3D Objects
The 3D Objects window is a list of everything placed in the three-dimensional scene: fixtures, splines, imported models, primitives, cameras and projections. It is used to find a needed 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 the menu Window → 3D Objects and by default it is a tab in the same group as the Compositions, Fixtures and Fixture Groups windows. Objects themselves are added to the scene with the buttons of the 3D View window toolbar and by importing models — see 3D Панель инструментов and Импорт моделей OBJ.
List columns
Each row is one scene object. The list is flat: a spline occupies one row, and the individual fixtures on it are not shown separately in the list. An imported model, on the contrary, usually adds several rows at once — one row for each 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. Primitives, 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 means there is no link. |
| Address | The address of the linked fixture in the form U"universe"-"first channel"-"last channel". Until the fixture is patched, 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 up.
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 dozens of 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 obscured by other objects.
Selection works as usual for a list: Ctrl adds a row, Shift adds a range of rows. The Properties window shows the parameters of the last selected object, 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 a GIF preview if one is captured from the scene, but it has no effect on mapping, on sending Art-Net, or on exporting compositions. Visibility is most often turned off for a wall or a facade that, from the current angle, hides the fixtures behind it.
Visibility is linked to mapping: if you turn off a fixture's visibility in the Fixtures window, the linked object disappears in 3D as well.
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 do not catch it. This is used when fixtures are placed along the edges of an imported building model — the model stops "sticking" to the cursor, and the selection box picks up only the fixtures themselves. An object locked this way 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: Spline001, Circle001, Projection001, Cube. A single fixture and a spline share their name with the mapping — rename the object in 3D and the linked fixture's name changes in the Fixtures window too.
- 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 one needs its own fixture assigned — see Связь 2D и 3D.
- Deletion
- Delete or Backspace removes the selected objects from the scene. This does not affect the fixtures on mapping: a deleted 3D object disappears only from the three-dimensional scene, while the fixture, its addresses and effects remain 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 is made of
Objects that light up
Only objects linked to fixtures on mapping light up in 3D: they show what the animation will look like 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. How to assign the link — see Связь 2D и 3D.
- Spline
- A polyline or curve along which fixtures are evenly distributed: a bar, a garland, an outline. It is drawn by hand or comes from an imported model. In the Properties window it has Closed — connect the last point to the first — and Smooth — round off the corners. More details — Добавление 3D сплайнов.
- 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 spline or fixture. The Properties window sets the Count of repeats and the Offset along X, Y, Z between them. Rows of identical bars, steps and rings are assembled this way as one row in the list instead of a dozen copies.
Decorations
These objects do not light up themselves. They are needed to show what the fixtures stand on, and so that, with snapping enabled, fixtures can conveniently be placed along their vertices and edges (see 3D Панель инструментов).
- Plane, Cube, Cylinder, Sphere
- Primitives: 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 a
*.objor*.fbxfile. Colors and textures come from the file itself; if needed, they are reassigned in the Material section. How to prepare a model so it breaks down into convenient objects — see Подготовка модели в 3ds max.
Service objects
- Target Camera
- A viewpoint saved in the project. Cameras are used to look at an object from a needed angle, and also to choose the view for the GIF preview on export. More details — Переключение видов и камер.
- Projection
- A virtual projector that shines a composition's image onto the scene's objects. More details — Создание проекции and Настройки проекции.
Cameras and projections are drawn in the scene as helper icons. Their display is toggled entirely via the menu View → 3D View → Helper 3D Objects (the F4 key); they remain in the 3D Objects list regardless.
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 by 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 color or texture, as if it were glowing on its own. 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 is responsible for the link to mapping.
Also useful
- The Z key fits the selected objects into the window and makes them the camera's rotation center; if nothing is selected, the whole scene is fitted. An object lost in the scene is easiest to find this way: 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 is assigned.
- All actions on the list — renaming, copying, deleting, changing parameters — can be undone with Ctrl+Z and redone with Ctrl+Shift+Z.