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Chapter 9: Grouping, Linking, and Parenting Objects

All objects in a scene, whether linked or not, belong to a hierarchy. Objects that aren’t linked to any other
objects are, by default, children of the world object, which is an imaginary object that holds all objects.

Note
You can view the world object, labeled Objects, in the Track View. Individual objects are listed under the Objects
track by their object name. n
You have several ways to establish hierarchies using Max. The simplest method is to use the Link and
Unlink buttons found on the main toolbar. You can also find these buttons in the Schematic View window.
The Hierarchy panel in the Command Panel provides access to valuable controls and information about
established hierarchies. When creating complex hierarchies, a bones system can help.

Cross-Ref
The Schematic View window is covered in Chapter 25, “Working with the Schematic View,” and bone systems are
covered in Chapter 37, “Understanding Rigging and Working with Bones.” n

Building Links between Objects

The main toolbar includes two buttons that you can use to build a hierarchy: Link and Unlink. The order of
selection defines which object becomes the parent and which becomes the child.

Linking objects
The Link button always links children to the parents. To remind you of this order, remember that a parent
can have many children, but a child can have only one parent.

To link two objects, click the Link button. This places you in Link mode, which continues until you turn it
off by selecting another button, such as the Select button or one of the Transform buttons. When you’re in
Link mode, the Link button is highlighted dark yellow.
With the Link button highlighted, click an object, which will be the child, and drag a line to the target par-
ent object. The cursor arrow changes to the link icon when it is over a potential parent. When you release
the mouse button, the parent object flashes once and the link is established. If you drag the same child
object to a different parent, the link to the previous parent is replaced by the link to the new parent.
Once linked, all transformations applied to the parent are applied equally to its children about the parent’s
pivot point. A pivot point is the center about which the object rotates.
Unlinking objects
The Unlink button is used to destroy links, but only to the parent. For example, if a selected object has
both children and a parent, clicking the Unlink button destroys the link to the parent of the selected object
but not the links to its children.
To eliminate all links for an entire hierarchy, double-click an object to select its entire hierarchy and click
the Unlink button.

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