You use groups and assemblies in 3ds Max to combine arbitrary sets of scene entities into a single, non-hierarchical object that you can then manipulate as one. Grouping works best when you don’t need to manipulate components of the group; assemblies are best for articulated models such as light fixtures; character assemblies are specifically for modeling bipedal characters.
Grouping lets you combine two or more objects into a single grouped object. The grouped object is given a name, and then treated much like any other object.
Assemblies are useful for creating combinations of geometry and light objects that act as lighting fixtures; you use them to represent the housing of a lamp and its light source or sources. You can use assemblies to represent lighting fixtures such as simple desk lamps, lighting strips, track systems, wall sconces with fluorescent or incandescent lights, chandelier systems, line voltage cable systems, and so on.
A character assembly is a special type of group for objects particular to a character setup: the character mesh, bones, IK chains, helper objects, controllers, and other objects used to animate characters. Once the objects are grouped (assembled), you can perform various functions on the group as a whole, such as saving and loading animation for the entire bone/mesh set.
The commands to manage groups are on the Group menu.
The commands to manage assemblies are available from the Group menu Assembly submenu.
Assembly head helper objects are for controlling the assembly.
A character assembly is a special type of group for objects particular to a character setup: the character mesh, bones, IK chains, helper objects, controllers, and other objects used to animate characters. Once the objects are grouped (assembled), you can perform various functions on the group as a whole, such as saving and loading animation for the entire bone/mesh set.
