Turn copies of any object

WhereThe top bar: the row of words that begins File, Edit.

DoDownload p3-13-start.blend from Files above and open it. Then choose File > Save As and save it under the name below, in a folder of yours. Open an exercise file and keep the start file safe (P0-07) shows how.

Typemy-leaves.blend

You should seeThe 3D view looks straight down at a small round hub with one petal above it, at the left, and at the right half a leaf: a long pointed shape with a straight left edge. The Outliner, the list at the top right of the window, holds Hub, Petal and Leaf. To look straight down at any time, click the blue Z ball of the gizmo, the small ball of coloured letters at the top right of the 3D view.

It worked whenThe title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-leaves.

WhereThe 3D view.

DoClick the petal, then hold Shift and click the hub.

You should seeBoth orange, the hub a lighter orange: it is the active object, the last one you clicked. The petal is what the copies are made of. The hub is the place they turn about, so you pick it last.

It worked whenThe words at the top left of the 3D view name the hub.

WhereThe sidebar, the CAD/CAM tab. If the sidebar is shut, press N with the pointer over the 3D view. Click Mirror in the section bar, the small word buttons at the top. The Mirror and Copy panel is the second panel of the section.

DoPress Turn Copies….

You should seeA window headed Turn Copies opens over the sidebar. About is a list of six places to turn about (the table says what each is), and World Origin is lit: that is the world’s middle, far from this flower. Under it stand Turn about with X, Y and Z (Z is lit), Count 6, Angle 360 and the box Copies Follow the Original, not ticked. They are the add-on’s starting numbers. Count counts the original too: Count 6 is the original and five copies.

It worked whenA window headed Turn Copies stands open over the sidebar.

WhereThe Turn Copies window: the list under About.

DoClick Active Object.

You should seeThe list now has Active Object lit, and a line under it names the hub: the copies will turn about the hub’s middle. World Origin would have turned them about the world’s middle, six petals round the wrong place.

It worked whenActive Object is lit and a line under the list names the hub.

WhereThe Turn Copies window: the button OK at its foot.

DoPress OK.

You should seeFive more petals round the hub: six petals in all, the one you picked and five copies, 60 degrees apart. The window shut, and the five copies are selected. The status bar, the line along the very bottom of the window, says for a moment “5 copies turned about Hub, axis Z, 60.0 degrees apart”.

It worked whenSix petals stand evenly round the hub.

WhereThe 3D view. Move the pointer over the dark area.

DoClick the leaf, then press Tab.

You should seeThe words at the top left of the 3D view name the leaf and the header reads Edit Mode. The leaf shows its points and lines. Edit Mode is where you pick a point or an edge.

It worked whenThe header reads Edit Mode.

WhereThe 3D view, in Edit Mode.

DoPress 2 on the number row, the keys above the letters, then click the middle of the straight edge.

Type2

You should seeOne edge lit: the long straight edge of the leaf shows as a pale, nearly white line, the colour Blender gives the edge you picked last, with a small orange dot at one end. 2 on the number row chooses edge picking, so a click picks a whole edge and not a point. A different key on the number pad would turn the view instead.

It worked whenThe long straight edge shows as a pale, nearly white line.

If it goes wrongThe view turns: The key was on the number pad. Press 2 on the number row, the keys above the letters.

WhereThe Mirror and Copy panel. In Edit Mode it holds one line of words, Pick an edge, or two points, and one button.

DoPress Mirror Line from Selection.

You should seeA small object, CJ Mirror Line, drawn as three thin arrows marked X, Y and Z at the edge. X is the way a mirror goes across the line. The status bar says “Mirror line set” with the edge’s length for a moment.

It worked whenThree thin arrows marked X, Y and Z stand at the straight edge.

WhereThe 3D view. Move the pointer over the dark area.

DoPress Tab, then Alt+M, then click Picked Line in the list under About.

TypeTab, Alt+M

You should seeThe header reads Object Mode and the leaf is selected. The Mirror window opens with Picked Line lit under About. Across is X: across the line, the way the arrow marked X points. Keep the Original is ticked.

It worked whenThe Mirror window shows Picked Line lit under About.

WhereThe Mirror window: the button OK at its foot.

DoPress OK.

You should seeThe other half of the leaf, to the left of the straight edge: a mirror image that meets the first along the edge. They are two objects, Leaf and Leaf.001, side by side in the Outliner: the copy is a new object, and the two are not joined into one. The pivot point and the 3D cursor are as they were.

It worked whenThe other half of the leaf stands at the right of the flower, and the Outliner lists Leaf.001.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+S.

You should seeBlender writes your copy at once, with no question, because the file already has a name. An asterisk, *, in the title bar marks changes that are not saved, and it goes now. Save your work and get it back (P0-12) says more about saving.

It worked whenThe title bar begins my-leaves and carries no asterisk.