topic Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis in Maya Forum

rotation vs 'rotation axis

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:13:43 GMT

Hi,

What's the difference between rotation and 'rotation axis' in attribute editor? And what is the purpose of the latter? Maya help is very sparing in the description.

Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis

t_chanma — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:29:19 GMT

Hi there,

Rotation refers to the current orientation of an object. A rotation axis is the reference point for that rotation.

So for example, suppose this block here has a current rotation of 0,0,0:

If I were to rotate it 90 degrees (the rotation) in the Z-axis (the rotation axis) I get this:

Whereas if I rotate it 90 degrees (the rotation) in the Y-axis (the rotation axis), I get this:

And if I rotate it 45 degrees in both, I get this:

So as you can see, the Rotation Axis is important for defining which direction your object will go when you rotate it.

Hope that helps.

Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 15:53:27 GMT

Saying 'rotation axis' (I mispelled it - it is 'rotate axis') I mean explicit term used in attribute editor from transform's node 'transform attributes'. I see no relation to pivot point here. I can change objects's pivot point and values from 'rotatre axis' stay the same.

What is that and what's the purpose of it? It seems unrelated to 'rotate pivot ?? X/Y/Z' non-keyable atributes.

Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis

t_chanma — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:40:05 GMT

Ah I see what you mean now. So the Rotate Axis basically lets you adjust an object's local frame of reference. So imagine a box that looked like this when everything is set to 0,0,0:

If you then turned the Rotate Axis by 45 degrees, the box would then look like this:

But, as far as the box is concerned, it is still 0,0,0.

To think about it another way, think about yourself sitting in a car. Imagine you turn 90 degrees to your right (maybe to talk to a passenger). This means you are now facing 0,0,90. However, if you turn the entire car 90 degrees to the right, then you yourself are still facing forward (0,0,0). This is essentially the same thing.

Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:44:05 GMT

OK - but does it have any use? The same way one can parent an object and have all transforms reset then or reset them without parenting.

Re: rotation vs 'rotation axis

t_chanma — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 17:52:16 GMT

Yes, it would essentially have all the same uses as if you parented that object under a transformed group node - but without having to add extra nodes to your scene. So for example, maybe you decide your rocketship model should have a horizontal orientation instead of a vertical one, or your planet needs to have an off-center oriention (diagonal).