3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [101]
4. Right-click the Front viewport, and drag the red X-axis gizmo line to the left to line up the spaceship with the center of the landing pad.
5. Click the Select and Uniform Scale button (or press the R key). Place the cursor over the center gizmo triangle, and drag downward until the spaceship fits within the landing pad.
6. Click the Select and Move button again (or press the W key), and drag the green Y-axis gizmo line downward in the Front viewport to move the spaceship toward the landing pad.
7. Click the Select and Rotate button (or press the E key). Right-click the Top viewport, and drag the blue Z-axis gizmo circle downward to rotate the spaceship clockwise so that its front end points away from the buildings.
Figure 7.9 shows the spaceship correctly positioned.
FIGURE 7.9
Transformation buttons and the Transform Gizmos were used to position this spaceship.
Using Pivot Points
An object's pivot point is the center about which the object is rotated and scaled and about which most modifiers are applied. Pivot points are created by default when an object is created and are usually created at the center or base of an object. You can move and orient a pivot point in any direction, but repositioning the pivot cannot be animated. Pivot points exist for all objects, whether or not they are part of a hierarchy.
Caution
Try to set your pivot points before animating any objects in your scene. If you relocate the pivot point after animation keys have been placed, all transformations are modified to use the new pivot point. •
Positioning pivot points
To move and orient a pivot point, open the Hierarchy panel in the Command Panel and click the Pivot button. At the top of the Adjust Pivot rollout are three buttons; each button represents a different mode. The Affect Pivot Only mode makes the transformation buttons affect only the pivot point of the current selection. The object does not move. The Affect Object Only mode causes the object to be transformed, but not the pivot point. The Affect Hierarchy Only mode allows an object's links to be moved.
The pivot point is easily identified as the place where the Transform Gizmo is located when the object is selected, as shown in Figure 7.10.
FIGURE 7.10
The Transform Gizmo is located at the object's pivot point.
Note
Using the Scale transformation while one of these modes is selected alters the selected object but has no effect on the pivot point or the link. •
Aligning pivot points
Below the mode buttons are three more buttons that are used to align the pivot points. These buttons are active only when a mode is selected. These buttons are Center to Object/Pivot, Align to Object/Pivot, and Align to World. The first two buttons switch between Object and Pivot, depending on the mode selected. You may select only one mode at a time. The button turns light blue when selected.
The Center to Object button moves the pivot point so that it is aligned with the object center, and the Center to Pivot button moves the object so it is centered on its own pivot point. The Align to Object/Pivot button rotates the object or pivot point until the object's Local Coordinate System and the pivot point are aligned. The Align to World button rotates either the object or the pivot to the World Coordinate System. For example, if the Affect Object Only mode is selected and the object is separated from the pivot point, clicking the Center to Pivot button moves the object so that its center is on the pivot point.
Under these three alignment buttons is another button labeled Reset Pivot, which you