Create Component from Visible Model

The Create Component from Visible Model feature allows you to quickly create a single component which is a copy of the model shown in the 3D View (the Composite Model). The new model created is placed on the active level.

It is common when working with lots of components to find that a number of levels have been used. If, as a final step, you want to edit the models using a tool like the sculpting (which requires the components to be baked together) then they all must be on the same level, however placing the models on the same level may change the appearance of the composite model. In this case we can use the Create Component from Visible Model tool. This resulting component may then be sculpted without any of the previous modelling information being lost.

Consider the following example of a lioness we are modelling, and all of its current levels.

Model Tree

Model

If we want to sculpt this model we must first bake it, but we currently can't bake it because the components lie on different levels. Also, baking them together will mean we lose all our structure that we have carefully built up losing the potential to edit the individual parts. So instead we use the Create Component from Visible Model tool. This creates a copy of what is visible. We can then bake this new component, and we can now sculpt without losing our structure

Model Tree after creating copy

Sculpted Model