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Relations > Using groups

Using groups


When you group objects, you can manipulate them as a whole, use relations, or add interaction to the group as well as its individual objects.

This allows you to animate the whole group, for example, a plane, and animate one of its objects separately, for example, a propeller.

You can have a group within a group. For example, the landing gear with its wheels and bolts could be a group within the whole plane group.

When you create a group, its center is at the World origin (0,0,0).

To create a group:

Multi-select the objects you want, then choose Relations > Group or press Ctrl+G.

To select a group:

Do one of the following:

To select all the objects in a group:

In the World Explorer, Alt-click the group.

To rename a group:

In the World Explorer, select the group then press F2, or click the group's name twice, then type a new name and press Enter.

To add an object to a group:
  1. In the World Explorer, select the group.
  2. Shift-select the object you want to add, then choose Relations > Add to Group.
To remove an object from a group:
  1. In the World Explorer, select the group.
  2. Shift-select the object you want to remove from the group, then choose Relations > Remove from Group.
To ungroup objects:
  1. In the World Explorer, select the group.
  2. Choose Relations > Ungroup.
  3. The objects are removed from the group and the group is deleted.

To show / hide a group:

Select the group, and turn on/off Visible in the Parameter Editor.

When you turn off a group's visibility, all the objects in the group disappear in the viewport and their visibility is turned off in the Parameter Editor. When you turn the group's visibility back on, all the objects reappear and their visibility is turned on.

To manipulate a group:
  1. Select the group.
  2. Hold a manipulation hot key (E, R, or T) to lock the selection, then drag the group in the viewport.
  3. Note: When you create a group its center is at (0,0,0).

To move the center of a group:
  1. Select the group, then switch to Center mode (Press 5).
  2. Turn on Translate and drag the center in a viewport.
  3. The center of the group moves without changing the position of the objects in the group.

To add a constraint to a group:
  1. In the World Explorer, first select the follower group or object, and then Shift-select the leader group or object.
  2. Choose a constraint from the Relations menu.
To copy a group:
  1. In the World Explorer, Alt-click the group.
  2. All the objects in the group are selected.

  3. Choose Edit > Duplicate, or press Ctrl+D.
  4. All the objects in the group are duplicated. The duplicate objects appear above the group in the World Explorer.

  5. With the duplicate objects still selected, choose Relations > Group, or press Ctrl+G.
  6. The duplicated objects are grouped. This group is a copy of the group you selected in step 1.

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