Selected object on the next screenshot is mirrored along the x axis. As you can see, it’s origin point is outside the object, or to be more precise, outside the mesh, and I wanted to center it to be in the center of the mesh.
But, since the mirror modifier is applied, whatever method of setting origin point I try, it totally messes up the object. Is there any way to put the origin point in the center of the mesh, as if the object is not mirrored, without applying the mirror modifier?
I don’t know if you want to keep the mirror image and the origin at the center of the mesh,When I make symmetrical objects, I’m usually used to creating an object, which can be a plane or a circle, and then rename it ‘mirror obj’. When I use symmetry modification, I use the object to make symmetry instead of x.y.z. so that the original point of the object is not affected and you can move freely
Well yes, your approach is definitely good as a general rule how to plan and apply mirror modifier. Btw, I think that empty is better choice for mirroring reference point.
But, that is not really related to the problem I had.
Still, thanks for your input!
Just wanted to say thank you for posting this solution, it was driving me mad trying to figure out how to not mess up the geometry of my mirrored object when correcting the origin. One thing I was going to mention is that for your steps this step didn’t work for me:
adjust x-position of the empty to zero
It made the two halves super far apart from each other, I think because the location of my object is different than yours (probably I should have kept mine at 0 on the X-axis). Anyway I bet there’s a more efficient alternative but I just adjusted the empty’s X-axis until
the two halves were overlapping imperfectly to get the rough x coordinate for the empty, then moved the empty by very small increments (like the 3rd decimal place after the 0) until moving the origin to the cursor made the two object halves lineup perfectly. Had to undo a few times to try to get it looking right but got it after a couple mins.
Solution that works regardless of where the object is related to the world origin, just in case it helps anyone else:
Apply the mirror modifier (select it in the list of modifiers and press Ctrl+A) (don’t worry, you will undo this later)
Right click the object → Set Origin → Origin to Geometry
Right click the object → Snap → Cursor to Selected
Deselect the object and press Ctrl+Z twice. This will undo setting the object’s origin, and then undo applying the mirror modifier, but leave the 3D cursor where it is
Right click the object → Set Origin → Origin to 3D Cursor
