I think I may be misunderstanding the function of groups in blender. In other 3D applications I’ve used (level editors, bryce, hexagon, cararra) - once objects were placed in a group, you were able to manipulate the whole group as a single object. The group itself had an origin, and (where applicable) would accept operators and constraints as if the objects in the group were actually 1 object.
I know you can fake some elements of that with certain editing functions, (select all in group, then operate around median point or around cursor) but so far the only feature of Groups I’ve discovered is selecting all the objects inside at once. Useful, but not the same as being able to treat group members as if they were a single object. I also know I could build a ‘static’ rig for it, and do operations on the root bone, but I wondered if there was a way to achieve similar results without using an armature, which utilizes pose-mode animation?
Create an Empty (ADD>EMPTY) and child/parent everything to that object (select the parent last and hit CTRL+P). Now all you have to do is manipulate the empty and all the child objects come along for the ride. And you don’t even have to group them.
ah yes, I wondered. That is the method I have always used in the past. It just leads me to wonder at the purpose of a group beyond organization and object selection…
Thanks for the reply, I think that answers my question!
I’m sorry I may have misread your question or forgotten about one of Blender’s most awesome features. In the add menu, you can add an instance of any group existing within your blend file and treat it as a single object. Or you can append or link a group from another blend file into your scene.
@Ido: Correct, you would have to link all the meshes (assuming all your object in the group are meshes, however, you can have lights and fonts in groups as well; mixed object types) together into a single mesh and then you could apply a modifier to that result.
