Instance Repetition

The Duplicate->Instance Repetition command is available in all modules except Tools. It makes any number of copies of instances from a selected item (or a group of objects, if these are selected using the Multi menu cell). At every instantiation, a regular increment is applied on the transformation.

For an overview of object instantiation, see the Creating Instances of Objects section of the Modelling User's Guide.

The instances are created at the same location as the original and the instance or instance hierarchy becomes the currently selected item.

You can instantiate null objects, faces, polygon mesh objects, curves and surfaces, but you cannot instantiate lights, cameras, waves, textures, materials, and animations.

Instances are affected by the following settings in the Duplicate Setup dialogue box (see Duplicate->Setup):

• Hierarchy control settings.
• The setting for Transformation Animation. Instances follows the transformation animations of their masters if this option is selected.

In addition, conditions related to creating a single instance also apply to repetitive instances. To find out more, refer to notes in Duplicate->Instance.

Procedure

1. Select one or more objects, hierarchies or other elements. You can only create instances from root models. That is, you cannot select an object node within a hierarchy and instantiate it alone. By selecting the root of a hierarchy, you instantiate the entire hierarchy.
2. Choose the Duplicate->Instance Repetition command. The Repetitive Instantiation dialogue box is displayed.
3. Set the number of occurrences.
4. Set the transformations.
5. Click Ok.

Parameters

No. of Occurrences

Number of times the instantiation and the sequence of transformations are applied.

Transformations

Scaling, rotation, and translation applied after duplication of the object.

The result is a series of instances on which a regular transformation is applied.

Last updated 02-apr-1998