2023.1.1571.2 Grouping Tool

1 Overview
2 Where to find
3 Feature layout
4 How to use

Overview

The Grouping Tool is used to group meshes together. Combining the meshes can improve performance and helps manage scenes with many objects.

Save the current scene in order to use the Grouping Tool!

This video shows an example of grouping.

Where to find

The Grouping tool can be found under Utilities > Scene/Hierarchy > Grouping Tool

This will open the following window:

The GroupMeshScript is automatically added to a created group. It is shown in the inspector by selecting any group in the hierarchy or scene view. The following inspector appears:

Feature layout

The image below shows the complete feature layout of the Grouping Tool when a group has been created:

Create New Group

Create New Group
Group Name	The name of the group
Group Selection	Creates a new group with all selected objects. Button is only enabled when there is an active selection in the scene/hierarchy.
Manage Group Contents
Loaded Group	Displays the currently loaded group. Another GroupMeshScript can be dragged into this field to add/remove selected objects from that group.
Add Selection to Group	Adds selected objects to the loaded group. Button is only enabled when there is an active selection in the scene/hierarchy.
Remove Selection from Group	Removes selected objects from the loaded group. Button is only enabled when there is an active selection in the scene/hierarchy.

The image below shows the complete feature layout of the GroupMeshScript inspector. The GroupData is always stored at Assets/GroupData.

GroupMeshScript

GroupMeshScript
Filepath PackedMesh	The PackedMesh is created at this path
File name	The filename of both GroupData and PackedMesh. Includes the date and time.
Pack/Unpack Group	Packs the meshes into one mesh (if not yet packed) Unpacks the packed mesh into separate meshes (if already packed)
Ungroup	Restores the objects to their original position in the hierarchy and removes the group.
Reapply serialized data	Re-imports the stored group data from an external source.

How to use

Start the GroupingTool:

Open the Prespective Menu (Prespective dropdown → Menu)
Open Utilities > Scene/Hierarchy > Grouping Tool

Create a new group:

Select the objects you wish to group in the hierarchy
Click Group Selection to group the selected objects

The group will be made below the highest possible shared parent

The objects that are now empty because they lost their meshes below them will be removed

Add/Remove Objects to/from an existing group:

Select the object(s) you want to add/remove to/from an existing group
Drag a group from the Hierarchy into the Loaded Group GroupMeshScript field or use the circle button and select a group from the list.
Push “Add Selection to Group” or “Remove Selection from Group”

Pack, Unpack and Ungroup

Select a group in the Hierarchy
Do the following in the GroupMeshScript in the Inspector:
Set the filepath for the PackedMesh file (“Filepath PackedMesh”)
Set the filename for the PackedMesh (“Filename Group and PackedMesh”)
Push “Pack Group” to merge the meshes into one mesh. File is created at the defined filepath. Now the group cannot be edited.
Push “Unpack Group” to unmerge the mesh into separate meshes again. PackedMesh file is not removed. Now the group can be edited again.
Push “Ungroup” to remove the group and put all objects back to their original positions in the hierarchy

When reopening a group it does not remove the old closed group mesh. When closing it again creates a new mesh.