Installing.

In short, just install this add-on like most Blender add-ons (Do not extract).

Goto Preferences > Add-ons >Install then locate the duplicator_xxx.zip and check the add-on to enable it

By default the Duplicator pie menu can be accessed by pressing Shift+Alt+D in Object Mode

Getting Objects.

This add-ons duplication method has three ways to quickly get objects, which are called Selection Only, Group, Parent and Child

• Selection Only, which simply duplicates only the selected objects, is intended to have a large button as it is the most commonly used method.

  Please note that this method will not maintain the object hierarchy. If you wish to keep the hierarchy, you may use the 'Group' or 'Parent and Child' method instead.

• Group, The operator will automatically select all objects related to the highest hierarchy based on the active object.

  This means that you don't need to manually select all the objects in a group - just select one object that is related to the others and the operator will automatically select the whole group.

• Parent and Child, It's almost the same as 'Group', but the only difference is that this method will only select objects from the active parent and children recursively.

Mode Duplicate.

Each operator duplicate method has three duplication modes;

Linked,Instance and Individual

• Linked mode uses the same object data as the source object, similar to the Alt+D.

• Instance mode works by creating built-in instance objects per face, where the parent object becomes the instancer and the child objects will be instanced on each face.

Note that Blender has limitations with this method, such as objects shifting if the instancer face is rotated.

• Individual This method duplicates both the object and its data, similar to Shift+D.

Modal Operator.

a modal operator is a type of operator that allows the user to interactively control the operation with the mouse and keyboard.

In this add-on, there are 4 modal operators;

1. Duplicate Array (Dup. Array)

2. Duplicate Circular (Dup. Circular)

3. Duplicate along Curve (Dup. along Curve)

4. Duplicate Randomize (Dup. Randomize)

Each operator has different controls during modal operation. It is important to monitor the header information displayed at the top of the viewport during the operation.

This information displays the keys to use and the status of changes made during the operation.

Each operator also has a redo panel that allows you to readjust the settings after confirming execution (by pressing the Left Mouse button).

*The 'Redo panel' is a panel that appears in the bottom left viewport after executing an operation.

Note: some features can only be accessed through the redo panel.

Below is additional explanation for each modal operator during operation:

• Duplicate Array (Dup. Array)

*Press X, Y, or Z to change the movement axis accordingly. Additionally, you may:

*Press Ctrl if you want to use multiple axes.

*Scroll Wheel Up or Wheel Down to increase or decrease the amount of duplicates.

*Press M to toggle the duplicate mode (Linked, Instance, or Individual).

*Press key S then select object target to enable feature Align to Surface.

*Press Space to pause the modal, during the pause you may navigate the viewport freely,

in case your duplicated objects are out of view from the current viewport this small feature will be really helpful.

• Duplicate Circular (Dup. Circular)

*Press X, Y, or Z to rotate the entire duplicated objects by 90 degrees.

*Press Ctrl to reverse the rotation (-90°)

*Scroll Wheel Up or Wheel Down to increase or decrease the amount of duplicates.

*Press M to change toggle duplicate mode (Linked,Instance or Individual).

*Press R to rotate each object along the Z-axis.

• Duplicate Randomize (Dup. Randomize)

*Press X,Y or Z to adjust the axis accordingly, by default it used X,Y local axis, if you want to use single axis you can;

*Press Ctrl to switch single axis mode.

*Scroll Wheel Up or Wheel Down to increase or decrease the amount of duplicates.

*Press M to change toggle duplicate mode (Linked,Instance or Individual).

*Press S then select object target to enable feature Align to Surface.

*Press Space to pause the modal.

• Duplicate along Curve (Dup. along Curve)

Note: for this operator the active object must be Curve type for the target.

*Press X to switch the direction (start point).

*Press Ctrl to adjust the tilt angle of the object along the curve.

*Scroll Wheel Up or Wheel Down to increase or decrease the amount of duplicates.

*Press M to change toggle duplicate mode (Linked,Instance or Individual).

*Press Space to pause the modal.

Non-Modal Operator.

This is a regular operator that executes without requiring continuous user interaction; however, in this add-on, each operator also has a Redo panel.

There are two non-modal operators: Dup. to Mesh and Dup. to Cursor.

• Duplicate along mesh geometry (Dup. to Mesh)

This operator will automatically duplicate objects on each face or vertex of the active object's geometry.

In order to use this feature:

1) select the object you want to duplicate.

2) then select the target object as last selection (active object) then execute the operator.

• Duplicate to Cursor (Dup. to Cursor)

This operator will duplicate selected objects and place directly to the 3D Cursor,

You may match the 3D Cursor oriented to the surface normal to get proper rotation If you has not setting yet

Please go to Preferences > Keymap then find Set 3D Cursor change the Orientation to Geometry

Extra Feature.

The two additional features are Separate Array and Randomize+.

• Seperate Array

This operator is for separating arrayed objects into individual ones. it is recommended to only have an Array type modifier if the object has mixed with another type modifier the result may not get as expected.

Note: this operator will only be available if the active object has an Array modifier.

• Randomize+

Basically this operator has the same thing as built-in Random Transform operator

but there are additional features such as "Affect only highest hierarchy" and ability to delete objects randomly.

Tips: you may hover the mouse cursor to the property in the Redo Panel after execution to see the tooltip or description.

Still has a question?

Feel free to contact me.