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symmetry object
Hey guys,
I read a post on a similar problem to what I have, that is “can you create a second object using symmetry, and not just an instance”. I’m not sure if I followed what the answer meant, but basically I would like to know the same thing: how to make my mirrored side (the instance), an individual object -free to move, scale, etc.
I have a model of a robot and I have used several symmetry objects to create a second arm, second leg and a few other things. I would like to know how to separate the left arm from the right arm and so on, so I can move the limbs on their own and not as a group.
I have tried just using the polygon selection tool and selecting one side, then using the split function but this seems to just create a god awful mess. I’m sure there must be a simple way of disconnecting one side from the other. I’ll be damned if there isn’t.
Thanks in advance.
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7 Replies
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Have you made the symmetry object editable before using the split function?
/Randy -
yea I did but I doubt that that is the way, I think I was just getting desperate. And I dont have just a single object in the symmetry but actually quite a few bits and pieces making up the arms and legs.
*goes off to try something*
ok, well I think I found a way of dividing the reflected object from the actual object but it’s somewhat tedious. I created a copy of the symmetry containing the object, for 1 of those copies I made the actual symmetry editable > then using polygon selection I selected the side that had the original object, deleted it leaving me still with the instance copy (which now is an object), then with the 2nd symmetry copy I simply disabled the symmetry function and voila, I have both left and right sides.
Now when I select objects in the object manager for the 1st copy, the objects still correspond with my selection as it would the original. Only slight problem is that the bounding box extends all the way to where the original used to be, occupying space as if the original objects still exist.
Im still open to suggestions for this is the best I can think of. Hopefully there’s a more efficient way of doing this, perhaps there’s a simple button staring at me waiting to be un/checked but from what I can see looks like the symmetry options are pretty limited.
Again, thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post but I would like to know the best possible method before I go off tediously dissecting my model.
Cheers
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If you go into Point Mode do you have a whole lot of extra points? if so while in point mode right click and “optimize” That should be your bounding box but I am not sure I understood what you did…if you can post the file I am willing to take a look….
/Randy -
oh great I tested out the optimize function and it fixed up the bounding box problem. Because I was using polygon selection looks like it had left all the points behind. Sorry I dont know how to up upload my file, how would I go about doing that? I only see options to upload an image or video. However, I dont think it is necessary, I think I know what I am doing now.
Still, if anyone knows a simpler method of making a reflected object instead of an instance using symmetry or by other means, it would be appreciated.
Cheers
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There are a number of ways to go about it:
1) Use the symmetry method, make editable, then select the resulting object(s) and run the Functions>Explode Segments command. That will dissolve your object into individual objects;
2) Copy your objects and select the copies, set the structure manager’s Size column to scale, and type “-1” in the axis you want to mirror along. That will mirror the objects along their own axes, so you’ll then have to drag them into the correct position. Also note that it’ll reverse the polygon normals, so you may want to select all the polies and run “reverse normals”;
3) BEST METHOD: If you have Mocca you can use the old Bone Mirror tool. Notwithstanding the tool’s name, it will mirror anything, including a lot of things the symmetry object won’t (like lights).
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wow thank you so much, I doubt that I would’ve been able to figure out any of those methods on my own. There’s only so much you can teach your self. I’ll give those methods a try and see which one I’m most comfortable with. Regardless of how they do the job, it can only be better than what I was doing before lol.
Once again, thanks a million.
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I found this thread looking for a way to mirror an object’s axis as well as its geometry. I’m in a similar position of having a robot. I modeled any symmetrical objects using the Symmetry object – it worked very well for me. I tried the Mocca method as an experiment, and that also worked.
The only problem I’m having is mirroring the object axis. For example, my robot model has hands which are somewhat complex (for me) and I’ve rigged them using FK (not IK). Each part, such as pieces of the fingers, have their own rotation and their XYZ axes are aligned accordingly. None of the methods described actually mirror the axes, so if the left hand has a rotation of 20x, 35y, 15z, the mirrored copy does not have the equivalent reflected angles. I can get the axes to translated across the YZ plane, but not mirror themselves. I tried just placing a negative sign in front of the angles in the rotation column of the coordinate manager, but that doesn’t yield the proper result.
So, in addition to simply mirroring geometry, how can the object axis also be TRULY mirrored and not just translated across a mirroring plane?
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