Transformable Clone Root for References

[benfabian.bekemeier]

Hi all,

Is there any way to get a transformable root on reference nodes as well?
I'm currently working on a huge project, where it is essential to keep the amount and positioning of nodes within the tree as they have been on the input file. The scene is so huge though, that I can't work on it fluently, and it's consisting of just a couple thousand parts, that have been instanced all over. Thus, I've created a script that's splitting everything into smart references, and instances those where they are needed. It's working quite well, aside from the fact that the already existing reference nodes' transformations get messed up, as soon as I clone them and apply other transformations to said clone. Sadly I can't just put the reference in a transform group and clone that, because I can't alter the scene hierarchy.

So am I missing something? Is there a function to achieve this? Or is this just a case for a feature suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

[Bianca.Mutter]

Hi @benfabian.bekemeier, if I understand you correctly you are talking about the function inside the preferences for defining the clone behavior. You can find it under:

Edit > Preferences > Scenegraph > Cloning > check "Transformable Clone Root"

Let me know if you meant something else. Thanks!

[benfabian.bekemeier]

Thank you for the quick answer @Bianca.Mutter.

This is not what I'm looking for though.
I hope this describes it a bit better:

When you clone a group, the group acts as an intermediate between user-input and the clone itself. Changes to the groups children are propagated to every of its clones. Changes to the group itself are not. You can transform or rename the group, without any of its clones being renamed or transformed. As far as I understood, this is at least partially due to the 'Transformable Clone Root' being enabled.
When cloning an object, there is no intermediate. Changing a cloned object's name or transforming it applies those changes to every of its clones.

The thing that's confusing me, is that a cloned smart reference seems to behave like a cloned object, not like a cloned group. Changes are also directly applied to the reference's clones.

I'd like it to behave like a group though. When I transform one of the smart references, I'd like its clones to stay where they are.

Is there another hidden option for this functionality, or any way to enable that behavior?

[marcus_fritzen · Accepted solution]

Hi @benfabian.bekemeier,

smart references are clones by default because they need to refer to one and the same content. Our node-core concept where the reference is a core derived from transform doesn't allow to have distinct transforms on the reference root itself. The only think you can do is to put a transformable clone root on top of it. Why is that not an option for you? You altered the structure anyways when adding the smart references, right?

Cheers,

Marcus

[benfabian.bekemeier]

@marcus_fritzenThanks, that's the answer I've been looking for.

I just wanted to avoid creating additional nodes per reference.

The idea was to convert every physical part in my scene to a smart reference, to create a nested asset library.

The scenegraph-performance is already rough though, and exponentially growing the amount of nodes within won't improve it.

[marcus_fritzen]

I understand the reason and will create a ticket for discussing the possibility to make reference root nodes working like transformable clone roots.

Cheers,

Marcus