User Guide

86 CHAPTER 8
When you click on an object in the Objects Presets palette, the Scene Object button in the Scene Tools toolbar will be
selected automatically. By holding down the Shift button while placing an object in the Scene Editor, you can create
multiple copies of the object.
Positioning Solid Objects
The second button from the left in the Scene Tools toolbar is the Place Empty Solid Objects button. Solid Objects are
collections of primitive objects that behave as a single rigid geometric object.
To create a new Solid Object, click on the Place Empty Solid Object button in the Scene Tools toolbar, then click in the
Scene Editor window at the point where you wish to position the Solid Object. The Solid Object icon
will appear
and becomes the origin of the Solid Object’s collection of primitives. Solid Objects are listed in the Scene Hierarchy
as a “parent” Solid Object with its “child” primitives located in an indented list below it. Each scene can have multiple
Solid Objects.
Double-clicking on an Empty Solid Object in the Scene Editor will automatically switch to Solid Object Editor
mode. All new primitive objects will be added to the selected Solid Object. Solid Objects are covered in more detail in
Chapter 9, “Assembling Solid Objects.”
Adding Scripts to the Scene
Script Objects can be attached to Scenes or Solid Objects using the Scene Editor. To add a script to a scene, click the
script button (third from left) in the Scene Toolbar and then click at a point in the Scene. A script icon will appear,
and its position becomes the origin about which the script action will take place. Script Objects can also be loaded
using the File > Import > Script menu command, and these will appear at the origin of the current Scene.
Script Objects can also be added as presets to the Object Presets palette and are identifi ed with a Script Object icon .
If you double-click on a script icon in the Scene Editor, a text editor will open allowing you to edit it’s script. You can
learn more about working with Script Objects in Chapter 14, “Adding Interactivity with Scripts.”
Script Object presets are identifi ed by this icon and a title.
Using Viewpoint Objects
Viewpoint Objects are 3-D objects that were exported from other 3-D software packages in the Viewpoint Media
format. Viewpoint object fi les carry the MTX, MTZ or XML extension. Unless they are subsequently converted to the