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I have a mesh and some empties with unequal distances between them and I want to repeat this mesh and place it where those empties are.

I know that if the distances were equal, I could use an array modifier and object offset. How can I do this for multiple empties with unequal distances?

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1 Answer 1

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Collection Instances

First put your object(s) into their own collection.

Select all your Empties. Go to the Object Properties, expand the Instancing panel.

Now it is important you keep ALT pressed until the end. This will propagate the modifications to all selected objects.

Click on Collection while still maintaining ALT and choose the collection you want to instance.

If you want "real" meshes afterwards, you can use CTRL + A > Make Instances Real or Object > Apply > Make Instances real.

enter image description here

Troubleshooting :

If you don't see any change after these steps:

  • Make sure the empties are not in the collection you are trying to instantiate
  • The Instanced Collection's origin might be different from what you'd expect. You can tweak it by following these steps.
  • ALT + Click doesn't work because you are emulating a 3 button mouse :

Add a collection instance only for one empty. Select all the other empties too and make sure the instance collection is "active" (yellow outline). Then go to Object > Make Links > Instance Collection or use shortcut CTRL + L.

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    $\begingroup$ Wow. Gaping hole in my understanding of Collection Instances. I had no idea you could do it this way round. This will save so much time. $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts ♦
    Feb 8, 2021 at 19:02
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    $\begingroup$ Yup, Adding a collection instance is just a shortcut to manually adding an empty, and then repeating these steps :) mind = blown :D $\endgroup$
    – Gorgious
    Feb 8, 2021 at 19:04
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    $\begingroup$ .. and you can follow up with Ctrl-A > Make Instances Real, if you want to. $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts ♦
    Feb 8, 2021 at 19:17
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    $\begingroup$ You identified the problem :) You have two solutions. Either model at world origin or you can offset the collection origin. See my other post on the subject blender.stackexchange.com/questions/137523/… $\endgroup$
    – Gorgious
    Feb 9, 2021 at 11:04
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    $\begingroup$ @SakariNiittymaa Added solution to the answer $\endgroup$
    – Gorgious
    Feb 10, 2021 at 15:01

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