"Read Library" Link v. Append

I just came across the button in the Append mode which apparently allows you to load an object as a copy (append) or as a reference (link). From what I’ve seen in the Dot ORG documentation, loading a reference to another file as a “Link” will not save a full copy of the file’s contents.

Thus if I make a change to a chair object in a linked file, the next time I load my room project, the chair will load the changes from that file…

That part is cool, and it’s a feature I’ve wanted for a while.

But I didn’t get if the reverse is true. If I make a change to a linked object, say to the chair while working on the room project that contains the link to the chair, do changes to the chair get saved in the linked file? Or is there a transform in the room project that gets applied to the original chair, leaving the chair file unchanged?

V

No, as far as I know, it is only a “one way” operation.
The 'Link’ed object appears in a light-blue colored wire mesh, when selected.
You can see this for yourself in that if you try to edit the “link-ed” object you will get an error: “Can’t edit libData”.
You can though, if you bring up the numeric entry panel [N], globally change the location, rotation and scale temporarily - ie. if you save and then re-open the file all transformations are lost.

To make the object local, you can press [L] Make Local> Selected (or All), but then this would be the same as just using Append. (I assume).

I don’t really see the advantage in using ‘Link’ when importing objects.
You keep the file size small, but if you want to do something with it, the results are not permanantly saved, so the next time you re-open it, you need to do all the transformations over.

Another thing to know, is that if you open the OOPs window (Shift_F9), linked objects will have a little orange square tag on them, and if you click the little 'Li’brary icon in the header, and then RMB click the colored square, the source of the object’s library file is displayed in the header.
For some reason, the first Library file wasn’t displayed in the block, but it did in the second Library source file (Though there was also some “jibberish” text on the end of it).

I always use ‘Append’.
Unless, I’m missing something wrt the ‘Link’ functionality.

Well, for me the biggest value in Link, if I understand it correctly, is that I can create placeholder objects and set up various scenes of various degrees of complexity depending on the needs for the shot.

I have a huge concern about continuity in my projects, and I want to make sure I have some control over where things are positioned from one camera angle to the next. I also anticipate having a lot of exterior v. interior scenes, or scenes where some elements will not be required until later into the project.

From what I’ve seen so far with the Link feature, I will be able to put in an animated stick figure and crude, low-poly buildings/terrain, cones for trees, etc, using links to trees, buildings/ terrain pieces, and use the camera and lights as the primary objects in the main scene.

Then, I plan to modify the individual objects in the linked files, once I have my animation down, and/or swap files out with high-poly high-texture files as needed.

What I would really like is to have the ability to apply a local transformation on a linked file. That way I can use a linked file, move it about in my local project, resize, rotate, animate, without impacting the original file at all. It would also be nice to be able to apply a texture to the linked file, again without affecting the original object. Then, when I decide to make a change, say removing a tine on the forks, all of the forks in my project will likewise be changed, but those forks that I added rust or tarnish to will still have that rust/tarnish.

I dunno. From what little I’ve seen with the Link feature, the worst thing about it is you still have to do all the animation/texturing in the separate file, which is still a useful feature. Being able to focus on one area without worrying about propagating my changes to the other places I use that same object takes a huge load of my mind…

Vania

Instead of linking the object data, link the inner data (mesh, surface, curve, …) and link that data to a local object.

Martin

I’ve not been able to do that! I select the cube from the meshes, but when I click Load Library Item, nothing happens. My OOPs schematic doesn’t show anything, either…

You need to go to the Edit buttons [F9], then in the ‘Link and Materials’ panel click on the purple up/down arrow key to select the imported mesh. It should have a ‘0’ (zero) in front of it to indicate that currently it has ‘Zero Users’. Exactly the same way you assign materials, etc, etc.

Also, I just wanted to check (it sounds like you know what you’re talking about, but just to be sure :wink: ) When you mention scenes, are you talking in general terms or in reference to Blender’s ‘Scenes’?

Very odd… I was about to conclude that what you were describing was not happeneing. I had no objects in my scene, and f9 didn’t have any panels. But when I added another cube and selected it, I found the menu with my other imported cubes in it.

Do you have to add a cube just to replace it with a linked mesh? I noticed, at least, that the old object was gone when I saved and reloaded, so I guess it’s alright. And resizing my source (library) image, and lo’ the other project didn’t have to be resized again… Sounds like this might be a good way to go…

Thanks.

As long as it’s compatible with the data you want to with it (you can’t mesh data to a lamp, obviously).

Martin

Okay, been experimenting with the Append->Link feature for awhile, and I’m finding some limitations, unless there is another feature I’ve yet to discover. I would like to be able to work on a group of objects in one file, perhaps with animation, texture, perhaps an entire room, or even a single car, with movable doors, windows, etc, in one file.

In my project, I’m thinking of a room on the inside of a house. Bed, wallpaper, door, chest of drawers.

I’d like to be able to have a house project Append->Link, or the equivalent, a MasterBedroom.blend file, a Kitchen.blend, LiviingRoom.blend, etc, and include these inside its own (local) outside walls and roof objects.

What I’d hoped for with the Append->Link feature was that I would be able to get two features: 1) I would be able to use low-poly objects or empty objects for some renders, and then swap those files out for higher-poly objects, a bedroom with hi-res meshes, when I had a different render, and 2) I would be able to complete an entire design of one room, with all the details, and then drop it into a project with .blend files designed by others for a master render.

What I’m finding is Append->Link only allows you to Link to a single Object at a time. That is, I can import the chest of drawers, the bed, the quilt, the top drawer, the middle drawer, etc, into my house. Then, I can change the bed object and have those changes in the house. But if I add another pair of socks to the drawer, I have to individually add that to the house project as an Append->Link.

Furthermore, if I Append-Link an object to one .blend file, mixed in with other objects, I can Append->Link objects from that middle file, but not any of the Linked objects in that middle file. That is, I cannot add a Drawer object from Drawer.blend to Room.blend, and then find that link when I Append->Link anything from the Room.blend.

One feature modification I can think of that might make this possible would be to provide a “group” object, an object that itself is a reference to several other objects, be they links or otherwise.

Does something like this exist, or should it be proposed to the developers as a new feature?

V

You can select multiple objects by right clicking.

Martin

Right, but if ever you want to reference those objects in the future, for instance if you imported a room with a bed and a chest of drawers, you would have to right click each one again, right? You can’t reference them as a single group? At least not that I’ve found…

V