3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [123]
For example, suppose that a child object is created and linked to a parent and the X Move Inherit check box is deselected. As the parent is moved in the Y or Z directions, the child follows, but if the parent is moved in the X direction, the child does not follow. If a parent doesn't inherit a transformation, then its children don't, either.
Using the Link Inheritance utility
The Link Inheritance utility works in the same way as the Inherit rollout of the Hierarchy panel, except that you can apply it to multiple objects at the same time. To use this utility, open the Utility panel and click the More button. In the Utilities dialog box, select the Link Inheritance utility and click OK. The rollout for this utility is identical to the Inherit rollout discussed in the previous section.
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 shortcut selects its parent or child objects. For example, if you select the Mommy duck object and press Page Down, the first baby duck object is selected and the Mommy duck object is deselected. Selecting any of the baby duck objects and pressing Page Up selects the duck object in front of it.
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, 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 easily if you link it to a Dummy object and then animate the dummy object instead of the entire model. To practice doing this, you'll create a simple animation of an airplane flying around the globe. To perform this feat, you create a dummy object in the center of a sphere, link the airplane model to it, and rotate the dummy object. This tutorial involves transforming and animating objects, which are covered in other chapters.
Cross-Reference
Rotating objects is covered in Chapter 7, “Transforming Objects, Pivoting, Aligning, and Snapping,” and the basics of animation are covered in Chapter 21, “Understanding Animation and Keyframes.” •
To link and rotate objects using a dummy object, follow these steps:
1. Open the Circling the globe.max file found in the Chap 09 directory on the CD.
This file includes a texture mapped sphere with an airplane model positioned above it. The airplane model was created by Viewpoint Datalabs.
2. Select Create⇒Helpers⇒Dummy, and then drag in the center of the Sphere to create a Dummy object. With the Dummy object selected, choose the Tools⇒Align menu command (or press the Alt+A shortcut) and click on the globe. In the Align Selection dialog box, enable the X, Y, and Z Position options along with the Center options and click OK to align the centers of the dummy and globe objects.
3. Because the dummy object 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