3D Objects

The 3D Objects window is a list of everything placed in the three-dimensional scene: fixtures, splines, imported models, primitive shapes, cameras and projections. It is used to find a particular object, show and hide it, rename and delete it, and to check which mapping fixture the object is linked to and which address it lights up on.

The window is turned on via Window → 3D Objects and by default sits as a tab in the same group as the Compositions and Fixtures windows. Objects themselves are added to the scene with the toolbar buttons of the 3D View window and by importing models — see 3D Toolbar and Importing OBJ Models.

List Columns

Each row is one scene object. The list is flat: a spline occupies a single row, and the individual fixtures on it are not shown as separate rows. An imported model, on the contrary, usually adds several rows at once — one row per object it is broken down into in the 3D editor.

Column	What it shows
Icon	A pictogram of the object type: single fixture, spline, circle, rectangle, polygon, projection, cloner. Primitive shapes, imported models and cameras have no icon.
Checkbox	The object's visibility in the 3D View window.
3D Object	The object's name.
Mapping	The name of the mapping fixture or spline this object is linked to. Empty — no link.
Address	The address of the linked fixture in the form U«universe»-«first channel»-«last channel». Until the fixture is patched to a port, the universe is not shown.
Fixture	The library fixture name that defines the linked mapping fixture — for example, RGB.

The last three columns are filled in only for objects linked to mapping — single fixtures, splines and cloners. For decorations, cameras and projections they are always empty — these objects have nothing to light.

Clicking a column header sorts the list. Sorting by the first column groups objects of the same type together — the fastest way to make sense of a scene with several dozen objects; sorting by Address helps find a fixture that ended up in the wrong place in 3D.

Selection

The list and the scene show the same selection. Select a row — the object is highlighted in the 3D View window and gets a move manipulator; select an object with the mouse in the scene — the list highlights its row and scrolls to it automatically. This is the main way to reach an object that is far from the camera, hidden inside a model, or blocked by other objects.

Selection works the usual way for a list: Ctrl adds a row, Shift adds a range of rows. The Properties window shows the parameters of the last object selected, but many of them — color, visibility — are applied to all selected objects at once.

Visibility

The checkbox in a row turns the object's display on and off. If several rows are selected, the checkbox toggles visibility for all of them at once — there is no need to clear it object by object.

Visibility only affects the preview: a hidden object is not drawn in the 3D View window and does not appear in the 3D GIF preview, but it has no effect on mapping, on sending Art-Net, or on exporting compositions. Most often visibility is turned off for a wall or facade that, from the current angle, blocks the fixtures behind it.

Lock

Imported objects, cameras and projections have a Lock parameter in the Properties window (General section). A locked object cannot be selected with the mouse in the scene: clicks and the selection box skip over it. This is used with an imported building model when fixtures are placed along its edges — the model stops "grabbing" the cursor, and the selection box only picks up the fixtures themselves. A locked object can still be selected via its row in the 3D Objects list.

Names, Copies and Deletion

Renaming

The name is edited directly in the 3D Object column. New objects are named after their type with a three-digit number: Spline001, Circle001, Projection001; primitive shapes get a name without a number — Cube, Sphere. A single fixture shares its name with the mapping fixture: rename the object in 3D, and the linked fixture's name changes in the Fixtures window too. For a spline, the names in 3D and in mapping are independent.

Copying

Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V (or Copy and Paste in the right-click menu) create a copy of the selected objects, Ctrl+D does the same in one step. A copy of a fixture or spline stays linked to the same mapping fixture as the original, so the copies light up identically: for them to live their own life, each needs to be assigned its own fixture — see Linking 2D and 3D.

Deletion

Delete or Backspace removes the selected objects from the scene; the Delete item in the right-click menu does the same. This does not affect fixtures in mapping: a deleted 3D object disappears only from the three-dimensional scene, while the fixture, its addresses and effects stay in place. The program asks separately before deleting a projection — a configured projector cannot be erased by accident. Any deletion can be undone with Ctrl+Z.

What the Scene Consists Of

Objects That Light Up

Only objects linked to fixtures in mapping light up in 3D: they show how the animation will actually look on the real object.

Fixture

A single 3D fixture. Until a mapping fixture is linked to it, it is called No Fixture and does not light up. For how to assign a link, see Linking 2D and 3D.

Spline

A polyline or curve with fixtures evenly placed along it: a bar, a garland, an outline. Drawn manually or coming from an imported model. In the Properties window it has Closed — connect the last point to the first — and Smooth — round off the corners. For details, see Adding 3D Splines.

Line, Circle, Rectangle, Polygon

Ready-made spline shapes. Their points cannot be edited: the shape is set by numbers in the Properties window — Length for a line, Radius and Angle for a circle, Width and Height for a rectangle, Number of Sides and Radius for a polygon.

Cloner

A single object that duplicates a chosen scene object — a spline or a fixture. The source is assigned with the Object button in the Properties window, where the Count of repetitions, and the Offset and Rotation along X, Y, Z between them are also set. Rows of identical bars, steps and rings are thus assembled as a single list entry instead of a dozen copies.

Decorations

These objects do not light up themselves. They exist to show what the fixtures stand on, and so that their vertices and edges make it convenient to place fixtures on them with snapping turned on (see 3D Toolbar).

Plane, Cube, Cylinder, Sphere

Primitive shapes: a wall or floor, a box, a column, a ball. Dimensions are set in the Properties window: Width and Length for a plane, Width, Height and Length for a cube, Height and Radius for a cylinder, Radius for a sphere.

Object

A model imported from an *.obj or *.fbx file. Colors and textures come from the file itself and can be reassigned if needed in the Material section. For how to prepare a model so it splits into convenient objects, see Preparing a Model in 3ds Max.

Utility Objects

Target Camera

A shooting point saved in the project. Cameras are used to view an object from a needed angle, and the view for a GIF preview on export is also chosen from among them. For details, see Switching Views and Cameras.

Projection

A virtual projector that shines a composition's picture onto scene objects. For details, see Creating a Projection and Projection Settings.

Cameras and projections are drawn in the scene as helper icons. Their display can be turned off entirely via View → 3D View → Auxiliary 3D Objects (the F4 key); this also hides the lines of splines that have no fixture linked to them. These objects still remain in the 3D Objects list.

Object Parameters

Select a row and the Properties window shows that object's parameters. Position, rotation and scale are not duplicated in Properties: they are set with the X, Y, Z fields on the toolbar of the 3D View window.

Decorations and imported models have a Material section:

Parameter	Purpose
Color	The object's color. Applied to all selected objects at once.
Enable Texture	Show a picture on the object instead of a flat fill.
File Name	The path to the current picture, a read-only field.
Open	Choose a picture file.
Glow	The object stops being shaded and is drawn at full brightness in its own color or texture, as if it were self-lit. This is used for signs, screens and backgrounds that should not darken in an unlit scene.

Fixtures and splines have a Display Settings section instead of Material: it sets how the light source itself looks in 3D — Beam Type, beam Length, Angle and Depth, Pixel Width, Pixel Height, Pixel Length. The Fixture section in the same properties handles the link to mapping.

Also Useful

• The Z key centers the 3D View window's camera on the selected object and locks the camera's rotation to it; if nothing is selected, the camera centers on the scene's zero coordinates. The easiest way to find an object lost in the scene is to select its row in the list and press Z.
• An empty Mapping column for a fixture or spline is a sure sign it will not light up in 3D: no link has been assigned.
• All actions on the list — renaming, copying, deletion, parameter changes — can be undone with Ctrl+Z and redone with Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y.