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Figure 8.10 shows the simple results. The Spacing Tool dialog box remains open until you click the Cancel button.

FIGURE 8.10

These dominoes were much easier to stack than the set in my living room.

Using the Clone and Align Tool

Imagine you're working on a production team and the modeler assigned to the project says he needs some more time to make the building columns “something special.” Just as you prepare to give him the “deadlines don't die” speech, you remember the Clone and Align tool. Using this tool, you can place proxy objects where the detailed ones are supposed to go. Then, when the detailed object is ready, the Clone and Align tool lets you clone the detailed object and place it where all the proxies are positioned. This, of course, makes the modeler happy and doesn't disrupt your workflow. Another production team victory.

Aligning source objects to destination objects

Before selecting the Tools⇒Align⇒Clone and Align tool, you need to select the detailed object that you want to place. This object is referred to as the source object. Selecting the Clone and Align tool opens a dialog box, shown in Figure 8.11. From this dialog box, you can pick the proxy objects that are positioned where the source objects are supposed to go. These proxy objects are referred to as destination objects. The dialog box shows the number of source and destination objects that are selected.

Cross-Reference

The Align tool is covered in Chapter 7, “Transforming Objects, Pivoting, Aligning, and Snapping.” •

The Clone and Align dialog box also lets you select whether source objects are cloned as copies, instances, or references. In the Align Parameters rollout, you can specify the object's position and orientation using the same controls that are used to align objects, including any Offset values.

As you make changes in the Clone and Align dialog box, the objects are updated in the viewports, but these changes don't become permanent until you click the Apply button. The Clone and Align dialog box is persistent, meaning that, after being applied, the settings remain until they are changed.

Tutorial: Cloning and aligning trees on a beach

To practice using the Clone and Align tool, you'll open a beach scene with a single set of grouped trees. Several other box objects have been positioned and rotated about the scene. The trees will be the source object and the box objects will be the destinations.

To position and orient several high-res trees using the Clone and Align tool, follow these steps:

1. Open the Trees on beach.max file from the Chap 08 directory on the CD.

This file includes a beach scene created by Viewpoint Datalabs.

2. Select the tree objects that have been grouped together, and open the Clone and Align dialog box by selecting the Tools⇒Align⇒Clone and Align menu command.

FIGURE 8.11

The Clone and Align dialog box lets you choose which objects mark the place where the source object should go.

Note

The Clone and Align dialog box remembers the last settings used, which may be different from what you want. You can reset all the settings with the Reset All Parameters button at the bottom of the dialog box. •

3. In the Clone and Align dialog box, click the Pick button and select each of the box objects in the scene.

4. In the Align Parameters rollout, enable the X and Y axes for the Positions and the X, Y, and Z axes for the Orientation. Then click the Apply button.

Figure 8.12 shows the simple results. Notice that the destination objects have not been replaced and are still there.

FIGURE 8.12

Using the Clone and Align dialog box, you can place these trees to match the stand-in objects' position and orientation.

Creating Arrays of Objects

Now that you've probably figured out how to create arrays of objects by hand with the Shift-clone method, the Array command multiplies the fun by making it easy to create many copies instantaneously. The Array dialog box lets you specify the array dimensions, offsets, and transformation values. These parameters