topic Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript in 3ds Max Forum

Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

explosivepants — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 09:06:51 GMT

I'm trying to write a simple maxscript to rotate just the pivot of an object, i.e.: rotating with 'Affect Pivot Only' mode enabled. If I run the macro recorder it gives me this:

select $Root rotate $ (angleaxis -90 [1,0,0])

The problem however is that this code rotates the object, not the pivot only. I've tried adding:

maxOps.pivotMode = #pivotOnly

But it still rotates the object.

What am I missing here?

Thanks.

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

A娘 — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 06:08:39 GMT

delete

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

MartinBeh — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:05:53 GMT

From the online help:

-- define function for rotating only the pivot point fn RotatePivotOnly obj rotation = ( local rotValInv=inverse (rotation as quat) animate off in coordsys local obj.rotation*=RotValInv obj.objectoffsetpos*=RotValInv obj.objectoffsetrot*=RotValInv )

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

explosivepants — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:12:56 GMT

This is rotating the entire object and its child objects for me.

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

explosivepants — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:14:20 GMT

Sorry but this rotated the entire object and subobjects on my end for some reason.

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

MartinBeh — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:20:24 GMT

@explosivepants wrote:

This is rotating the entire object and its child objects for me.

Seems to work for me. Can you post a .max file?

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

MartinBeh — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:29:58 GMT

Here is a short demo:

and yes, the children will be rotated, too, as they are relative to the the parent's pivot, so if you rotate the pivot this will be inherited.

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

MartinBeh — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 11:47:41 GMT

Here is a slightly more complex demo with a hierarchy of objects:

fn RotatePivotOnly obj rotation = ( local rotValInv=inverse (rotation as quat) animate off in coordsys local obj.rotation*=RotValInv obj.objectoffsetpos*=RotValInv obj.objectoffsetrot*=RotValInv ) delete objects t = teapot pos:[10,20,30] rotation:(eulerangles 45 45 12) -- quickly create a hierarchy below the teapot for i = 1 to 5 do ( p = random (-150*[1,1,1]) (150*[1,1,1]) b = box pos:p if i<5 then ( b.parent = t ) else ( b.parent = $Box001 ) ) -- rotate teapot's pivot only toolMode.coordsys #local select t for i = 1 to 5 do ( format "rotation step %\n" i -- collect all children local cArray = for c in t.children collect c -- unlink all children for c in cArray do c.parent = undefined RotatePivotOnly t (EulerAngles 0 33 0) -- rotate 33 deg around Y -- re-parent the children again for c in cArray do c.parent = t redrawViews() sleep 0.3 )

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

A娘 — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 06:08:21 GMT

delete

Re: Rotating an object's pivot using maxscript

explosivepants — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 01:47:04 GMT

Thank you for this example. Looks like I need to unlink the child objects first before rotating then relink again.