2008
Object instances are not only alike in geometry, but also share modifiers,
materials and maps, and animation controllers. When you change one instance
by applying a modifier, for example, all the other instances change with it.
Each instance has its own set of transforms, object properties and space warp
bindings; these are not shared among instances.
Within the program, instances derive from the same master object. What
you're doing is applying a single modifier to a single master object. In the
viewport, what you see as multiple objects are multiple instances of the same
definition.
If you wanted to create a school of swimming fish, you might begin by making
many instanced copies of a single fish. You could then animate the swimming
motion by applying a ripple modifier to any fish in the school. The whole
school would swim with exactly the same motions.
Instance (Motion Mixer)
The term instance has two meanings in 3ds Max. One is the
standard definition
on page 7818 ; the other is specific to clips in the Motion Mixer.
In general, an instance is a completely interchangeable clone of the original
object. Modifying an instanced object is the same as modifying the original.
In the
Motion Mixer on page 7856 , when the same clip is used more than once
on tracks, the clip versions are either instances or
adaptations on page 7704 of
each other.
The same clip used more than once for one biped, or for different bipeds of
the same size, is an instance. The same clip used for different-sized bipeds is
an adaptation.
For example, suppose you scene contains two bipeds that are exactly the same
size, and you use the same clip in both bipeds' mixes. The clips within one
biped's mix are instances of one another, and clips within the mixes of the
two same-sized bipeds are also instances of one another. Instances have the
same number appended to the ends of their clip names in the Mixer.
Suppose you then add a third biped of a different size, and use the same clip
in that biped's mix. The new version of the clip is an adaptation of the clip
used on the first two bipeds. An incremental number is added to the end of
the clip name in the Mixer.
These terms are used because the Mixer adapts each loaded clip to the biped's
size. The first time a clip is loaded, the Mixer adapts the clip as needed, but
Glossary | 7819