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This file includes a carousel structure made from primitives along with a carousel horse.

2. Open the Create panel, select the Systems category, and click the Ring Array button. Drag in the Top viewport from the center of the carousel to create a ring array. Then enter a Radius value of 250, an Amplitude of 20, a Cycles value of 3, and a Number value of 6. Then right-click in the active viewport to deselect the Ring Array tool.

Note

If the Ring Array object gets deselected, you can access its parameters in the Motion panel, not in the Modify panel. •

3. Select the Ring Array's Dummy object in the Left viewport, select the Tools⇒Align⇒Align menu command and then click on the center cylinder. The Align Selection dialog box opens. Enable the X, Y, and Z Position options, choose the Center options for both the Current and Target objects, and click the Apply button. This aligns the ring array to the center of the carousel.

4. Select the horse object, and choose the Tools⇒Align⇒Clone and Align menu command. In the Clone and Align dialog box that opens, select the Instance options along with the X, Y, and Z Position and Orientation options. Then click the Pick button and click on each of the boxes in the ring array. Set the Offset values for the X and Y Orientation values to 90 to fix the orientation of the placed horses. Then click the Apply button and close the Clone and Align dialog box.

Figure 8.16 shows the finished carousel. Notice that each horse is at a different height. Once the horses are placed, you can delete or hide the Ring Array object.

FIGURE 8.16

The horses in the carousel were created using a Ring Array system.

Summary

Many ways to clone an object are available. You can use the Clone command under the Edit menu or the Shift-clone feature for quickly creating numerous clones. Clones can be copies, instances, or references. Each differs in how it retains links to the original object. You can also clone using the Mirror, Snapshot, and Spacing tools.

Arrays are another means of cloning. You can use the Array dialog box to produce clones in three different dimensions, and you can specify the offset transformations.

This chapter covered the following cloning topics:

• Cloning objects and Shift-cloning

• Understanding copies, instances, and references

• Using the Mirror, Snapshot, Spacing, and Clone and Align tools

• Building linear, circular, and spiral arrays of objects

• Using the Ring Array system

In the next chapter, you learn to group objects and link them into hierarchies. Then you'll be able to organize into structures all the objects that you've learned to create.

Chapter 9: Grouping, Linking, and Parenting Objects

IN THIS CHAPTER

Grouping objects

Building assemblies

Understanding root, parent, and child relationships

Linking and unlinking objects

Now that you've learned how to select and clone objects, you'll want to learn how to group objects in an easily accessible form, especially as a scene becomes more complex. Max's grouping and container features enable you to organize all the objects that you're dealing with, thereby making your workflow more efficient.

Another way of organizing objects is to build a linked hierarchy. A linked hierarchy attaches, or links, one object to another and makes it possible to transform the attached object by moving the object to which it is linked. The arm is a classic example of a linked hierarchy: When the shoulder rotates, so do the elbow, wrist, and fingers. Establishing linked hierarchies can make moving, positioning, and animating many objects easy.

Working with Groups

Grouping objects organizes them and makes them easier to select and transform. Groups are different from selection sets in that groups exist like one object. Selecting any object in the group selects the entire group, whereas selecting an object in a selection set selects only that object and not the selection set. You can open groups to add, delete, or reposition objects