The software allows you to use two kinds of externally referenced files (XRefs). You access XRef Objects and XRef Scenes from the File menu. Using these external references allows for a team approach to animation, where the modeling, materials, and animation can be handled in separate files by different artists. It makes large files much easier to deal with through the use of proxy objects.
The two types of references have distinct purposes:
Use referenced scenes to bring in a file that cannot be selected or inadvertently changed. An animator can bring in the environment or set as a referenced scene and wonÆt have to worry about mistakenly selecting walls and floors while trying to animate character legs and arms. The file appears as part of the animation, but will not hinder the workflow. Referenced scenes can be bound to an object in the scene so you can scale, rotate, or reposition the scene if necessary.
Referenced objects appear in the scene and can be animated, but the objectÆs modifier stack cannot be accessed. You can add modifiers or transform animation to the referenced objects, but you cannot inadvertently change the modelÆs structure. Referenced objects allow for the substitution of a proxy object, so you can animate a low-polygon version of a complex model and then substitute the polygon-intensive version.
The use of referenced objects and scenes allows you to continue to work on models and materials while the animation process is under way. You can choose to have the models and materials update automatically, as soon as changes are saved to the original file, or manually on demand.
There are also tools for easy conversion of scene objects into referenced objects, and a button to merge referenced objects back into the scene as a normal object.
See also