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96 Chapter 3: Selecting Objects
single, non-hierarchical object that you can then
manipulate as one. Grouping works with all
objects, w hi le assemblies are best used for light
fixtures and characters.
For more information about groups, see Using
Groups (page 1–96) and Group Commands (page
1–104).
For more information about assemblies, see Using
Assemblies (page 1–98) and Assembly Commands
(page 1–107)
For more information about character assemblies,
see Character Assembly (page 1–102) and Character
Assembly Commands (page 1–112)
Usi ng G rou ps
Object on the right is a group and treated as a single entity.
Grouping lets you combine two or more objects
into a single grouped object. The grouped object
is given a name, and then treated much like any
other object.
Group names are similar to object names, except
that they’re carried by the g roup object. In lists like
the one for the Select Object dialog, group names
appear in square brackets, for example [Group01].
The commands to manage groups are on the
default Group menu (page 3–674).
General Features of Groups
Once you group objects, you can treat them as
a single object in your scene. You can click any
object in the group to select the g roup object.
When you create a group, all of its member objects
are rigidly linked to an invisible dummy object.
Thegroupobjectusesthepivotpointandthe
local transform coordinate system of this dummy
object.
Groups can be nested. That is, groups can contain
other groups, up to any level.
Transforming and Modifying a Group
You can t ransform or modify a group as if it were a
single object, and you can animate t he tr ansforms
and the modifiers.
When you apply a modifier to the group, this
applies an instance of the modifier to each object
in the group. A grouped object retains its modifier
instance, even if you later remove it from the
group.
Whenyouapplyatransformtothegroup,onthe
other hand, this applies only to the group as a
whole. More precisely, 3ds Max applies transforms
to the dummy object that represents the group.
You can transform and animate individual objects
within a group independently from the group
itself. However, when you transform the group
itself, the transform affects all grouped objects
equally. The group transform is uniformly added
to objects that have independent motions. An
analogy is a cage of birds, each flying around on
itsown,whilethecageitselfisbeingmoved.In
thecaseofgroups,the"cage"(thedummyobject)
expands to surround all objects in the g roup,
wherever the objects’ independent transforms take
them.