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Adam,
Re: Can you have a main scene with all the reference models in-bedded, and then edit the individual model without closing the main scene?
The answer is Yes and possibly No and here’s why. According to the Softimage user guide, under Creating Scenes, you cannot have more than ONE scene in the program open at the same time, but to have the ability to edit a model and update a scene at the SAME TIME you would need to have “two instances” of your Softimage program running at the same time perhaps on dual monitors. One instance on each monitor. OR you could min and max each one back and forth if you had only one monitor. Now here’s the catch, or the possible no part. I am unsure if this is allowable by Autodesk license-wise. You would just have to ask them and see what their policy is on running two instances of the program on the same machine. Second, depending on your system, this method may pull heavily on your computer resources if you are working with huge scenes and complex models and running the two instances.
Now, the other thing you need to know, if you were running the two instances, is how to update a Reference model using the manual method. Let’s say you have monitor A and monitor B each running an instance, and a model that you imported into your monitor A scene as a Reference Model. Suppose it’s called cube_test1 and it was created on monitor B.
1. On monitor A the cube_test1 model was already imported into the scene and you recently changed it’s color and shape on monitor B.
2. To update the cube on monitor A click on the Scene button under the Selection panel.
3. Under the Scene selection you will see cube_test [res1] with a white man icon.
4. Click on the cube_test [res1] to highlight it. Note: this is the important part many people miss, because the root must be selected not the cube in the view port.
5. Go to Modify - Model - Update Referenced Model.
6. You will see that the cube has now updated itself with any changes.
7. A faster method is to open the Explorer using the number 8 key, switch button to Scene Root and right click on the cube_test [res1], then select Update Referenced Model from there.
I can post a beginning-to-end example if needed, just let me know.
Ok, so I’ve given you the “hint” on how this can be done, but it is not an official method, and again you need to check with Autodesk on the specifics of running two instances per the license agreement. I do think it can be done as long as you are using the same user account and the same machine for all generated instances, but it’s better to check with them to be sure. You can submit your question into the Subscription center and see what they say.
Having the ability to work with two or more scenes at the same time as perhaps “selectable top tabs” would be a slick feature for Autodesk to consider in a future update… hint hint Softimage engineers. :)
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