Snap to it

Salem2007Salem2007 Posts: 513
edited December 1969 in Carrara Discussion

I'm sure this is a long shot, but.....

I have a scene with many candles. I like to light scenes so the light appears to come from natural light sources, so I usually position a bulb light (scaled very small) over the candle flame. For one or two lights, this is ok, but when I have a lot (35, 40) it gets tedious.

Is there some magic keystroke or option that allows me to select the bulb and then define my destination object and have Cararra position the bulb for me? I doubt it, but you never know......

Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,987
    edited December 1969

    hi salem,

    ctrl d when done in sequence wi;ll duplicate the new object at the same relative distance and rotation and size as the
    paremeter change in the last duplication - but won't always act as you expect in the size and rotation department.....

    ie

    1)duplicate object x
    2) move it xmills to the right
    3) duplicate again, the new object will be displaced x mills to the right of the object in step 2

    so if you have done your candles this way it is easy to line up light bulbs

    alternatively make one candle and one light bulb
    group them
    then duplicate this group

    iif all else fails, select your candle first, then your light bulb while holding down the shift
    key
    hit ctrl k
    the align windo will pop up
    align in xyz coords
    will line your nbulb up with the hotpoint ? of your candle

  • Salem2007Salem2007 Posts: 513
    edited December 1969

    head wax said:
    hi salem,
    ....

    if all else fails, select your candle first, then your light bulb while holding down the shift
    key
    hit ctrl k
    the align windo will pop up
    align in xyz coords
    will line your nbulb up with the hotpoint ? of your candle

    That's it!

    Thanks--I remember messing with the align once, but couldn't get it to do what I wanted. I followed the steps you listed and bam--it worked!

  • tbwoqtbwoq Posts: 238
    edited December 1969

    You can also drag a bulb icon, or most objects from the top icon menu, directly onto an object in the instance list and it will align/position to that object. This parents the object, and works best on objects without constraints etc.

  • Salem2007Salem2007 Posts: 513
    edited June 2013

    tbwoq said:
    You can also drag a bulb icon, or most objects from the top icon menu, directly onto an object in the instance list and it will align/position to that object. This parents the object, and works best on objects without constraints etc.

    I must be doing something wrong---I don't seem to be able to get that to work.

    Edit: I see, now. That's a nice feature--I had no idea you could do that. Thanks!

    Post edited by Salem2007 on
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