DUPLICATE

VolumeDuplicate

 

The Duplicate->VolumeDuplicate command in the Model module allows you to duplicate a model a specified number of times within a polygon mesh that you define. The locations of the duplicates within the polygon mesh can be randomly determined or placed at regular intervals along the three axes, and the size, shape, and orientation of the duplicates can all be independently jittered.

Procedure

  1. Create a polygon mesh to be used as the volume or receptacle, and a model to duplicate. If this model has many polygons, it may take quite awhile for the duplicates to be computed.
  2. Choose the Duplicate->VolumeDuplicate command. The VolumeDuplicator dialogue box is displayed.
  3. Set the parameters as desired.
  4. Pick the polygon mesh to be used as the volume, then pick the model to duplicate.

The new model composed of the duplicates is created.

Note:

If the model being duplicated is a polygon mesh, then local materials are preserved.

Parameters

Positioning

The duplicated model can be positioned randomly within the volume or located at points spaced at regular intervals along each axis.

If it is to be positioned randomly, you must also specify the number of times to duplicate the model and a seed number for the random number generator. Different seeds produce different patterns of duplication.

If the model is to be duplicated at regular intervals, the three parameters X Spacing, Y Spacing, and Z Spacing determine the intervals along each of the three axes.

Result

Allows you to specify if the resulting object is a single polygon mesh with all the duplicates merged together, or a hierarchy with one node for each duplicate.

Note:
If the model to be duplicated is a patch or NURBS surface, the resulting object is always a hierarchy.

Jittering

You can set jittering values for the x, y, and z components for scaling, rotation, and translation. Shape may be jittered independently on each duplicate. This allows you to create a large number of duplicates that are not all identical.

 

Last updated 02-apr-1998