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Overview of Copies, Instances, and References 473
and master object with the other instances. The
data flow for an instance branches just after
evaluating object modifiers.
When you change one instance by applying or
adjusting a modifier, for example, all the other
instances change with it.
Within 3ds Max, instances derive f rom the same
master object. What you’re doing "behind the
scenes" is applying a single modifier to a single
master object. In the viewport, what you see as
multiple objects are multiple instances of the same
definition.
Example of Using Instanced Objects
If you wanted to create a school of swimming
fish, you might b egin by making many instanced
copies of a single fish. You could then animate the
swimming motion by applying a Rip ple modifier
to any f ish in the school. The whole school would
swim with exac tly the same motions.
Instances of Actively Linked Objects
Creating instances of actively linked objects is not
recommended. Reliability issues can arise if the
instanced object is deleted in the linked file.
References
References arebasedontheoriginalobject,asare
instances, but can a ls o have their own unique
modifiers. Like instances, references share, at
minimum,thesamemasterobjectandpossibly
some object modifiers.
The data flow for a reference branches just after
the object modifiers but then evaluates a second
set of object modifiers unique to each reference.
When you create references, 3ds Max displays
a g r ay line, called the derived-object line,atthe
top of the modifier stack for all clones. Any
modification made below the line is passed on to
other references, and to the original object. New
modifiers added above the line are not passed on
to other references. Changes to the or iginal object,
such as in its creation parameters, are passed on to
its references.
This effect is useful for maintaining an original that
will affect all its references, while the references
themselves can ta ke on individual characteristics.
All shared modifiers reside below the
derived-object line and are displayed in bold. All
modifiers unique to the selected reference reside
above the derived-object line and are not bold.
The original object does not have a derived object
line: its creation parameters and modifiers are
all shared, and all changes to this object affect all
references.
The results of chang ing or applying a modifier to a
named object reference depends on where in the
modifier stack it is applied:
• Apply ing a modifier to the top of the modifier
stack affects only the selected named object.
• Applying a modifier below the gray line affects
all references branching above that line.
•Applyingamodifieratthebottomofthe
modifier stack affects al l references der ived
from the master object.
References of Actively Linked Objects
Creating references of ac tively linked objects is not
recommended. Reliability issues can arise if the
referenced object is deleted in the linked file.
Example of Using Referenced Objects
In the example of modeling heads, you might want
to keep a family resemblance in your characters.
You could model basic fea tures on the original,
then mo del specifics on each reference.
A t some point, if you wanted to see what your
characters would look like as "cone-heads," you
could apply a Taper modifier to the original head,