Moving Objects/Polys Along a Line? (3ds max)

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:20 pm

I know how to slide objects by the X, Y, and Z axis, but is there a way to make a custom axis? Like, lets say 40° X, 15° Y, and 15° Z, and it would move only on that axis. I need it to align to an existing edge as well.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:12 pm

Hierarchy Panel>Pivot>

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:05 pm

I've known about that, but I cannot do two things:

1. I can't move along that pivot; when I go to move vertices or the whole object it still moves along the normal X, Y, and Z axes.

2. I cannot align the pivot to an edge. This is incredibly important. Simply having a protractor tool in it would be cool, but I don't know where one is if it even exists.

Foil · Post by **Foil** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:09 pm

Why not just rotate the whole drawing so that the desired axis is on X, do what you need to, and then rotate back?

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:13 pm

Try the bottom left setting in that first drop down menu. This will work with mesh or any object. Your view port center will be the axis point.

BUBBALOU · Post by **BUBBALOU** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:35 pm

Don't forget to use object snap, when your done click the select tool then choose rotate, it will pivot on the axis. then go into constraints and if you need to restrict the axis to specific movement.

If you made a mistake, it will be apparent in the scale tool if used

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:30 pm

I still cannot get it to work. Here's kinda a diagram of what I'm doing. I have the pivot rotated like so:

When I use the move tool (or even the rotate or scale tools), I want it to be based off of that pivot, basically the green line. What happens is it still sticks to the XYZ of the world, the red line. I've tried moving the whole object, and using edit vertices in the Edit Mesh mode.

For the project I'm working on I want the teal colored object's top line to connect to the red line, so I can weld the parts together (I know the corresponding segments are the same length, but their rotation is off):

And for some reason I cannot seem to figure it out with all your help

Also, with the pivot, I'd like to align an axis with an edge, so it would be perfectly parallel with the edge.

Sorry, I know I'm confused and confusing.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:30 am

Dakatsu wrote:When I use the move tool (or even the rotate or scale tools), I want it to be based off of that pivot, basically the green line.

You see the "view" drop down menu next to the scale tool? Switch it to local.

BUBBALOU · Post by **BUBBALOU** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:20 am

These functions are included in most every 3dsmax fundamental video tutorials, so finding it by itself online is kind of hard

(enjoy the crappy accent)

knowing the tools (near the end is pivots and angle snaps)

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video ... 8001/view/

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 2:53 pm

Okay, nearly perfect, my only issue now is that I want to snap the rotation to the edge, or find a way to measure an angle in degrees in 3ds max.

One more step, but thanks for the help!

BUBBALOU · Post by **BUBBALOU** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 6:07 pm

it's in the last video, snap to midpoint option, then use the angle tool at the end of the video

Dakatsu · Post by **Dakatsu** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 10:08 pm

The problem with that is it doesn't snap one edge to another.

In this example I just want to align these two planes perfectly.

I can rotate it and eyeball it, but I have no idea how to make it so it is exact. If I could measure angles in max it would just require some math to determine the rotation required to make these two planes parallel, but unless there is a way to do that, I need a snap tool that can basically align these two edge pieces perfectly when I rotate it.

They both share the same origin vertex, and all the segments are the same length.

Moving Objects/Polys Along a Line? (3ds max)

Moving Objects/Polys Along a Line? (3ds max)

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