A new version of Cineversity has been launched. This legacy site and its tutorials will remain accessible for a limited transition period

Visit the New Cineversity
   
 
Rotating an Object So That a Point Aligns Exactly/Snaps to a World Axis
Posted: 24 September 2022 12:33 AM   [ Ignore ]  
Total Posts:  72
Joined  2021-08-07

I’ve had this need for a while and have tried many different techniques but have found nothing satisfactorily. The goal is to align an edge of an object with a world axis.

Assume you have created a five-sided object object and now want to rotate the object so the center, vertical edge aligns to the z-azis. The pivot-point/axis of the object is still at (0,0,0). Because of the configuration you cannot compute an accurate number of degrees to rotate.

The technique that one would need would be to be able to select a point on the edge that needs alignment and drag that point while having the object rotate around it’s axis. Then be able to snap the selected point to the needed world axis.

Am I missing something? 


Thanks Greg

Profile
 
 
Posted: 24 September 2022 04:25 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
Administrator
Avatar
Total Posts:  12043
Joined  2011-03-04

Hi Greg,

The “Axis Center” and “Measure and Construct” would be my suggestion here.

https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2023.0/en-us/Default.htm#html/11100.html?Highlight=axis center
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2023.0/en-us/Default.htm#html/TOOLMEASURE.html?TocPath=Tools Menu|Measure Tool|_____0

Here is a short demo of it, based on how I understood your model and your request for a numerical input of the rotation. You can measure the angle first (snap to Grid/Workplane and add the measured value into the coordinates. See image

There might be other options to use the axis center with selected points and move the axis with snapping. If you had shared a model and which edge needed to be aligned, I could have used it in the demo.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nue4r8uxqoxwzxd/Axis_and_Measure.mp4?dl=0

Please try as well the Axis Extension option:
https://help.maxon.net/c4d/2023.0/en-us/Default.htm#html/TOOLROTATE.html
The important part is that you hover only for a moment with CTRL+RightMouse until the green line appears
Demo
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nue4r8uxqoxwzxd/Axis_and_Measure.mp4?dl=0

Cheers

 Signature 

Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

NEW:

NEW: Cineversity [CV4]

Profile
 
 
Posted: 24 September 2022 04:33 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
Total Posts:  72
Joined  2021-08-07

Thanks so much Dr. Sassi!

I had suspected I was missing something simple. I got both methods to work. The one with the measurement tools is not really intuitive but it does work.

Cmd-RClicking on a rotation band to get the line really works well! I had been LClick-Dragging on a band to get another line but that line also rotates the axis and object so doesn’t apply to this. And knowing about it seemed to cause me to not read the rotate tool documentation carefully… lol… Once I did and experimented with the Cmd-RClick on a band I understood.

Thanks again and have a good weekend!

Greg

Profile
 
 
Posted: 24 September 2022 04:36 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
Administrator
Avatar
Total Posts:  12043
Joined  2011-03-04

You’re very welcome, Greg,

Thanks for the reply!

Have a great weekend as well.

 Signature 

Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

NEW:

NEW: Cineversity [CV4]

Profile
 
 
   
 
 
‹‹ Reset transform      Imports at 0.01 scale ››