Placing an object's axis

Support Basics & Interface
#1

Hi people.

I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to place an object’s axis so that later on I can rotate the object correctly and I just can’t figure out how to do it.

Anyway, my head hurts quite a bit and before I pass out I decided to make this post for my brain’s sake.

How on earth do I place an object’s axis?

Can I do it without moving the object itself? It’d be a pain to place the object relative to the current axis, then reposition it all on the desired location.

My forehead appreciates your help.

#2

In Object Buttons (F7) click the “Axis” button and the axis will show at the Object Center. If you want to move the object center relative to the mesh then use the 3 Center buttons in the Mesh tab in Edit Buttons (F9). If you want to fix the mesh relative to the axis use Ctrl-A.

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#3

thanks for your help.

the centre buttons (centre cursor) seems to be what i’m looking for.

any objects linked as child snap to an awkward position when I do this though. I guess I’ll have to remove the links, reset the axis, then redo the hierarchy.

thanks for your help.

#4

You can alleviate that behaviour by using vertex parenting:

  1. Select child then select parent as normal
  2. Enter edit mode
  3. Select vertex
  4. Make Parent
#5

a tip is also depending how you view the 3d view…when planting an object the Z-axis is always against you watching…so from topview the Z-axis would go up…

and if you did it from sideview the Z-axis would point to the right…something like that…

#6

What about rotating the axis. Is it possible?

My object is an arachnid cyber egg thing and the legs are positioned diagonally when seen on the top view. Using front or side view I can’t rotate them correctly and the always end up at least a bit twisted, so I would benefit a lot from rotating the axis 45º.

Can this be done? If so, how?