Make Unique

Make Unique lets you convert an instanced or referenced object or an instanced modifier to a copy that's unique.

• Modify panel > (Make Unique)
• Modify panel > Right-click an instanced modifier in the stack display. > Make Unique
• Right–click an instanced object. > Make Unique

When you clone an object, you can make it an instance or a reference. If you make changes to an instanced object the changes are also reflected in the other instances in your scene. And when you change a referenced object, the changes affect objects that refer to it. Making objects unique lets you adjust or change those objects independently without affecting any other objects in the scene.

Similarly, when you apply a modifier to multiple objects simultaneously, the modifiers are instances of each other and changes to one affect all of them. And as with objects, making a modifier unique lets you change it without affecting the former instances.

Tip: If you drag a material to a unique object and see the other instanced object updating as well, turn off Automatic Material Propagation. Go to Customize menu Customize UI and choose Category: Instance Manager, then drag Automatic Material Propagation to a toolbar or assign a keyboard shortcut to it. Using this tool will allow the unique object to act uniquely.

Procedures

Example: Use Make Unique with an instanced modifier:

1. Create a cylinder with some height segments, and then use Shift+Move to create three copies, resulting in four non-instanced identical cylinders.

   When the Clone Options dialog opens, make sure Object is set to Copy.

2. Select all four cylinders, apply the Bend modifier, and adjust the Angle setting just enough to see the results of the bend.

   You now have four cylinders with a single instance of a Bend modifier applied to them.

3. Choose Edit menu Hold.

   This lets you return to the current state of the scene at any time without using Undo.

4. Select two of the cylinders.

   The modifier stack shows the modifier but not the geometry, because the latter isn’t instanced between the two objects.

5. Click (Make Unique).

   The Make Unique dialog opens, asking whether you want to make the selected items unique with respect to each other.

6. Choose Yes on the dialog.

   At this point, the two selected cylinders each have unique Bend modifiers, while the remaining two cylinders share the original, instanced Bend. You can see this by selecting each cylinder and changing the Bend Angle setting. Changing one of the unique modifiers doesn’t affect any other object, while changing one of the instanced modifiers changes the other object with an instance of the modifier.

7. Choose Edit menu Fetch, and answer Yes.
8. Select two cylinders again, and click Make Unique.
9. Choose No in the resulting dialog.

   The two selected cylinders now share an instance of a Bend modifier, but it's a different instance than that shared by the other two cylinders. Again, you can see this by selecting each of the cylinders and changing the Bend Angle spinner. You can also turn on Show Dependencies in the Views menu to see the relationship between the four cylinders and the Bend modifier.

Example: Use Make Unique with an instanced object/modifier combination:

1. Create a cylinder with some height segments.
2. Apply a Bend modifier and adjust the Angle just enough to see the results of the bend.
3. Use Shift+Move with the Instance option to create an instanced object/modifier combination.
4. Change the Bend Angle setting on one of the instances to demonstrate that the cylinders and modifiers are truly instanced.

   Both cylinders bend.

5. Select one of the instances, and then, in the modifier stack choose either the Bend modifier or the cylinder itself.
6. Click (Make Unique).

   When you change the Bend Angle setting or cylinder base parameters for one of the objects, the other doesn't change.

   Note: When you instance an object/modifier combination, all duplicates are instances of a single main node containing the original object and modifier. In such cases, you cannot selectively make the object or its modifier unique. Clicking Make Unique for one or the other, makes both unique.