Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 237

Figure 8-1: The plane moves as one unit after its objects are grouped.

Building Assemblies
At the bottom of the Group menu is a menu item called Assembly with a submenu that looks
frightfully similar to the Group menu. The difference between a group and an assembly is that
an assembly can include a light object and it has a Luminaire helper object as its head. This
enables you build light fixtures where the light is actually grouped (or assembled) with the light
stand objects. Once built, you can control the light by selecting and moving the light assembly.

New The Assembly menu is new to 3ds max 6.

Feature

After you’ve create the geometry for a light assembly, you can create an assembly with the
Group ➪ Assembly ➪ Assemble menu command. This opens the Create Assembly dialog box,
shown in Figure 8-2, where you can name the assembly and add a Luminaire object as the
head object.

Note Characters that are created with the Character ➪ Create Character command are structurally
the same as assemblies. Both have head objects that control the position of all the objects
that make up the structure.
238 Part II ✦ Working with Objects

Figure 8-2: The Create Assembly dialog box lets you choose a light
head object.

Because the Luminaire object is the head object, you can see its parameters in the Modify
panel whenever the assembly is selected. Its parameters include a Dimmer value and a Filter
Color. These parameters are used only if they are wired to an actual light object that is
included in the assembly.

Note If you apply a modifier to an assembly, it affects only the Luminaire head object, so
Parametric Deformation modifiers like Twist have no effect. If you open the assembly, you
can select and apply a modifier to an individual assembly object.

Adding lights to assemblies

If you know that your light characteristics aren’t going to change, then set up the parameters
for your light object before you build the assembly and the light object will provide constant
light. If you ever need to change a light setting, just open the assembly with the Group ➪
Assembly ➪ Open menu command. Then select the light object, and its parameters appear in
the Modify panel. After you’ve changed the light parameters, close the assembly again with
the Group ➪ Assembly ➪ Close menu command.

Note Adding a light object to an assembly without wiring it to the Luminaire object works the
same as if you grouped the objects with the Group command. The real benefit of an assem-
bly comes from wiring the light parameters.

All other commands in the Assembly submenu work just like their counterparts in the
Group menu.

Wiring Luminaire helper objects to light objects

Luminaire objects can be confusing because they don’t actually add light to an assembly. If
you’re curious about the Luminaire objects, you can find them in the Assembly Heads subcat-
egory of the Helper category.
The benefit of the Luminaire helper object is that it can add to an assembly some simple
parameters that are accessible whenever the assembly is selected. These parameters work
only if you wire them to the parameters of the light object included in the assembly.
 Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 239

Cross- You can learn more about wiring parameters in Chapter 30, “Animation Basics.”
Reference

To wire the Luminaire parameters to the light object’s parameters, select the assembly and
open the Parameter Wiring dialog box with the Animation ➪ Wire Parameters ➪ Parameter
Wiring Dialog menu command. In the left pane, locate and select the Dimmer parameter
under the Object (Luminaire) track. Locate and select the Multiplier parameter under the
Object (Light) track, which is under the Assembly01 track in the right pane. Click the one-way
connection button in the center of the dialog box that links the Dimmer to the Multiplier
parameters, and click the Connect button. Next wire the FilterColor parameter to the light’s
Color parameter. Figure 8-3 shows the Parameter Wiring dialog box for this simple assembly.

Figure 8-3: The Parameter Wiring dialog can make the

light object’s parameter.

After the assembly light is wired to the Luminaire parameters, you can use the Dimmer and
Filter Color parameters in the Modify panel whenever the assembly is selected.

Tutorial: Creating a flashlight assembly

One of the most portable of lights is the ubiquitous flashlight. In this tutorial, we create an
assembly and wire the light parameters to the Luminaire head object’s parameters.
To create a flashlight assembly, follow these steps:
1. Open the Flashlight assembly.max file from the Chap 08 directory on the CD-ROM.
This file includes a flashlight model with a single free spotlight.
2. Select all objects within the scene with the Edit ➪ Select All (Ctrl+A) menu command.
Then select the Group ➪ Assembly ➪ Assemble menu command. In the Create Assembly
dialog box, name the assembly Flashlight and click OK.
240 Part II ✦ Working with Objects

3. To wire the Luminaire head object’s parameters to the light object, select Animation ➪
Wire Parameters ➪ Parameter Wire Dialog. This opens the Parameter Wiring dialog box
with the Object (Luminaire) track selected in the left pane. Expand the Object
(Luminaire) track, and select the Dimmer parameter.
4. In the right pane of the Parameter Wiring dialog box, expand the Flashlight track, locate
and expand the Fspot01 light object, and select the Multiplier track under the Object
(Free Spot) track. Then click the Control Direction arrow in the center of the dialog box
that points to the right, and click Connect.
5. With the Parameter Wiring dialog box still open, select the FilterColor track in the left
pane and the Color track in the right pane, and connect these two parameters with the
Connect button. Click on the Close button in the upper-right corner of the dialog box.
6. In the Luminaire Parameters rollout of the Command Panel, drag the Dimmer parame-
ter down to 1.0 and watch light in the flashlight dim.
Figure 8-4 shows the resulting flashlight assembly. This light fixture can now be positioned
and used in the scene.

Figure 8-4: This flashlight assembly can be controlled using the simple Luminaire
parameters.
 Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 241

Understanding Parent, Child, and Root

Relationships
Max uses several terms to describe the relationships between objects. A parent object is an
object that controls any secondary, or child, objects linked to it. A child object is an object
that is linked to and controlled by a parent. A parent object can have many children, but a
child can have only one parent. Additionally, an object can be both a parent and a child at
the same time.
A hierarchy is the complete set of linked objects that includes these types of relationships.
Ancestors are all the parents above a child object. Descendants are all the children below a
parent object. The root object is the top parent object that has no parent and controls the
entire hierarchy.
Each hierarchy can have several branches or subtrees. Any parent with two or more children
represents the start of a new branch.

Cross- The default hierarchies established using the Link tool are referred to as forward-kinematics
Reference systems, in which control moves forward down the hierarchy from parent to child. In for-
ward-kinematics systems, the child has no control over the parent. An inverse kinematics sys-
tem (covered in Chapter 37, “Using Inverse Kinematics”) enables child objects to control
their parents.

All objects in a scene, whether linked or not, belong to a hierarchy. Objects that aren’t linked
to any other objects are, by default, children of the world object, which is an imaginary
object that holds all objects.

Note You can view the world object, labeled Objects, in the Track View. Individual objects are listed
under the Objects track by their object name.

You have several ways to establish hierarchies using Max. The simplest method is to use the
Link and Unlink buttons found on the main toolbar. You can also find these buttons in the
Schematic View window. The Hierarchy panel in the Command Panel provides access to valu-
able controls and information about established hierarchies. When creating complex hierar-
chies, the bones system can help.

Cross- The Schematic View window is covered in Chapter 9, “Working with the Schematic View,”
Reference and bone systems are covered in Chapter 35, “Rigging Characters.”

Building Links between Objects

The main toolbar includes two buttons that you can use to build a hierarchy: Link and Unlink.
The order of selection defines which object becomes the parent and which becomes the child.
242 Part II ✦ Working with Objects

Linking objects
The Link button always links children to the parents. To remind you of this order,
remember that a parent can have many children, but a child can have only one parent.
To link two objects, click the Link button. This places you in Link mode, which continues until
you turn it off by selecting another button, such as the Select button or one of the Transform
buttons. When you’re in Link mode, the Link button is highlighted dark yellow.
With the Link button highlighted, click an object, which will be the child, and drag a line to
the target parent object. The cursor arrow changes to the link icon when it is over a potential
parent. When you release the mouse button, the parent object flashes once and the link is
established. If you drag the same child object to a different parent, the link to the previous
parent is replaced by the link to the new parent.
Once linked, all transformations applied to the parent are applied equally to its children
about the parent’s pivot point. A pivot point is the center about which the object rotates.

Unlinking objects
The Unlink button is used to destroy links, but only to the parent. For example, if a
selected object has both children and a parent, clicking the Unlink button destroys
the link to the parent of the selected object, but not the links to its children.
To eliminate all links for an entire hierarchy, double-click an object to select its entire hierar-
chy and click the Unlink button.

Tutorial: Creating a solar system

Because the planets in the solar system all rotate about the sun, a solar system is a good
model to show the benefits of linking. After you link all the planets to the sun, you can reposi-
tion the entire system simply by moving the sun.
To create a solar system of spheres that are linked together, follow these steps:
1. Open the Linked solar system.max file from the Chap 08 directory on the CD-ROM.
This file includes spheres that represent all the planets in the solar system.
2. Click the Link button in the main toolbar, and drag a line from each planet to the sun
object.

Tip You can link several objects at once by holding down the Ctrl key, clicking to select each
object to link, and dragging to the parent object. This procedure creates a link between the
parent object and each selected object.

3. Click the Saturn rings object, and drag it to the Saturn object that it surrounds.
4. Click the Select and Rotate button (or press the E key), and rotate the sun. Notice how
all the planets rotate with the sun.
Figure 8-5 shows the planets as they orbit about the sun. The Link button made it possible to
rotate all the planets simply by rotating their parent.
 Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 243

Figure 8-5: Linked child planets inherit transformations from their parent sun.

Displaying Links and Hierarchies

The Display panel includes a rollout that lets you display all the links in the viewports.
After links have been established, you can see linked objects listed as a hierarchy in several
places. The Select Objects dialog box, opened with the Select by Name button (or with the
H key), can display objects in this manner, as well as the Schematic and Track Views.

Displaying links in the viewport

You can select to see the links between the selected objects in the viewports by selecting the
Display Links option in the Link Display rollout of the Display panel. The Display Links option
shows links as lines that run between the pivot points of the objects with a diamond-shaped
marker at the end of each line; these lines and markers are the same color as the object.

Note The Display Links option can be enabled or disabled for each object in the scene. To display
the links for all objects, use the Edit ➪ Select All (Ctrl+A) command and then enable the
Display Links option.
244 Part II ✦ Working with Objects

The Link Display rollout also offers the Link Replaces Object option, which removes the
objects and displays only the link structure. This feature removes the complexity of the
objects from the viewports and lets you work with the links directly. Although the objects
disappear, you can still transform the objects using the link markers.
Figure 8-6 shows the solar system that we created in the previous tutorial with the Display
Links option enabled for all links.

Viewing hierarchies
The Select Objects dialog box and the Schematic and Track Views can display the hierarchy
of objects in a scene as an ordered list, with child objects indented under parent objects.
Clicking the Select by Name button (H) on the main toolbar opens the Select Objects dialog
box; click the Display Subtree option to see all the children under the selected object. Figure
8-7 shows the Select Parent dialog box with the Display Subtree option selected.

Figure 8-6: The solar system example with all links visible
 Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 245

Figure 8-7: The Select Parent dialog box indents all

child objects under their parent.

The Schematic View (opened with the Graph Editors ➪ New Schematic View menu command)
presents a graph in which objects are represented by rectangles with their hierarchical links
drawn as lines running between them. The Schematic View window is covered in the next
chapter.
The Track View (opened with the Graph Editors ➪ New Track View menu command) displays
lots of scene details in addition to the object hierarchy. In the Track View, you can easily
expand and contract the hierarchy to focus on just the section you want to see or select.

Cross- For more information on using the Track View, see Chapter 33, “Working with the Track View.”
Reference

Working with Linked Objects

If you link some objects together and set some animation keys, and the magical Play button
starts sending objects hurtling off into space, chances are good that you have a linked object
that you didn’t know about. Understanding object hierarchies and being able to transform
those hierarchies are the keys to efficient animation sequences.
All transformations are done about an object’s pivot point. You can move and reorient these
pivot points as needed by clicking the Pivot button under the Hierarchy panel.
246 Part II ✦ Working with Objects

Several additional settings for controlling links are available under the Hierarchy panel of the
Command Panel (the Hierarchy panel tab looks like a mini-organizational chart). Just click the
Link Info button. This button opens two rollouts if a linked object is selected. You can use the
Locks and Inherit rollouts to limit an object’s transformations and specify the transforma-
tions that it inherits.

Cross- I present more information on object transformations in Chapter 10, “Transforming Objects —
Reference Translate, Rotate, and Scale.”

Selecting hierarchies
You need to select a hierarchy before you can transform it, and you have several ways to do
so. The easiest method is to simply double-click an object. Double-clicking the root object
selects the entire hierarchy, and double-clicking an object within the hierarchy selects it and
all of its children.
After you select an object in a hierarchy, pressing the Page Up or Page Down keyboard short-
cut selects its parent or child objects. For example, if you select the Sun object and press
Page Down, all planet objects are selected and the Sun object is deselected. Selecting any of
the planet objects and pressing Page Up selects the Sun object.

Linking to dummies
Dummy objects are useful as root objects for controlling the motion of hierarchies. By linking
the parent object of a hierarchy to a dummy object, you can control all the objects by moving
the dummy.
To create a dummy object, select Create ➪ Helpers ➪ Dummy, or open the Create panel and
click the Helpers category button (this button looks like a small tape measure) and select the
Standard category. Within the Object Type rollout is the Dummy button; click it, and then
click in the viewport where you want the dummy object to be positioned. Dummy objects
look like wireframe box objects in the viewports, but dummy objects are not rendered.

Tutorial: Circling the globe

When you work with complex models with lots of parts, you can control the object more eas-
ily if you link it to a Dummy object and then animate the dummy object instead of the entire
model. To practice doing this, we create a simple animation of an airplane flying around the
globe. To perform this feat, we create a dummy object in the center of a sphere, link the air-
plane model to it, and rotate the dummy object. This tutorial involves transforming and ani-
mating objects, which are covered in later chapters.

Cross- Rotating objects is covered in Chapter 10, “Transforming Objects — Translate, Rotate, and
Reference Scale,” and the basics of animation are covered in Chapter 30, “Animation Basics.”

To link and rotate objects using a dummy object, follow these steps:
1. Open the Circling the globe.max file found in the Chap 08 directory on the CD-ROM.
This file includes a transparent wireframe sphere with an airplane model positioned
above it. The airplane model was created by Viewpoint Datalabs.
 Chapter 8 ✦ Grouping and Linking Objects 247

2. Select Create ➪ Helpers ➪ Dummy, and then drag in the center of the Sphere to create a
Dummy object.
3. Because the dummy objects is inside the sphere, creating the link between the airplane
and the dummy object can be difficult. To simplify this process, select and right-click
the sphere object, and then select Hide Selection from the pop-up menu.
This hides the sphere so that you can create a link between the airplane and the
dummy object.
4. Click the Link button on the main toolbar, and drag a line from the airplane to the
dummy object.
5. Click the Auto Key button (or press N) to enable animation key mode, and drag the
Time Slider to frame 100. Then click the Select and Rotate button on the main toolbar
(or press E), and select the dummy object. Then rotate the dummy object, and notice
how the linked airplane also rotates over the surface of the sphere.
6. Select the dummy object, and right click to access the pop-up quadmenu. Then select
the Unhide All menu command to make the sphere visible again.
By linking the airplane to a dummy object, you don’t have to worry about moving the air-
plane’s pivot point to get the correct motion. Figure 8-8 shows a frame from the final scene.

Figure 8-8: With a link to a dummy object, making the airplane circle the globe is easy.