Reference Editor
 

Hi All.
I have 40 waste bins that need to go into my scene so I thought referencing one model of the bin would be the way to go.
The problem is, is that when I bring in the referenced model 40 times it creates 40 additional layers which I really don't want. Is there a way to bring in the referenced model and have all 40 on one layer.
Or do I create 40 waste bins in one scene and reference that?

Instead of referencing you could try creating instanced duplicates of the waste bin. The only problem with this is that all of the bins would need to be the same (i.e, if you change the geometry of the first bin, like moving a CV, all of the instances will change too), but they will all have their own transform nodes, so you can move them around all independently from each other.

Instances are good because you really only have one copy of the bin in your scene, the duplicates are all 'pointers' back to the original bin, so if the original changes, all the instances will too. This will make your scene much lighter than having 40 bins in it.

Sorry for not answering your original question. Referencing can be a pain. We often reference rigs at work, and end up with a million layers!! You could create a new layer, assign all the bins to the new layer, then delete all the other layers. I think you can do that.

Hope this helps

LisaG :attn:

Instance is the way to go
 

Cheers for that I totally forgot about instancing doh!
I'm the only maya dude here in the studio so it's all down to me and simply maya site to sort out little and big problems

cheers
again
steve