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Picking coordinate system of other objects does not seem to work

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Message 1 of 4
Anonymous
238 Views, 3 Replies

Picking coordinate system of other objects does not seem to work

Hello everyone.

I'm using 3DS Max 2012 and am trying to get a cube to rotate around the rotation system of a sphere sitting near by so that the cube looks like it's orbiting the sphere. The problem is that when I go to the coordinates menu and click on Pick, I select the sphere, but the rotation gizmo is still around the cube.

Here's a screenshot to show you what I mean.

Am I doing something wrong? Did I miss something? Thanks.



Sorry if this stretches the post. See how the sphere is where the coordinates are suppose to be, but they are still around the cube?

How do I make this get around the sphere?

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Message 2 of 4
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

Please attach your images because it does mess up the page formatting - people don't like having to scroll sideways to read your post.

Change the Transform Coordinates to "Use Transform Coordinate Centre" (flyout button next to the coordinates list).

However, a much better way is as follows:-
Create a Dummy, Align it (pivot-to-pivot) to the Sphere.
Select and Link the Dummy to the Sphere.
Select and Link the Cube to the Dummy.

Rotate the Dummy and the Cube will "orbit" the sphere. If you move the Sphere all 3 objects will move together, preserving their rotations and relative locations.

Max 2016 (SP1/EXT1)
Win7Pro x64 (SP1). i5-3570K @ 4.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX11.
nVidia GTX760 (2GB) (Driver 430.86).

Message 3 of 4
Anonymous
in reply to: Anonymous

Ah thank you. Much appreciated, and I've edited my post and attached the image.

I'll give that a shot.

EDIT:

Perfection! Itworked. (the first way) I'm just getting into Max, so while not as great, the first way works fine for what I'm trying to do at the moment. I do see what you mean about the rotation issues if I move the sphere. . I'll give that a go a bit later on.

Thanks again.
Message 4 of 4
Steve_Curley
in reply to: Anonymous

Thanks (for editing the post).
It will work the first way in the viewports, but as soon as you hit Autokey to record the rotation you'll find it won't work as you expect. The 2nd method is the way to do that kind of thing.

Max 2016 (SP1/EXT1)
Win7Pro x64 (SP1). i5-3570K @ 4.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX11.
nVidia GTX760 (2GB) (Driver 430.86).

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