The clone element will copy the object the identification number of which is entered as a parameter, into a new object. The newly created object contains the same setting as the original one (transformation, textures, visibility etc.). Unlike the original object it is not connected to any object (i.e. it is connected to the scene). If the original object contained children, then these children are copied, too. The identification numbers of the new children are not accessible. If some manipulations are to be carried out with the children, then the object must be copied piecewise. The element returns the created object's identification number.

 

Cloned objects use common data buffers. These feature can greatly speed up creation and drawing of such objects and can reduce memory consumption, too. Using of common data buffers is terminated in some object modifying operations: morphing, texture mapping, calculate normals, object normalization, object inversion and object color changing. In such cases it is more suitable to clone object after execution of such operations.