Simple question: how do I ‘duplicate special’ in 2.49? What I mean is: I have a ‘blade’ that needs to be copied several times around the pivot (which in this case is the 3d cursor)… I have it where I want it and I figured out the 3d cursor thing and when the blade rotates, it goes round the center pivot nicely. Now I want to make several duplicates… doing one after the other is kind of lame.
How do I do this? I need to duplicate/rotate the blade around the center pivot X times.
Ok. This was supposed to be simple but is turning into something else rather quickly. I found the SpinDup button after creating a Mesh. The problem is this object that needs to be ‘spinduped’ is a NURBS surface. Does it mean I don’t have the option to SpinDub a NURBS surface?
Also, after doing the SpinDup on the Mesh, I noticed they’re all linked together…
Just set the cursor to the point that you want to use as an axis, then change the transform type to ‘around cursor’ ( main header in 3d window ). Then, duplicate using shift D, and for the duplicate object, rotate it 180 degrees, either manually, or using numerical input. ( N key ). Now select both of them, and repeat the process, then again with all four, etc. If you want, you can join them when youre done. ( ctrl J )
Modron:
I could’ve done that in the first place if I didn’t think this is counterproductive. Do you seriously believe this is an okay option? To manually copy it several times? Blender has a long way to go still.
Hi,
Modron gave you a method for doing what you wanted with NURBS. Blender has limited support for NURBS and doesn’t have many tools to manipulate them.
However, if you have finished modelling your blade with NURBS, you can convert it to a mesh (it sounds like you already know how to do this) and use SpinDup. As you’ve found, SpinDup is a mesh editing tool (you’ve got to be in editing mode to use it) so if you want to split your spun object into several, you’ll need to press P and choose one of the options presented.
Alternative, but more obscure, methods include using an array modifier with an object offset (will work with meshes only) or DupliFrames. Using DupliFrames will work with both meshes and NURBS, and will create new objects, but can seem complicated to use and it might be easier and faster to just duplicate your objects.
First, place your blade. Decide how many copies you want to create. Animate your blade rotating at a constant speed so it travels 360 degrees in that number of frames plus 1 (e.g. if you want 10 copies, animate it rotating over 11 frames). In the Object button window (F7) enable DupliFrames, set DupSta to 1 and DupEnd to your last frame minus 1 (e.g. if you want 10 copies, StaEnd should be 10). Press CTRL-SHIFT-A and OK to make the DupliFrames real.
So the nurbs tools are a bit limited, then again, blender does not cost several thousand dollars.