how to use reference editor?

# 1 04-03-2003 , 01:25 AM

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it seems i somewhat cannot see the forrest because of so many trees user added image

i try to simplify my main scene by creating references to 5 others but want to use the created materials for all of them. how should i structure the references to the materials/textures and also to some repeating models (i use in all of the scenes)?

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# 2 04-03-2003 , 05:02 AM

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Good question! I want to learn more about this.

Now, lets wait and see if there are anyone responding.

I do not support Bush! Nor Saddam! Long live UN!

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# 3 04-03-2003 , 08:23 PM

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yeah the referance editor, i have no idea what that is :S

- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com

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# 4 04-03-2003 , 10:40 PM

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Here are some hints for making references work:

DO NOT have multiple levels of reference (A references B which references C.)

DO NOT reference models into character rigs and then reference character rigs into your shot.

DO NOT reference models into character rigs.

DO NOT reference character rigs into another file, texture them there, and reference that file into your shot.

Your best bet, if you REALLY want to use referencing, is to import the model, rig it, texture it, and save that file. Then, reference that into your shots.

The reason for the above: bugs.

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

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# 5 04-03-2003 , 11:15 PM

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You are oh so right Mark. And for those of you who aren't exactly sure what referenceing is, it is a good way to model high memory objects or small scenes without your system slowing you down. Apart from this, it has many other uses as well.

Basically, If you have a "mainvillagescene.mb" file, you can create all the houses in another file - "Houses.mb." You can create all the characters in "characters.mb" too. Now, you go to "mainvillagescene.mb" open up the reference editor (under File) and reference "Houses.mb" and "characters.mb" to it. You now have combined all three scenes. Because the house and character files were made in their own files, you can tweak whatever you want to in those files without models from the other files interfering.

You should read the help files to learn more about this useful feature.

www.Darkware3D.com

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# 6 05-03-2003 , 02:24 AM

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Wow. I never even knew there was a referencing system.

This will help out on my new project.

Thanks for asking aschuh. user added image

- Matt

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# 7 05-03-2003 , 08:03 AM

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without your system slowing you down

Originally Posted by

Unfortunately, speed and memory footprint are not advantages of referencing.

The main advantage is that you can share an asset like a character among many scenes, make a change, and have that change reflected in all the scenes.

Referencing, however, has tended to be slow and buggy.

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

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# 8 05-03-2003 , 12:38 PM

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THX for all the comments
As a mof I am doing a village - Darkware: how did u know? - the specific problem is that all the material and textures (which are f.e. the same for all windows) from all the other scenes are now 'referenced' to the main scene, too. That means that I have then about 20 window materials in the main scene which are all the same. Now this is really slowing down my O2...
Any more ideas ? - Maybe I'm just blind...

When the only tool you use is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.

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