In Spark AR Studio a null object can be used to group other objects. Null objects can be manipulated in 3D space and may even have a visible shape in the Inspector, but they can not been seen in your finished effect.
Objects grouped under a null object are known as its children. The children take on the properties of the null object. For example, if you make a null object bigger, any children will get bigger too.
Null objects are particularly useful for adding secondary animation or to make sure a group of objects have exactly the same position.
To add a null object to your scene:
When the null object is selected in the Scene panel, you'll see an axis in the Viewport:
To group objects using a null object, the objects must be children of the null object.
To make an object the child of a null object, either:
You'll see the child of the null object listed underneath it in the Scene panel with a slight indent. In the image below, plane0, plane1 and plane2 are all children of nullObject0:
Null objects have both a Shape and Color property which can be changed in the Inspector. These can be used to visualise your null object as a wireframed shape within the Viewport.
Below, you can see that nullObject0 is being represented in the Viewport by a yellow cube:
Making your null objects visible can help you when looking for specific objects in your project, as null objects with an associated shape can be selected by clicking them directly in the Viewport. Being able to see null objects can also help you to better understand how the different elements of a complex project interact.
Remember, your null object's shape and color can only be seen in the Viewport, and won't have any impact on how your effect looks, works or performs when previewing or publishing.
Clicking the arrow next to a property in the Inspector will create a patch to represent it.
In the Inspector, click Create under Interactions and select either:
Visible
Clear this box to stop the null object and any children from being rendered in the scene.
Shape and color
Visualise your null object as a wireframed shape within the Viewport.
Transformations
Change the position, scale and rotation of the null object. You also use the manipulators to do this.
Tags
Tags are reference words which you can assign to one or more objects in the Scene Panel. You can tag all scene objects, such as 2D and 3D objects, sounds and lights. Assign a different tag to each object or the same tag to multiple objects.
Interactions
Insert simple combinations of patches involving the instance into the Patch Editor, like tap gestures.
Enable For
Choose the camera or cameras on a mobile device in which you want to render the null object.