Linking objects within a Blender file-how to?

Support Basics & Interface
#1

Hi folks
I’m trying to model a figure using lots of separate objects which are siblings under a common parent.
What I’d like to do is be able to model each object separately and then link this to a duplicate which can be rotated, resized and moved at the location of the figure. Any changes made in the original will be reflected in the duplicate.
This will allow me to make changes to the objects without having to cope with the difficulty of objects in odd rotations and mixed up with other objects.

I think it’s possible to do this by having the original objects in separate blender files and link these in and set them as proxies.
However I’d like everything to be in the same file for convenience.
Is this possible and does anyone know how to do it?

thanks in advance.

#2

Oops posted same thread twice!
Feel free to delete this one, admin!

#3

Simply make an instance (using alt+D) of each object that you want to edit. Optionally, you could reposition it at the origin of the world for convenience using alt+G>Clear Location, alt+R>Clear Rotation. Any editing that you’ll do to that instance, except for location, size and rotation since those are properties of the object will be reflected into the original, because they share the exact same datablock above the object datablock level. The original will stillretain its own location, rotation and size.

#4

Thanks-I was looking in the manual but couldn’t find anything about this. As a suplementary question;Can I get an object such as a cube to align back with the global xyz axis after it’s been rotated?

Here’s what it looks like at the mo by the way.

you can see the ribcage ‘floating’ in the air on the left. I want to have this ‘upright’ as it’s easier to model that way.

Attachments

celtic_warrior_1.jpg800×600 30.6 KB

#5

If is has been rotated in ObjectMode then that’s what “alt+R>Clear Rotation” is for.
If you rotated it in EditMode then only the stucture vertices (mesh or control vertices for other types of object) have been rotated and not the object itself. The only place where any data is kept for this, AFAIK, is in the undo stack. You’ll be quite fortunate is ctrl+Z is still able to undo the rotations you don’t want anymore.
If the stack has been erased (you edited another object) then it’s hand and eye coordination alone to get it aligned back with the world coordinates.

Here’s what it looks like at the mo by the way.

you can see the ribcage ‘floating’ in the air on the left. I want to have this ‘upright’ as it’s easier to model that way.

Ummm, you know, Blender offers always an assortment of solutions.
For example you could very well get used to edit in local space rather than in global space. You could also start to like rigging you characters, even for stills. It is the Blender way to use animation tools as modeling tools. A rigged character is reset to its ‘rest’ position for editing the mesh. Both techniques are not quite the same as what you’re used to but they’re worth thinking about.

Have fun.

J.

#6

To reset object’s rotation, Alt+R is the shortcut you want to know. It’s also in menu, so there shouldn’t be problem to find it.

But IamInnocent was faster…

#7

Thanks guys for the help. :slight_smile: