Align Pivot orientation from one object to another?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I'm afraid I might not know the exact terminology to as my question. To put it simply I want to have the Y axis of one of the balls pivot points pointing exactly to the centre of other ball. So I've tried using the align tools with pivots but can't seem to find any other options, maybe there's another way around it?

Thanks,
Tim

[Anonymous]

Hi Timothy, 

Are you trying to do something like this?

If you change the reference coordinate system to local, you can transform your object along it's pivot point, as opposed to view(default) which is always up and down. You can then snap transform to align, or use the Align Selection tool depending on what you're doing.

There are different reference coordinate systems that might be helpful: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/3DSMa...

[leeminardi]

First, as stated earlier, make sure the Local coordinate system is active.

1. Create a box a bit bigger than the ball and use the Align to to set its position and orientation to be the same as the ball (the one you want to change the pivot of).

2.  Select the box and go to Animation, Constraints, LookAt Constraint and click the ball you want the y axis to point to.  Also check the Y box option for the  Select LookAt Axis .

3.  Select the ball.  The goal is to make the pivot of the ball the same as the box.  You would think you could now go to the hierarchy tab and click Affect Pivot Only and then Align to Object and click the Box but I found the change is not saved.  So, do the following instead.

4. Open the Transform Type-In (F12 or Edit, Transform Type-In).

5. Click the box and then the Select and Rotate tool.

6.  Change to the World coordinate system and write down the angles for the x, y, z rotations.

7. Select the ball and click Affect Pivot Only in the Hierarchy tab and then enter the three rotation values and then uncheck Affect Pivot Only.

This process changes the orientation of the pivot without changing the orientation of the ball.  If you just want to change the orientation of the ball including the pivot then just use align in step 3 to align the ball to the box. 

[Anonymous]

hello i'm Precious i'm a university student and i'm trying to create an animation on 3ds max for my exam project, i've searched various sites for answers for this problem, but i haven't found anything that coincides with my problem. Unfortunately I am not able to understand all the English words, therefore, Mr./Miss. leeminardi I kindly ask you if you had the possibility to create a video about the solution that she kindly shared so as to be able to help not only me but also other people, for example like me "ignorant in the English language" who visit this forum every day.

[Anonymous]

basically those blue objects are handles that I created, I would like to make them rotate vertically around the gray box without changing the measurements of the objects in question.

[leeminardi]

It is not clear what you want to do.  You say that you would like the rotate the handles "vertically" about the gray box.  Vertical usually means in the direction of the world z axis.  I think you mean about an axis perpendicular to the surface of the gray box to which the handle sits.  Yes?

Can you show the current orientation of the pivot (Local coordinate system) of a handle?  Better yet, post a copy of the max file of the handle.

[Anonymous]

i will send you a small video so that you can understand wat I'm trying to say

[precious_privATE_collabs]

as you can see the first seconds of the video, that would be my goal I would like the handles to rotate at the same speed as the cube in the same direction, but unfortunately once the "auto" command has been started the handles start rotating with a different speed to the cube where they should be placed without moving and beyond the video started with a higher speed the handles turn completely at will without a guideline by changing the measures I had prepared

[leeminardi]

@precious_privATE_collabs it is impossible to determine from the video how you have set up the model and that's why I requested you  post a Max file.  It is not clear if the 4 handles are part of a group or how they are linked to other objects. Are the handles linked to the box? 

Please post a Max file.

[precious_privATE_collabs]

no they are not in a group and they anr not linkend to the box

[leeminardi]

Can you save the Max file in a 2023 format and repost?  Thank you.

[precious_privATE_collabs]

yes

[leeminardi]

The 4 handles (maniglia 1to 4) are linked to the box (blocco). To rotate the collection of objects as one  unit you should rotate blocco and the other objects will follow accordingly.  You have the handles keyframed instead of blocco.  If you want to rotate a handle relative to blocco then you should place the pivot for the handles at the their base, not at the center of blocco as shown here.

When you want to keyframe the rotation of a handle make sure the LOCAL coordinate systems is active.

Tip, to help in the positioning of the pivot, add a line from one corner of the base to the opposite corner then use object snap midpoint to move the pivot as needed.

[precious_privATE_collabs]

okay thank you very much, now I will try and I will let you know