There I was creating  something using a cube within a meteblob and applying hyper textures :woot:

I then wanted to create more so I started to think ...hmmm instances would be a good thing I think.
I wanted the cube to be placed randomly around an area, bit like an Eco system. That's when I woke up

So apart from the standard copy/paste thing is this possible and if so how?

Regards

Maybe you're looking for the 'Duplicate/Scatter/Replicate' tool. That's in the toolbar, it's a little icon with two cubes. If you left click, you duplicate the object. If you right click, you'll be taken to a dialog box where you can control the scatter and replication of objects.
Hope that helps. :-)

A word of warning: the duplicate/replicated objects are not instances! They will consume lots of memory, much more than ecosystem instances. So, go easy with the replication numbers... :-)

IF you copy/paste objects from the world browser, you get instances too.

Haaa, that's what I couldn't see thanks Ruta

Bruno...Yeh I know but I thought there might be something a bit more random, thanks

that works, easy when you know where the correct button is :blushing:

A hint for an easier use:

Imagine you want to populate an area or volume with objects. In the dialog box you'd have to manually input the coordinates that delimit the area or volume, which can be a bit difficult. But there's an easy way. Simply do this:

Imagine you want to populate an area in the shape of a rectangle. Simply place an object (of those you want to replicate) in each corner of the rectangle (so, 4 objects). Select the 4 objects simultaneously and right click on the scatter/replicate tool. The coordinates of the 4 corners are already in the dialog box! No need to manually input anything, except the number of replicates you want (warning: if you input 10 replicates, you'll end up with 10 x 4 = 40 objects).

Of course, it's a similar method if you want to populate a volume instead of an area. You just need to have 8 objects instead of 4. :-)

good one......runs for pen and paper again...........

Thanks

Good tip that Rutra, I always get into probs with the scatter, replicate thing, they never go where I want them to! [LOL].
I think I have the coordinates right and I hit "do it" and they're everywhere except where I want them! [LOL].

I'm glad you found it useful. :-)

Of course, this method only applies to rectangular areas (4 right angles) or cuboid volumes (six sides, all right angles). Anyway, if your area/volume doesn't fall in these categories, this could still serve as a proxy to the area or volume you want and then you could move some replicated/scattered elements manually.

As Artur pointed out the scattered objects will not be instances and will thus use up resourced, better to use an eco.
Why not save your created 'something' as a vob object first. Than create a  plane the size you want to 'scatter' your objects on. Make the material transparent and then make it an eco material and load your 'something'.  populate it. You can select 'force regular alignment of instances' in the density tab and adjust the density value till you get the right spacing.
If you want it to be scattered in 3d you can duplicate the plane(once or several times) and shif the duplicate(s) in the perpendicular direction.
Alternatively you can use the method described in the following thread to populate a 3d (transparent) element

Filling an object with an ecosystem ?

(you can use a plane and it will populate above and/or  below the plane).

PS - hyper textures are fun, but they take a lot of time to render!

thanks ArtPearl,

I wasn't sure how you used obj in an eco system

regards