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Part II: Working with Objects

Creating Arrays of Objects

Now that you’ve probably figured out how to create arrays of objects by hand with the Shift-clone method,
the Array command multiplies the fun by making it easy to create many copies instantaneously. The Array
dialog box lets you specify the array dimensions, offsets, and transformation values. These parameters
enable you to create an array of objects easily.
Access the Array dialog box by selecting an object and choosing Tools ➪ Array or by clicking the Array but-
ton on the Extras toolbar. Figure 8.13 shows the Array dialog box. The top of the Array dialog box displays
the coordinate system and the center about which the transformations are performed.
The Array dialog box is also persistent. You can reset all the values at once by clicking the Reset All
Parameters button. You can also preview the current array settings without actually creating an array of
objects using the Preview button. The Display as Box option lets you see the array as a bounding box to give
you an idea of how large the array will be.

FIGURE 8.13
The Array dialog box defines the number of elements and transformation offsets in an array.

Linear arrays
Linear arrays are arrays in which the objects form straight lines, such as rows and columns. Using the Array
dialog box, you can specify an offset along the X-, Y-, and Z-axes at the top of the dialog box and define this
offset as an incremental amount or as a total amount. To change between incremental values and total val-
ues, click the arrows to the left and right of the Move, Rotate, and Scale labels. For example, an array with
10 elements and an incremental value of 5 will position each successive object a distance of 5 units from the
previous one. An array with 10 elements and a total value of 100 will position each element a distance of 10
units apart by dividing the total value by the number of clones.

The Move row values represent units as specified in the Units Setup dialog box. The Rotate row values rep-
resent degrees, and the Scale row values are a percentage of the selected object. All values can be either pos-
itive or negative values.
Clicking the Re-Orient check box causes the coordinate system to be reoriented after each rotation is made. If
this check box isn’t enabled, then the objects in the array do not successively rotate. Clicking the Uniform
check box to the right of the Scale row values disables the Y and Z Scale value columns and forces the scaling
transformations to be uniform. To perform non-uniform scaling, simply deselect the Uniform check box.

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