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Topic: Instances and Instances groups  (Read 6082 times)

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March 25, 2015, 11:05:03 am
The way instances work now is - you instance lets say 100 times 'parent' object and you can edit only the parent object. So if you forget where the parent is, you loose ability too edit all those 99 objects. I wish user could edit any of the instanced object.
Second wish - grouping instances - use would have ability to group bunch of objects. This would be similar to   structure of folder - you could make group of 5 objects, and then put this group in new, parent, group and so one. Just like folder structure. Also this could work with instancing, so user could instance eg. groupParent. To edit group - user would have to click edit group.
Great reference of how group and instances could work is sketchup - components. See video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QpoNO-1zM
In the video, there is only one level of components, but components can be nested in another components. It is very helpful to organize and manage complex  scenes

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March 25, 2015, 11:17:03 am
1. Use - Select Instance Source, to select you Source instance in any time.
2. Use Scene explorer to group objects and instances.

As you can see everything is here.
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March 26, 2015, 02:00:41 am
1. Cool, thanks for info. But I think ability to edit any of instances, not just source instance, would be beneficial to nvil, because ease of use. There is no this kind of limitation in sketchup or 3ds max, as far as I know.
2. Group objects, are not what I meant. From what I see they are  help organize scene, but using it when you have loots of groups is basically not hellpfull at all, unless you will remember each group name and position on scene. Try to use them when you have let's say 20 of them.
Just watch video link I provided in first post, or just watch from here https://youtu.be/r1QpoNO-1zM?t=106.
All edits make on one group (component) are reflected on all other components. There is no source component, so it dosen't matter which one you edit.
I know this is probably big request, but this way of organizing objects is extremely helpfull with more complex scenes. I think video doesn't mention, that those components can be nested - you can edit most top one component, then edit child ones. And when you save and close component, you go one level up - to parent component. Basically it is tree structure with instances of whole branches, not just leaves.

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March 26, 2015, 07:02:38 am
What I can suggest you is to instead of group combine geometry into objects and then instance it.
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March 26, 2015, 11:02:45 am
This is not helpful in more complex models. Lets say you need 6 group instances of spider legs. So you create one leg that is made of main leg object, and many instances of bolts.  If you merge bolts to leg, than you loose all advantages of bolts being instanced. It  would be very destructive / one way operation.
On the other way, if they worked as instanced group, leg bolts would be easily editable.
Maybe I'm not explaining this well, sorry english is not my native language.

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March 26, 2015, 11:21:03 am
 JoseConseco, I understood you, just suggest some alternative.
No way in NVil to do it. Is it any other soft than Sketch UP that support it?
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March 26, 2015, 12:23:57 pm
samardac, thanks for your help. This is why I added this post in feature request and not in support.
I asked fried and 3ds max dosen't support group instances as well as sketchup. But Blender is close to have group instances implemnted well (it has it's own problems).



As you can see, changes like translation, rotation, scale, duplication perfored on child of group instance is reflected on right side of image. You can then further group those two objects in another parent group instance. But, same as in nvil, you can only edit source instance - and there is no 'edit source instance' button, so if you forget where it is you may waste lots of time searching for it.

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March 26, 2015, 04:06:49 pm
(...)Is it any other soft than Sketch UP that support it?
Houdini.  8)

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March 27, 2015, 04:26:26 pm
rubberDuck,
I never now about Houdini, is it worth to try? Does it has smooth workflow like NVil? ANother words what is it)))?
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March 27, 2015, 09:14:30 pm
rubberDuck,
I never now about Houdini, is it worth to try? Does it has smooth workflow like NVil? ANother words what is it)))?
It's a 3D animation and VFX computer program famous for its procedural, node based approach to create virtually anything you want. If you can't do something in other 3D packages, there's a good chance you'll be able to build a tool in Houdini that will do it.
It has a steep learning curve, but if you have an programming or general IT background - and it looks like you do, Andrei - then I believe you'll love it.
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php

And yes, it's most definitely worth a try. SideFX has an almost full featured, free non-commercial version (with limited resolution in rendered images and watermarks) and even a very cheap limited-commercial Indie version with only several limitations.

Mind you that it will not replace NVil. Common modelling tools are very limited in Houdini at the moment, so you'll never be able to model stuff as quickly, comfortable or streamlined as you can in NVil. But if you need to do some procedural stuff, non-destructively modify your models, or easily assemble your model, that's the way to go, I think. It also comes with a great, production-ready, renderer.
I've been using it for half a year now, and I'm very satisfied with it.

For instance, the problem Jose has described here, is very simple to solve in Houdini.
(BTW Hi Jose, fellow 3D-Coater. Ajz3d here ;)).