Rotation problem with object

[Anonymous]

I've got stupid simple question. How do I make object to rotate on its own X axis and don't use world orientation ?

I want to do rotate animation for helicoter's back rotor and I'm struggling with this problem.

[keith112]

Hi,

So first of all I suggest Freezing the transformations of the object, if you haven't already. It should reset the pivot.
Then hit insert and place the pivot where you want the rotor. Use the snapping options to get better results. Then hit insert again when you're happy with the pivot positioning. Hope this helps

[saihtam · Accepted solution]

Use joints. That makes it sooooo much easier to handle the orientation and position for things like this. Make a joint in the center of the base, and a child joint at the top of the rotor, do a joint orient and if your placement is correct then it will rotate perfectly.

Either skin up the objects or use constraints. I recommend using a parent constraint as that's just much easier for Maya to handle if you have a lot of highres objects. Preferably you should have the different pieces grouped so that you only have to use one constraint on a group and you're done.