Autodesk LIGHTSCAPE, Manual

Page: 63 / 362

Common Import Tasks
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nate system, and note the correspondence between
the two systems.
In this example, X, Y, and, Z in the Lightscape coor-
dinate system correspond to Y, Z, and, X in the
coordinate system of the imported model.
2.
In the Coordinate Transformation list of the im-
port or export dialog, select the axes that correspond
to the X, Y, and Z axes in Lightscape. In this example,
you select Y, Z, X.
3.
To change the direction of an axis, enable Mirror
Coordinates for that axis. In this example, mirror the
Z axis.
In the Coordinate Transformation box, a minus (-)
sign appears in front of Z, indicating that the X, Y,
and Z axes in Lightscape correspond to the Y, -Z,
and X axes in the imported model.
Grouping Objects into Blocks and
Layers
When importing a model, you may want to group
objects into blocks and layers to organize them and
reduce file size.
The options available for creating blocks and layers
vary slightly depending on your modeling system:
• For information about DXF files, see “Grouping
Objects into Blocks” on page 59.
• For information about 3DS files, see “Grouping En-
tities into Blocks” on page 67.
• For information about 3D Studio MAX or 3D Stu-
dio VIZ, see “Grouping Objects in Blocks” on page
74.
Overwriting or Merging
In Lightscape, you can open only one file at a time. If
a project is open when you import or open a file, you
can either close the current project to make room for
the incoming file or merge the incoming project to
the current project.
To create a single Lightscape project file from
multiple files, import or open the first file, and then
merge the others.
Geometry that exists in specific layers in the
incoming model is appended to existing layers of the
same name. New layers are added to the existing
Layers table.
Block definitions in the incoming model overwrite
blocks of the same name in the existing model. This
changes all instances of that block.
Note: If you have done preparation work on a
block in Lightscape (setting materials or orienta-
tion, for example), you will lose that work if you
merge a file with a block of the same name. To
avoid this situation, you should either rename the
Z
[
\ Z
[
\
The Lightscape
coordinate system Coordinate system of
the imported model