Object References

Object References

Hi,

I would like to create a scene with multiple copies of a single object. I would typically call this referencing a single object.
I find this desirable when I want to change/tweak all instances of that object at once in a given scene. This is useful for creating large game scenes.

Hi and welcome.
This can be achieved via the instancing system. The goal is to place your object aligned to a particle-matrix, particle-mesh or particle-spline.
Do you need any examples?

Cheers
Frank

Thanks Frank,

Yes I would need some examples. To make certain we are talking about the same thing, I will give a concrete example of my need:

I build a city with multiple mailboxes at various position in the city. I want all my mailboxes to be derived from the same object (object hierarchy). So when I change one mailbox, those changes are propagated throughout all mailboxes of the scene.:smile:

Hi.
Here´s a basic scene including one basic mailbox, basic sidewalks and from that a basic point-set to place the mailbox instances along a particle tag for a slight y-axis variation.

To get an idea of the particle/instancing system have a look here: particle examples

Cheers
Frank

Reinual said:

Hi,

I would like to create a scene with multiple copies of a single object. I would typically call this referencing a single object.
I find this desirable when I want to change/tweak all instances of that object at once in a given scene. This is useful for creating large game scenes.

Click to expand...

Hi,

FYI only, here is another way of doing it. Be warned that this is not as efficient and elegant as Frank's solution in terms of nb of polys as objects are copied. But this could be useful in some situations as temporary changes (eg material) can be individually applied to object/meshes.
This method uses smart folders - see the attached. Change the mailbox file, save it and changes will be instantly reflected in the "Smart folders" file.
Please note that changes on the mailbox objects directly in the smart folders will not be saved - see the help file.
Smart folders also always import the camera and those can be deleted.


Frank : Thank you for the file to quickly do this.

Thanks Frank,
Thanks Francois,

I really appreciate the time you have given me. Your are both reel gentleman.

I will look at both examples you have provided. I have managed to implement the same solution has described by Francois (with smartfolders). It is compatible with the Unity game engine for the creation of scenes both within Cheetah and Unity. It is however more cumbersome since it involves a larger number of files.

I will explore Frank' solution. It does seem very interesting for scene creation in Cheetah. I will have to investigate if it is compatible with scene creation in Unity.

Once again, I am very appreciative of your help.

Cheers,
...reinual

Ah Unity - then François has maybe the better solution as it will keep your materials alive! If you collapse the particle mesh hierarchy all material assignments have to be assigned back - by "simply" dropping the materials onto the particle-mesh in the browser.

Cheers
Frank

Is there a way to use particle mesh and get rotation and such?

I've just finished following a tutorial video modelling a spoon, what if I want another spoon like the first one, lying on top of the first? It would need to be translated (which I understand the particle mesh supports), but also rotated (which I can't seem to figure out if it does or how to do it.)

So is there a way to use particle mesh, and get a second model rotated? And for future reference (ie. not related to my current "project"), scaled?

The way I understand "true instancing" is that I would be able to make a "copy" of an object, translate it, scale it, and rotate it (and depending on the modifiers applied, shear it, etc.), all without breaking the bond back to the original instance.

Particle mesh seems to support *some* of that, but it seems it is geared towards an orderly system of instances, whereas a "let's throw some dishware on a table" model would not work all that well.

In other words, if I want to lay the dishware out, like if you're doing spring cleaning or something, I can use a particle mesh and lay them out on a table model, possibly even translated (depending on the location of the points), but there seems to be no way to scale them or rotate them.

Or... am I misunderstanding something (again)?

Add a "particle tag" to the spoon to adjust random rotations/positions/scales.

Cheers
Frank

It would be nice if Smart Folders could be applied an array.

Let's say you are building a Mario-type (blocky) game level.

Then you could design various blocks, save as individual files, import as smart folders in your main project, and in there just line them up with arrays.

I cannot find a way around nicely arranging objects like bricks etc through smart folders, and if you have hundreds of each object (and not just a few specifically placed mail boxes) it can be pretty confusing to work with.

It's also a problem that Smart folders are not really working well with Gadget mode, so it's basically impossible to align things..