Rendering settings for an
object
✦ Learned how to hide and freeze objects
✦ Separated objects using layers
In the next chapter, you work more with multiple objects by learning how to clone objects.
Using these techniques, you could very quickly have too many objects (and you were worried
that there weren’t enough objects).
✦ ✦ ✦
Cloning Objects
and Creating
7
C H A P T E R
Object Arrays
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
In This Chapter
Cloning objects
T
Understanding copies,
he only thing better than one perfect object is two perfect instances, and
objects. Cloning objects is the process of creating copies of references
objects. These copies can maintain an internal connection (called an
instance or a reference) to the original object that allows them to be Using the Mirror and
modified along with the original object. For example, if you create a Snapshot tools
school desk from a Box primitive and modify its parameters, the
same resulting effect is applied to all instances of the original. Spacing clones along a
path with the Spacing
An array is a discrete set of objects that are regularly ordered. So cre- tool
ating an array of objects involves cloning several copies of an object
in a pattern, such as in rows and columns or in a circle. Creating object arrays
I’m sure you have the concept for that perfect object in your little Using the Ring Array
bag of tricks, and this chapter lets you copy it over and over after system
you get it out.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
Cloning Objects
You can clone objects in Max in a couple of ways (and cloning luckily
has nothing to do with DNA or gene splices). One method is to use
the Edit ➪ Clone (Ctrl+V) menu command, and another method is to
transform an object while holding down the Shift key. You won’t need
to worry about these clones attacking anyone (unlike Star Wars:
Episode II).
Caution The Edit menu doesn’t include the common cut, copy, and paste
commands because many objects and subobjects cannot be eas-
ily pasted into a different place. However, you will find a Clone
(Ctrl+V) command, which can duplicate a selected object.
214 Part II ✦ Working with Objects
Figure 7-1: The Clone Options dialog box defines the new
object as a Copy, Instance, or Reference.
Cross- The difference between Copy, Instance, and Reference is discussed in the “Understanding
Reference Cloning Options” section in this chapter.
When a clone is created with the Clone menu, it is positioned directly on top of the original,
which makes distinguishing it from the original difficult. To verify that a clone has been
created, open the Select by Name dialog box by pressing H and look for the cloned object
(it has the same name, but an incremented number has been added). To see both objects,
click the Select and Move button on the main toolbar and move one of the objects away from
the other.
4. Name the clone First clone, select the Copy option, and click OK.
5. Click the Select and Move button (or press the W key) on the main toolbar. Then in the
Top viewport, click and drag the dinosaur model to the right.
As you move the model, the original model beneath it is revealed.
6. Select each model in turn, and notice the name change in the Create panel’s Name field.
Notice that the clone is even the same object color as the original.
7. With the Select and Move button still active, hold down the Shift key, click the cloned
dinosaur in the Top viewport, and move it to the right again. In the Clone Options
dialog box that appears, select the Copy option, set the Number of Copies to 3, and
click OK.
8. Click the Zoom Extents All button (or press Shift+Ctrl+Z) in the lower-right corner to
view all the new dinosaurs.
Three additional dinosaurs have appeared, equally spaced from each other. The spac-
ing was determined by the distance that you moved the second clone before releasing
the mouse. Figure 7-2 shows the results of our dinosaur cloning experiment. (Now
you’ll need to build a really strong fence.)
Figure 7-2: Cloning multiple objects is easy with the Shift-clone feature.
216 Part II ✦ Working with Objects
Note Instances and references can have different object colors, materials, transformations (moving,
rotating, or scaling), and object properties.
References are objects that inherit modifier changes from their parent objects, but do not
affect the parent when modified. Referenced objects get all the modifiers applied to the par-
ent and can have their own modifiers as well. For example, suppose that you have an apple
object and a whole bunch of references to that apple. Applying a modifier to the base apple
changes all the remaining apples, but you can also apply a modifier to any of the references
without affecting the rest of the bunch.
At any time, you can break the tie between objects with the Make Unique button in the
Modifier Stack.
When an object is selected, all its instances and references are surrounded with an orange
bounding box.
and click OK. Click the Zoom Extents All (or press the Shift+Ctrl+Z key) button to widen
your view.
4. Select all objects with the Edit ➪ Select All (Ctrl+A) command, and then Shift+drag the
doughnuts in the Top viewport to the right. In the Clone Options dialog box, select the
Instance option again and 3 for the Number of Copies and click OK. This creates a nice
array of two dozen doughnuts. Click the Zoom Extents All (or press the Z key) button
to see all the doughnuts.
5. Select a single doughnut, and in the Parameters rollout of the Modify panel, set Radius1
to 20 and Radius2 to 10.
This makes a nice doughnut and changes all doughnuts at once.
6. Select the Modifiers ➪ Parametric Deformers ➪ Twist command. Then in the Parameters
rollout of the Command Panel, enter 25 in the Angle field and select the Y Twist Axis.
This adds a slight bend to the doughnuts.
Cross- You can use modifiers to alter geometry. You can learn about using modifiers in Chapter 11,
Reference “Introducing Modifiers for Basic Object Deformation.”
Figure 7-3 shows the doughnuts all changed exactly the same. You can imagine the amount
of time it would take to change each doughnut individually. Using instances made these
changes easy.
Note As you apply modifiers to a referenced object, notice the thick gray bar in the Modifier Stack.
This bar, called the Derived Object Line, separates which modifiers get applied to all refer-
enced objects (below the line) and which modifiers get applied to only the selected object
(above the line). If you drag a modifier from above the gray bar to below the gray bar, then
that modifier is applied to all references.
Using referenced objects, you can apply the major changes to similar objects, but still make
minor changes to objects to make them a little different. Figure 7-4 shows the apples. Notice
that they are not all exactly the same.
Chapter 7 ✦ Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 219
Figure 7-4: Even apples from the same tree should be slightly different.
Mirroring Objects
Have you ever held the edge of a mirror up to your face to see half your head in the mirror?
Many objects have a natural symmetry that you can exploit to require that only half an object
be modeled. The human face is a good example. You can clone symmetrical parts using the
Mirror command.
Cross- Learn more about inverse kinematics in Chapter 37, “Using Inverse Kinematics.”
Reference
Note By making the clone selection an instance, you can ensure that any future modifications to
the right half of the figure are automatically applied to the left half.
Figure 7-6 shows the resulting robot — who won’t be falling over now.
Chapter 7 ✦ Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 221
Note When entering the number of Copies in the Snapshot dialog box, a copy is placed at both the
beginning and end of the specified range, so if your animation path is a closed path, two
objects are stacked on top of each other. For example, if you have a square animation path
and you want to place a copy at each corner, you need to enter a value of 5.
Tip The Snapshot tool can also be used with particle systems.