Merge allows you to bring objects from other scene files into the current scene. You can also use merge if you want to combine an entire scene with another. This behaves similarly to the XRef Merge dialog. Controls in this dialog are similar to those in the Select Objects dialog.
The Merge dialog lets you load and save influences with or without their dependents. In many cases, objects should be referenced
with their influences, but the display only makes you aware of the relationships, it does not force you to externally reference
them.
When you select an item in the list window and click Influences, the object’s influences are selected in the list window.
When you select an item in the list window and Display Influences is on, the object’s influences are shown in blue in the
list window. When you select an item in the list window and Select Influences is on, the object’s influences are also selected
in the list window.
When Respect System Units in Files is turned on in the Units Setup dialog, in the System Unit Scale group, merged objects from a file with a different scene unit scale are scaled to maintain their correct size in the new scene. No conversion is done when merging files created in 3ds Max 1.x.
Note: If Respect System Units is off (which is not recommended), a 100-foot radius sphere that was created in a 1 unit = 1 foot scene becomes a 100-inch sphere in a 1 unit = 1 inch scene.
When one or more incoming objects have the same name as objects in the scene, an alert gives you the following options:
Merge—Merges the incoming object using the name in the field at the right. To avoid having two objects with the same name, type a new name before proceeding.
Skip—Does not merge the incoming object.
Delete Old—Deletes the existing object before merging the incoming one.
Apply to All Duplicates—Treats all subsequent incoming objects with duplicate names the same way you specified for the current object. No further alerts will appear. This option is not available if you renamed the current object.
When one or more materials assigned to incoming objects have the same name as materials in the scene, an alert gives you the following options:
Rename Merged Material—Defines the name for incoming material.
Use Merged Material—Assigns the characteristics of the incoming materials to the same-named scene materials.
Use Scene Material—Assigns the characteristics of the scene materials to the same-named incoming materials.
Note: Only top-level material names (not sub-materials) are checked for duplicates.
Auto Rename Merged Material—Automatically renames the incoming materials to new names. Uses Material number names based on the next available Material number.
Apply to All Duplicates—Treats all subsequent incoming Materials with duplicate names the same way you specified for the current object.
When you merge an object that’s linked to a parent object in a source scene, and an object of the same name as the original parent exists in the current scene, the Merge File dialog opens, giving you the option to re-create the same hierarchy.
To select objects to merge, do any of the following:
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Enter the name of an item, or use wildcard characters to specify multiple items that share a set of characters in their names.
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Press Ctrl and click to add and remove single objects from the selection.
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Press Shift and click to select all objects between the previously selected object and the current object.
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Click and drag to select items to merge from the list on the left.
In the standard file selector dialog, select the scene file to merge. Controls in this dialog are similar to those in the Select Objects dialog.
Objects are listed according to the current Sort and List Types selections.
Influences—When you select an object in the list window and then click the Influences button, the selected object's influences are highlighted
as well.
All, None, and Invert—These buttons alter the pattern of selection in the list window.
Display Influences—When this is on and you select an item in the list window, all of its influences are shown in blue. If you want to highlight
these influences, click Influences.
Select Influences—When this is on and you select an item in the list window, all of its influences are highlighted as well.