3ds max n00b question.

[ScarletHippo]

I cannot work out how to move the rotation axis in 3ds max R3.1

I can see it when i click the rotate button, but if i try to drag it, it just rotates the object.

[iXeR0]

click on the adjust pivot button under the hiearchy panel
and use the move tool to move it around

edit: sorry that's with max4 ... but shouldn't be too different ... if it is just go to help and look for pivot

[thetron]

If you wanna go around the cube i think it's alt+left click and hold the mouse button down or the side mouse buttons

[Phreeky]

Click on the view you wanna change and press "V" is default i'm pretty sure, it's V for me anyway

[Fraggle]

do u want to rotate the view, or the object?

if u wanna rotate the view, press V & move the mouse within the yellow circle, if u grab one of the handles on the sides of the circle, it will rotate around those axis

the same can be done with the icon in the bottom row, second from the right, at the bottom right of the screen (the icon of the circle with 3 axis drawn)

if it's the object you want to rotate, click on the circular icon with the arrow (kinda like the refresh icon in explorer, but without the rectangle)...it's between the move & scale icon in the top toolbar under the menu bar

to use it, just click the icon, select the object and rotate around the highlighted axis

i'm not sure about max3, but in max4 this can also be accessed with a right click in a view port and selecting "rotate"

default rotate is about the object centre i think...you can change the object rotation in two ways

first way is to change the rotation orientation...eg. xyz axis along the world axis or object axis (this will be same usually if object is unchanged & created in default viewports, but will be different if you have already moved or rotated the object)

the drop down to the right of the rotate icon will tell you what it is, if it is local, u will see the axis are pointed about the current object axis, but if u rotate the object, the rotation axis will move with the object rotation...if u change to world or view, it will stay the same

i'm not sure what all the different ones do, but most common are world, view, parent & local

parent is when objects are linked, and the screen one is useful if u use camera or light views...check the help system for more detailed information

second way to change the rotation is the pivot point...this is useful for making mechanical things (like robots etc as i found recently )

for example, if you have a fore-arm, you won't want it to rotate about it's center, it would be more helpful to have it rotate around the elbow!

so, goto the heirarchy menu (right hand menu, top middle-left icon - a box with three smaller boxes underneath)

then select "affect pivot only"...now u should see the axis in the viewports will changed to outlined...if u move it now, the object won't move, you are just changing the pivot point

you can still use the align tool, which is useful

so, if u move the pivot point to the elbow and unselect "affect pivot point only", then rotate the arm, you will see it rotates around the elbow instead of middle of the forearm

there are better ways to make arms (bipeds & bone)...but this is just for an example



anyway, i know this is pretty long...but hope it's comprehensible (if that's a word)

i'm making an optimus prime (that transforms)...so i'll post up some renders when i'm done if u're interested

won't be textured yet tho