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Groups and TIGs: What is a Group?

To Group or Not to Group

The big question of the day is "What is a Group?" Well, a group is an object or objects put together as a unit (Group). A Group is good to work with because objects in a group are all tied together yet they are still individual objects. A TIG (Time Independent Group) is a special type of group which we will talk about in a separate tutorial.

So "Why should we group object{s)?" Here are a few reasons why we group objects:

Reason 1:

It could be a real pain if you have an object with multiple Position keyframes. You would have to go to the timeline and adjust each of the Position keyframes. Now imagine having to do this with two, three, or more objects this could get painful real quick.

By turning that object(s) into a group you can move the group as a unit. So by creating a group you don't have to physically change each of the object(s) Position keyframes.

Reason 2:

Grouping objects also gives you some control over object management.

For instance if you have a Company Logo, the Company Name, Company Address, Company Phone No., Company Web Site, Company Email Address and Company Fax No. All of these objects are related to the Company. Grouping them together allows you to find them easier because they would be grouped in group named Company, or what ever you want to name it.

This type of grouping would depend on you the designer. Group only if it makes sense to group objects. If an object is better ungrouped then leave it ungrouped. Group only if you feel that it would make sense for object management.

Reason 3:

Grouping also will, (sort of) lock objects in a group to a stacking order.

You have placed objects on your canvas and you moved on. Later you added a new object(s) and you want that object below another object you created earlier. No problem you just move the object back until you get it to where you want it. Then down the road you added another object(s) you want stacked in a certain order with the same set of objects earlier.

Well, you have to repeat the moving of the object(s) to the location in the stacking order you want it. This will get old real quick and is time consuming.

In creating your animation create all of the objects and then arrange them in the timeline. Then select the objects you want to lock the stacking order with respect to each other and group them together. Lastly open the group and stack the object in the order that you want them.

By doing this you can move the group of objects up or down in the stack. Moving the group will not affect the stacking order of the grouped objects and yet they would be in a different stacking order in the composition.

Note: If you are going to be changing the stacking order of individual object(s) in your composition then it would not be a good idea to group that object. It would be better to leave that object ungrouped so you can move it where ever you want it in the stack in the composition.

Creating a Group

To begin, we have created two objects, a magenta circle and a blue square.

Objects on the Canvas

Objects on the Timeline

We have selected the two objects. As you can see there are two separate objects.

Objects on the Canvas

Objects on the Timeline

With the two objects selected Group the items by Clicking on Objects =>Group. The result is shown on the right.

Objects on the Canvas

Objects on the Timeline

We recommend that when you group objects you should rename them to something meaningful to you. When you group objects you will get something like you see to the right.

Highlighting the group and hitting the Enter Key will bring up an input box so you can name the grouped object whatever you want.

Name of Group - Before

Input Box to Change Name

Pick a name that would best describes what is contained in that group. Name it something short but useful. Remember down the road when you open the file again you may not remember what MyGroup1 contains. You would have a better chance of remembering a name like CompanyInfoGrp.

Since we have a Circle and a Square we used Circle-Square Group for our name.

Name of Group - After

Input Box to Change Name

Now we hear you saying, "But what if I need to edit something in the group?" Well, our little grasshopper, this is what you have shown on the right

Group Name in Timeline - After

Now, if you click on the Twisty (the triangle to the left of the Object name) your group will expand. When you expand the group you will see each of the objectts contained in your group. So you can edit individual objects. Pretty cool huh!!!

Timeline of Objects

Notice the graphic shows that the Circle is selected. You will see that the Group bounding outline is now a thick box. But you will also see that the Circle is also selected in the typical bounding box. Way cool huh!!!!!

Now you can expand the individual objects and edit them as you please. Happy Grouping!!!!!

Objects on the Canvas - Group Selected

Objects on the Canvas - Object in Group Selected