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Part II: Working with Objects

Cross-Ref
For more information on using the Schematic View, see Chapter 25, “Working with the Schematic View.” n
The Track View (opened with the Graph Editors ➪ New Track View menu command) displays lots of scene
details in addition to the object hierarchy. In the Track View, you can easily expand and contract the hierar-
chy to focus on just the section you want to see or select.
Cross-Ref

For more information on using the Track View, see Chapter 36, “Working with Function Curves in the Track View.” n

Working with Linked Objects

If you link some objects together and set some animation keys, and the magical Play button starts sending
objects hurtling off into space, chances are good that you have a linked object that you didn’t know about.
Understanding object hierarchies and being able to transform those hierarchies are the keys to efficient ani-
mation sequences.
All transformations are done about an object’s pivot point. You can move and reorient these pivot points as
needed by clicking the Pivot button under the Hierarchy panel.
Several additional settings for controlling links are available under the Hierarchy panel of the Command
Panel (the Hierarchy panel tab looks like a mini-organizational chart). Just click the Link Info button. This
button opens two rollouts if a linked object is selected. You can use the Locks and Inherit rollouts to limit
an object’s transformations and specify the transformations that it inherits.

Cross-Ref
I present more information on object transformations in Chapter 7, “Transforming Objects, Pivoting, Aligning,
and Snapping.” n

Locking inheriting transformations
The Inherit rollout, like the Locks rollout, includes check boxes for each axis and each transformation,
except that here, all the transformations are selected by default. By deselecting a check box, you specify
which transformations an object does not inherit from its parent. The Inherit rollout appears only if the
selected object is part of a hierarchy.
For example, suppose that a child object is created and linked to a parent and the X Move Inherit check
box is deselected. As the parent is moved in the Y or Z directions, the child follows, but if the parent is
moved in the X direction, the child does not follow. If a parent doesn’t inherit a transformation, then its
children don’t either.

Using the Link Inheritance utility
The Link Inheritance utility works in the same way as the Inherit rollout of the Hierarchy panel, except that
you can apply it to multiple objects at the same time. To use this utility, open the Utility panel and click the
More button. In the Utilities dialog box, select the Link Inheritance utility and click OK. The rollout for this
utility is identical to the Inherit rollout discussed in the previous section.

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