8

98 Chapter 3: Selecting Objects
The main difference with assemblies is that,
when you
assemble (page 1–104) the member
objects, you specify a
head object (page 1–108) :a
Luminaire helper object (page 1–108) . T he head
object acts as a front end for the assembly, and its
parameters appear in the Modify panel when the
assembly is selected. You can use t hese par ameters
to control the light sources in the assembly via
parameter wiring (page 2–393) .Youcancreate
other types of head object s with MAXScript;
for further information, open the
MAXScript
Reference
,availablefromtheHelpmenu,andlook
in Creating MAXScript Tools > Scripted Plug-ins
> Scripted Helper Plug-ins.
Assembly names are similar to object names,
except that they’re carried by the assembly. In lists
like the one in the Select Object dialog, assembly
namesappearinsquarebrackets,forexample
[Assembly01].
Tip: After you’ve created one fixture and assembled
the parts, use
instancing (p age 3–1051) to copy
(page 1–455)
the fixture, and then distr ibute
them in your scene. That way, if you change the
attributesforalightsourceinanassembly,the
change will be reflected in all the instanced light
sources.Forexample,intheearlydesignstages,
you might use shadow maps, but later you might
want to switch to advanced ray-trace shadows for
greater accuracy in rendering. Using instancing
makes it easier to change such settings globally.
General Features of Assemblies
Once you assemble objects, you can treat them as
a single object in your scene. You can click any
object in the assembly to select the entire assembly.
When you create an assembly, all of its member
objects are rigidly link ed to an invisible Luminaire
helper object. The assembly uses the pivot point
and the local transform coordinate system of this
helper object.
You can nest assemblies. T hat is, assemblies can
contain other assemblies (or groups), up to any
level.
The head object parameters appear in the Modify
panel when the assembly is selected. You can
use the 3ds Max
Wire Parameters (page 2–393)
functionality to connect these parameters to those
of lig ht objects in the assembly. For a step-by-step
procedure, see
To w ire a head object to a light
source (p age 1–105)
.
Luminaire types
Left: F ixed
Middle: Orientable
Right: Multiple l ights
Transfor ming and Modifying an
Assembly
You can transform or modify an assembly as if
it were a single object, and you can animate the
transforms.
Unlikeagroup,whenyouapplyamodifiertothe
assembly, only the luminaire receives t he mo difier.
Thus, deforming modifiers such as Bend don’t
have any effect on assemblies.
When you apply a transform to the assembly, it
applies to the assembly as a whole. More precisely,
3dsMaxappliestransformstothedummyobject
that represents the assembly. To mod ify member
objects, you must first open the assembly, select the
objects, and then apply modifiers. Such modifiers
do not appear in the modifier stack when the
assembly is closed.