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Chapter 8: Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays

FIGURE 8.4
Even apples from the same tree should be slightly different.

Mirroring Objects

Have you ever held the edge of a mirror up to your face to see half of your head in the mirror? Many objects
have a natural symmetry that you can exploit to require that only half an object be modeled. The human
face is a good example. You can clone symmetrical parts using the Mirror command.

Using the Mirror command
The Mirror command creates a clone (or No Clone if you so choose) of the selected object about the current
coordinate system. To open the Mirror dialog box, shown in Figure 8.5, choose Tools ➪ Mirror, or click the
Mirror button located on the main toolbar. You can access the Mirror dialog box only if an object is selected.
Within the Mirror dialog box, you can specify an axis or plane about which to mirror the selected object.
You can also define an Offset value. As with the other clone commands, you can specify whether the clone
is to be a Copy, an Instance, or a Reference, or you can choose No Clone, which flips the object around the
axis you specify. The dialog box also lets you mirror IK (inverse kinematics) Limits, which reduces the
number of IK parameters that need to be set.
Cross-Ref
Learn more about inverse kinematics in Chapter 38, “Working with Inverse Kinematics.” n

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