Sorry if instancing is not an industry standard term as I am referring to something is 3DS Max where two objects inherent the same attributes such as keyframes, geometry, textures, and global/local coordinates.
Anyways, my problem goes like this. In creating an animation showcasing the assembly of a mechanical device, I have a long cylinder simulating a wire with a black mark ringing a few loops of faces several centimeters from either end, running the length of a spline that it will follow as it ties a knot on either end of a device. Since the black marks show where you are supposed to cut off the excess and gauge the tautness and since the wire is animated to linearly follow a spline, including through the first knot on the first side of the object, the first black mark slides through the knot.
Since this may result in confusion for those watching as the camera does not linger on the first knot long enough to see the second black mark reach it, my boss wants the first black mark to remain stationary at the start of the first knot as the rest of the wire threads through so that a reference for how much of the wire to thread through is maintained. To accomplish this, I selected the black faces of the wire, duplicated them before separating the island, then extruding and inflating them to rise above the rest of the wire. Mind you, the wire already is parented to the spline and keyframed in the Z axis so that it snakes along the spline. Despite being an object separated from the main wire, any changes I make to the small cylinder are automatically mirrored to the main one.
If I scrub the timeline to the point before the black mark reaches the knot, keyframe it said black mark only, then duplicate said keyframe to the point where the rest of the wire stops moving, the main wire will have the exact same changes made to it. Moving the keyframes of the black mark or main wire around will make changes to the other. Even trying to add new keyframes to one of them adds keyframes to the other, furthermore, you cannot select only the keyframes for one of them. Selecting the keyframes of one will select the adjacent keyframes of the other object.
In summery, how do I make an object detached from the geometry of another object with keyframes inherent said keyframes without one of the two objects sharing, linking, or instancing any changes made to the other?
I will go ahead and create a new cylinder to simulate the black mark in the meantime, but I still want to know how to solve the aforementioned problem in case it happens again.
Thanx a bunch.