Rotating objects in 3D space
You can rotate a 3D object created with the Extrude & Bevel or Revolve effects, or you can rotate a 2D object in 3D space. You can also adjust a 3D or 2D object's perspective. Keep in mind that there are object x, y, and z axes and global x, y, and z axes. The object axes remain relative to an object's position in its 3D space. The global axes remain fixed relative to the computer screen; the x axis lies horizontally, the y axis lies vertically, and the z axis lies perpendicular to the computer screen. Object axes (in black) move with the object; global axes (in gray) are fixed.
To rotate a 2D or 3D object: - Select the object.
- Do one of the following:
- To rotate a 2D object, choose Effect > 3D > Rotate.
- To rotate an existing 3D object, select the object and then double-click the effect in the Appearance palette.
- To set the angle of rotation, do any of the following:
- For unconstrained rotation, drag a track cube face. The front of the object is represented by the track cube's blue face, the object's top and bottom faces are light grey, the sides are medium grey, and the back face is dark grey.
- Choose a preset position from the Position menu.
- To constrain the rotation along a global axis, hold down Shift while dragging horizontally (global y axis) or vertically (global x axis). To rotate the object around the global z axis, drag in the blue band that surrounds the track cube.
- To constrain the rotation around an object axis, drag an edge on the track cube. The pointer changes to double-sided arrow
, and the cube edge changes color to identify the axis around which the object will rotate. Red edges represent the object's x axis, green edges represent the object's y axis, and blue edges represent the object's z axis. - Enter values between -180 and 180 in the horizontal (x) axis
, vertical (y) axis , and depth (z) axis text boxes.
- To adjust the perspective, enter a value between 0 and 160 in the Perspective text box. A smaller lens angle is similar to a telephoto camera lens; a larger lens angle is similar to a wide-angle camera lens.
Note: A lens angle that is higher than 150 may result in objects extending beyond your point of view and appearing distorted.
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