Groups and components

Loose geometry in ModelCraft sticks together: lines that touch split each other, and faces that share an edge move together. That is what makes drawing on faces work, but it also means a box drawn against another box merges with it. Groups and components keep things apart.

• A group wraps some geometry so it acts as one object. Nothing outside it can stick to it.
• A component is a group that can be placed many times. Every copy shares the same contents: edit one and they all change. Use components for anything repeated: windows, columns, desks, trees.

Make a group or a component

1. Select the geometry. A triple-click on a face selects the whole connected object; a window drag selects everything in the box.
2. Press ⇧GShift+G for a group, or GG for a component. You can also click Group or Component in the toolbar's Organize group, or Make group (Shift+G) or Make component (G) in Entity info.

The status bar says "Grouped as Group#1." or "Made component Component#1.", the new object is selected, and it appears in the Outliner.

1. To name it, type a name in the Name field of Entity info and press ReturnEnter or click away.

Selecting a face brings its edges along. If nothing is selected, the status bar says "Select some geometry first (drag a window, or triple-click to select everything connected)."

You can also group groups: select several groups and press ⇧GShift+G. The Outliner shows the nesting.

Edit inside a group or component

1. Double-click it (in the view or in the Outliner), or select it and click Edit in Entity info.

The rest of the model fades, the axes move to the group's own axes, and the Outliner reads "Editing: Model › Group#1". The status bar says "Editing Group#1. Esc or double-click outside closes it."

1. Draw, push/pull, move and erase as usual. Everything you do stays inside the group.
2. Close it: press EscEsc (twice if something is selected), double-click empty space, or click Close group in the Outliner.

While a component is open, every copy of it changes as you work.

Place more copies of a component

• Copy it with Move and ⌃Ctrl (see Move and copy). Each copy is another placement of the same component.
• Or click Place next to it in the Components panel, then click where it goes. Its origin, the lowest corner of the box around what you selected when you made it, lands where you click. The tool then returns to Select.

Components shows how many copies are placed ("4×"), and the Outliner shows the count after the name.

Make one copy different

Select the copy and click Make unique in Entity info (shown when the component is placed more than once). That copy gets its own definition, named like the original with a new number. Edit it without touching the others.

Turn a group into a component

Select the group and click Make component in Entity info. It gets a new name, such as Component#2, even if you had named the group; type the name again in Name.

Explode

Select a group or component and click Explode (in the toolbar or in Entity info). Its contents become loose geometry in the place it was, and stick to what they touch. Groups inside it stay groups.

Solid and volume

When you select a group or component, Entity info shows Solid: Yes if its faces close up with no gaps (every edge is shared by exactly two faces) and there are no groups nested inside it. Then it also shows the volume. A box, a wall with a window cut through it, and a pulled cylinder are solids; a box with its top erased is not.

When the last copy goes

Erasing the last copy of a component also removes it from the Components panel. ⌘ZCtrl+Z brings it back.

Things to know

• Copies of a group made with Move share their contents in this build, like component copies do: editing one changes the others. To make one independent, click Make component, then Make unique. See Troubleshooting.
• Components do not cut openings in walls or glue to faces, and there is no library of ready-made components. You make your own, or import them.
• Imported files arrive as a group. Collada files keep their own groups and components inside it.