I have a vehicle I want to make a duplicate right next to it.
I can’t do it, it’s the most complicated thing.
I can’t lasso it because it’s in a scene with many other props.
I can’t select it in the outliner due to some parts having children that doesn’t get selected, like a door with a roll down window.
But if I have so many parented props to pivot in one prop I can be digging into the outliner, seem so tedious just to duplicate it, I can’t even confirm that I have all the pieces.
How do I set it up a prop that I can quickly copy & paste?
Assuming you are using Blender 2.8 + you could just add all of them to one collection.
Once done.You could just select the collection and duplicate it.
If you are using 2.7 then put all the objects you need in a Group.
To set it up like nirmldavid recommends, you might try hiding the other props, until nothing is left but the car, so you can use lasso to grab everything and move it to the same group or collection
I tried a test with parented objects a cube, a cylinder, and a cone. The cube is a parent to the cylinder the cylinder is parent with the cone.
All this is put in a collection called “test”
I right click on the collection > Duplicate Collection
I duplicated the collection it is auto called “test.001”
Inside this collection is a cube called “cube.001” and nothing else.
I tried copy/paste a collection same results, another lonely cube except not in a collection.
If I select all 3 shapes and duplicate collection now it duplicates all 3 but that doesn’t sound right.
If I append a collection to a new Blender only the first child parent set get saved, the rest are still laid out in the outliner as parented but with no number that indicates how many are parented.
Make sure the cylinder and cone are in the Collection ‘test’. Selecting a parent and adding it to a Collection does not automatically put the child objects in that collection. Just select the top level parent, Shift+G>Children then press M and choose ‘test’
Stuff that outside a collection but parented to something inside still shows up in the collection, but greyed out.
The Collection system is pretty handy when you spend a little time with it. Once you have all the objects in a Collection you’ll be able to add an instance of that collection down the bottom of the Shift+A menu which is handy.
You can also have one object in several collections using Shift+M instead of just M.
So I discovered that a collection does not a parent all that is in it. Selecting a collection only moves the first object in its list. Selecting the collection and translating it give the first object its translation value and not the collection. The collection is an outliner tool only in other words.
Right-click on the Collection in the Outliner. Choose Select Objects. Rotate away. Or just select the top level parent in the collection as you normally would to rotate and move its children.
Or try what I mentioned above. Once your asset is complete, add it to a Collection. Then create an instance collection using Shift+A. This will be selectable and you can move and rotate it and stuff as though it were a single object.