Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 User Guide 3 - Page 1808

No To All Doesn't reparent any of the incoming objects. When an object is merged without reparenting, it becomes a child of the world. This feature can also be used to reconnect parent objects to children in the scene. Merge Animation [Available only as a CUI action] Merge Animation merges (transfers) animation data from one object to another. Animation data can be transferred from one scene to another, or between objects in the same scene. Animation data from several objects can be merged at the same time. IMPORTANT The Merge Animation command is available only as a Customize User Interface on page 7697 action; to use it you must first add it explicitly to the user interface. For transferring animation data between scenes, we highly recommend that you use, instead of Merge Animation, the Save Animation and Load Animation functions. See Saving and Loading Animation on page 7074. Within the Merge Animation dialog, objects eligible for transferring or receiving animation data are called nodes. Source nodes refer to objects from which animation data can be transferred, while current nodes can receive animation data. Merge nodes are source nodes that have been mapped to (matched up with) current nodes in the Merge Animation dialog in preparation for merging. In order for a particular attribute's animation data to be transferred from a merge node, the corresponding current node must have the same attribute. For example, if a merge node has an animated Bend modifier applied to it, the current node must also have a Bend modifier applied to it for the animation data to transfer successfully. The Merge Animation feature is ideal for transferring animation data between similar hierarchies, such as character structures. In character creation, it is a common practice to name bones for different characters with the character name plus a suffix or prefix that describes the bone. For example, you might have one character called Alien with bones named Alien_Pelvis, Alien_LeftHand, etc. Another character called Chef would have bones named Chef_Pelvis, Chef_LeftHand, etc. The Merge Animation dialog can automatically filter prefixes and suffixes so you can quickly map the merge nodes for complex hierarchies. Merge Animation | 7063