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Part II: Working with Objects

Each of the three basic transforms can have a different coordinate system specified, or you can set it to
change uniformly when a new coordinate system is selected. To do this, open the General panel in the
Preference Settings dialog box and select the Constant option in the Reference Coordinate System section.

Using a transform center
All transforms are done about a center point. When transforming an object, you must understand what the
object’s current center point is, as well as the coordinate system in which you’re working.
The Transform Center flyout consists of three buttons: Use Pivot Point Center, Use Selection Center, and
Use Transform Coordinate Center, which are shown in Table 7.3. Each of these buttons alters how the
transformations are done. The origin of the Transform Gizmo is always positioned at the center point speci-
fied by these buttons.

TABLE 7.3
Transform Center Buttons
Button Description
Use Pivot Point Center

Use Selection Center

Use Transform Coordinate Center

Pivot Point Center
Pivot points are typically set to the center of an object when the object is first created, but they can be relo-
cated anywhere within the scene including outside of the object. Relocating the pivot point allows you to
change the point about which objects are rotated. For example, if you have a car model that you want to
position along an incline, moving the pivot point to the bottom of one of the tires allows you to easily line
up the car with the incline.
If you select the Use Pivot Point Center button, then the Select and Rotate tool rotates about the pivot point
for the selected object, which can be located anywhere in the scene.

Cross-Ref
Pivot points are discussed in detail in the next section. n

Selection Center
The Use Selection Center button sets the transform center to the center of the selected object or objects
regardless of the individual object’s pivot point. If multiple objects are selected, then the center is computed
to be in the middle of a bounding box that surrounds all the objects.

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