Nullify
Replaces the selected objects with nulls, optionally removing their bones and disabling the shadow options.
Nullify
Lightwave 3D Plug-in, 2000-2002
Nullify is a plug-in that replaces all selected objects with nulls, can add a prefix or suffix to the name, or clear the bones from those objects, and adjust the shadow options. This plug-in requires Lightwave 6.0 or greater.
Installation
To install Nullify, just follow these steps:
- If any copies of Layout are running, quit them now.
- Create a new directory in your Lightwave Plugins directory called TMPro and copy Nullify.p into it.
- Load Layout
- Select Add Plug-ins.
- Find and add Nullify.p. Layout should report that one plug-in has been added.
- Quit Layout. This will update your Lightwave config and ensure that everything works properly.
The next time you run Layout, you can launch Nullify plug-in from the Generics pop-up in the Plug-in Options Panel, or assign it to a key or button on the interface with Configure Keys and Configure Menus. Please refer to your Lightwave documentation for more information. The plug-in will be the prefixed with TM_P under the Plugins heading of the Configure Keys and Configure Menus panels.
Usage
To use Nullify, you must first select the objects you want to convert to nulls. All selected objects will be nullified. Once you have selected the appropriate objects, launch Nullify. You should see an interface simlar to the one shown above. The About button, as you'd expect, presents information about the plug-in.
All of the settings in the interface are optional. If you don't want to use them, just click OK to continue. In this default state, all the selected objects will simply be converted into nulls.
If Store Original Names is checked, the original object name will be stored as a tag in the scene file. You van view tags with the Comments Generic plug-in included with Lightwave. Nullify writes tags that are compatible with Replace Objects, allowing you to use the Replace With Original Object plug-in to reload the original item. The tag starts with the keyword "OriginalItem", then a 0 if it was a null or a 1 if it was an object, and finally the path to the object, or the original name of the null object. If this tag already exists for this object, it will be replaced with the new tag. If this option is left unchecked, then no tags will be modified or created.
You can add a prefix or a suffix to the object's name after it has been converted to a null via the Prefix and Suffix fields. The new null object's name will start with the prefix, then contain the original object name, and finally end in the suffix.
If Nullify Descendants is enabled, then all children of the selected items will also be converted to nulls using the panel's settings
When Remove Bones is enabled, any bones in the nullified objects will be cleared. In most cases the bones are no longer nessesary once the object has become a null. However, there are cases where expressions, plug-ins or Use Bones From Object, where you may want the bones to remain
If Disable Shadow Options is enabled, the Cast Shadow, Receive Shadow and Self Shadow options are disabled. This has been reported to reduce render times, even on nulls.
Remove Moprh Mixer will remove any instances of Morph Mixer applied to any of the objects being nullified if checked.
Clicking OK will use the settings in the panel to convert objects into nulls. It will also store the interface settings until Layout is quit, allowing you to quickly nullify smaller groups of objects successivly. Cancel will exit Nullify without performing any changes to your scene.
Revision History
- 05-26-2002
- Added Remove Morph Mixer toggle
- Added Store Original Names toggle
- 04-22-2001
- Added a progress bar for the nullification and reselection processing
- 01-14-2001
- First Public Release