9

XRef Objects 395
scene, you can edit them in the stack. However,
changes that you make to the modifier stack in the
master file have no effect in the source file.
An externally referenced object can be animated
in the master file only if its transform controller
has been merged. In other words, no animation
canbeaddedorblendedwithanXRefcontroller.
However,anoffsetcanbeadded,butitthenapplies
to the whole animation, and t he offset ca nnot b e
animated.
Note: TheXRefbehaviorofworld-spacemodifiers
is different than the object-space modifiers.
World-space modifiers are not externally
referenced. They are always merged.
Transforms and manipulators in your source file
will be treated according to the Merge Transforms
and Merge Manipulators setting in the XRef
Objects dialog.
Objects in a scene can be XRefs from other scenes. They can be
transformed and positioned in the scene using a local offset.
When an XRef object is loaded into the master
file, it c an have an XRef material (page 2–1616) as
well as an XRef cont roller (page 2–383) assigned
to it. You can either merge the material and
transform information or you can maintain it as a
live connection with the source file.
XRef objects can be modified or transformed in
your master scene just like any other object. XRef
objects also allow the use of proxy objects to st and
in or substitute for geometry. Use XRef objects
to manage the complexity of your master scene
during anima tion by substituting “lightweight”
proxy objects for more complex geometry.
Yo u c a n c r e a t e a p r o x y b y s i m p l i f y i n g a c l o n e
of your existing model or you can build simple
substitute objects like boxes or cylinders, or you
cansaveacopyofthemodelintheearlystagesof
modeling before you add the detail. You can even
use an object from another scene.
A proxy object is substituted in the scene, but the reference to
the real object is always a vailable.
Choosing XRef Objects displays the XRef Objects
dialog (page 3–397),whereyouaddexternally
referenced objects, transforms, and materials to
your m aster scene, and cont rol their visibility,
merge states, and other options.
If your XRef object relies on another object
in the source scene, the relationship will not
be automatically preserved in the destination
file. Examples of this include objects with path
constraints, atmospherics, particle arr ays with
object emitters, or space warps bound to an object.
To preserve the relationship between the source