Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
The Remaining Panels
The rest of the panels have some good functionality, but you
just won't spend nearly the time in them as you do in the
Create and Modify panels.
Throughout the topic so far you've seen me use the term
“pivot” and here's where that comes into play. Where you see
your move gizmo on an object is its position, or “pivot.” You
can move this pivot around independently of the object and
even rotate the pivot without moving the object! This is handy
if you've moved the vertices within an object and the pivot
stayed in the same place.
As a quick example, just create a box anywhere in your
Perspective viewport. Go to the Hierarchy panel, located right
next to the Modify panel. Now click the Affect Pivot Only
button. You'll see your gizmo look a little different. While this
button is toggled you can move the pivot around without the
object moving. Move the pivot off to the side on the x-axis.
Now toggle off Affect Pivot Only and rotate around the y-axis.
You'll see how your box comes up off of the grid based on
where your pivot point is. Use this to your advantage! It's
amazing how much time you can save if you set up your pivot
before you move an object into place.
New to Max 2008 is the working pivot. This is pretty
neat! It gives you the ability to create a temporary pivot for
an object and go back and forth between your actual pivot and
the working pivot. Under Working Pivot, you'll find the Edit
Working Pivot and Use Working Pivot buttons. First, rotate
your object around and you'll see where the pivot is. Click
Edit Working Pivot. This will put you in a mode similar to
Affect Pivot Only. However, you're actually editing a cloned
pivot of your object pivot. Just move your working pivot off
somewhere to the side of your object. Now click Use Working
Pivot. Using the Rotate tool you can now see we are rotating
around our working pivot! All you have to do to go back to
your real object pivot is click the Use Working Pivot button
again.
