What are steps to LINK models in .blend files to another .blend file to make scene?

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#1

I have never linked files to make a scene and I need some direction and clarification please.

I understand the benefit of linking an asset to many scenes so asset changes propagate to the scene files. I just don’t know the how, why, and when details to do it.
Is there a tutorial that explains how to link object into a file to make a scene?

I have been able to find that I should create a group and then link the group, but, what do I put in the group? every object from fingernails to bone shapes? Armature?
Do I always use just one group? Why?

Once I create the link, how do I make it so I can pose it?
What if it has more than one armature?

This seems like it should be really basic but I’m needing some direction please.

#2

Hi, I provided a link below. I’ll point out first though, you can’t actually use multiple armatures on a linked object.
The way it works is you set all the objects into a group. Say you’ve got a character, you’d include all the character, hair, clothes, accessories etc. +it’s armature and anything used to control the character in that group. Then in a new .blend file you link in the Group and you can then create what’s called “instances” of that group (Linking is always done with Groups, not objects). Now, in order to make the linked asset animatable, you have to go to the object menu and select Make Proxy (CTRL ALT P). It’ll bring up a list of the objects in the group, and for this purpose you usually want to select the Armature object. This will create a localized instance of the asset, meaning that you’ll have a copy of the armature that operates independently for the new scene.

The library linking system in Blender is still very rudimentary. The method I described above is the way it was designed to work.

This is a link to a Durian project video tutorial on how do it: http://www.sintel.org/news/library-linking-asset-management/
There’s also more tutorials that cover this in the Durian DVD files.

#3

Thanks for the reply.
I tried this with a character that has a meshdeform modifier controlled by the rig. The rig also directly controls the hands and face.
When I linked it as show, the hands and face lagged behind when animating.
Any idea why this would be happening?

#4

My guess as to what’s going on is that, you’ve created an independent copy of the armature, that is only connected to the character through the Armature modifier, so any other modifiers that reference the armature won’t work. Or it could be something else. I’ve never used an armature for a meshdeform modifier before. The traditional way of working is to use the armature to drive shape keys to deform the mesh.

Editing modifiers on a linked object may itself be a limitation. Although I know some modifiers work, but others might not. I’m not 100% sure.