Transform along different axes

In the Move Tool, Rotate Tool, and Scale Tool settings, you can select what axes to use. To access these settings, double-click the respective tool in the toolbox, or select a tool from the Tool Settings editor.

Move/Scale Tool

Object moves/scales along an object’s own rotated axes.
Local moves/scales along an object’s parent’s rotated axes.
World moves/scales along the world (grid) axes.
Normal lets you move/scales CVs on a NURBS or polygon surface along U, V, or Normal directions.

You can specify the movement axis of the Move/Scale Tool in additional ways:

Along live object axis
Orient the Move/Scale axis towards a point (Set to point).
Align the Move/Scale axis with an edge (Set to Edge).
Align the Move/Scale axis with a face (Set to Face).
Move/Scale along custom axis (Custom Axis orientation).

Note

You can only animate scale transformations that occur in Object space. However, if you scale an object on all three axes simultaneously, the object will always scale in Object space, regardless of the current setting.

Note

Scaling an object in any space other than Object space ignores that object’s scale limits. However, scaling an object on all three axes simultaneously, in any space, respects the object’s scale limits.

Note

You can only scale objects without components (for example, joints) in Object space.

Moving or scaling along a live object axis

You can set the Move Tool / Scale Tool to move/scale objects along the axis of a live object. Most commonly, you would make a construction plane live, but any object can be set live.

Example: moving an object along the axis of a live object

Create a construction plane (Create > Construction Plane).
Rotate the plane.
With the plane selected, click the Make the selected object live icon in the Status Line, or select Modify > Make Live.
Create another shape (here, a polygon torus).
Do one of the following to open the Move Tool settings:
- Double-click the Move Tool icon.
- Select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool >.
In the Move Settings section of the Move Tool options, change the Move setting to Along Live Object Axis.
The move arrows of the move tool align to the live construction plane.

By clicking and dragging the move arrows, you can now move the torus in a constrained manner: along the surface in two directions or at exact right angles to the surface.

Clicking and dragging the center point of the move arrows moves the object with default behavior (snap to live geometry). For more information, see “Modify > Make Live” and “Move Tool”.

The geometry of the live object doesn’t matter; the move aligns to the axes of the live object.

Orient the Move/Scale axis towards a point

You can set the Move Tool / Scale Tool to transform the selected object along an axis defined by selecting a point.

Example: To set the axis of the Move Tool

Select an object.
Double-click the Move Tool icon in the Toolbox.
The Tool Settings editor appears.
In the Tool Settings editor, click Set to Point.
Select a vertex in the scene. It can be a vertex on any object, including the currently selected object (right-click the object and select Vertex from the marking menu).

The axis of the Move Tool changes.

You can see the new axis settings by opening the Move Tool settings (double-click the Move Tool icon or select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool > ) and examining the three boxes under Custom Axis Orientation.

You can use an almost identical workflow to set the axis of the Scale Tool by substituting the Scale Tool in the above steps.

Align the Move/Scale axis with an edge or face

You can set the Move Tool / Scale Tool to move the selected object along an axis defined by an edge or a face.

Example: To align the Move axis with an edge or face

Select an object.
Double-click the Move Tool icon in the Toolbox.
The Tool Settings editor appears.
In the Tool Settings editor, click Set to Edge or Set to Face.
Select an edge or face in the scene. It can be an edge or face on any object, including the currently selected object (right-click the object and select Edge or Face from the marking menu).

The axis of the Move Tool changes.

You can see the new axis settings by opening the Move Tool settings (double-click the Move Tool icon or select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool >) and examining the three boxes under Custom Axis Orientation.

You can use an almost identical workflow to align the axis of the Scale Tool by substituting the Scale Tool in the above steps.

Move/Scale along custom axis

You can set the Move/Scale Tool to move/scale objects along a custom axis.

Do one of the following to open the Move/Scale Tool settings:
- Double-click the Move Tool icon or the Scale Tool icon.
- Select Modify > Transformation Tools > Move Tool > or Modify > Transformation Tools > Scale Tool.
In the Move Settings (Scale Settings) section, enter the x, y, and z offset of the custom axis in radians.

Rotate Tool

Local rotates around an object’s own axes.
World rotates around the world (grid) axes. When this option is on the rings do not rotate with each other but instead stay locked to the world axes.
Gimbal changes only the X, Y, or Z rotation value. In local and world modes, the rings may change more than one of the rotation XYZ channels.