Figure 16: The "Transform" tool provides a way to precisely specify the location, scale and so on for a 3D object. It also provides options for "snap-assembly" of objects for scene composition.
The "Transform" tool allows you to specify precise values for the position, size and rotation of individual objects, vertices for spline manipulation, lights and so on.If you have an object selected, and choose "Attribute - Transform", that object's transform information is displayed in the tool. If you select another, the tool updates to show the latter object's transform.ModeAt any given time, you can edit a single aspect of the object'stransform:Translate: The object's position in its world space. If the object is part of a group, the position is in the space of the grouped parent. Scale: This is the factor in X, Y and Z, by which the original size of the object is scaled. For example, a "Primitive" cube has a default size of 2. Therefore to make the cube's width be 10, set the X scale to 5.Global Size: If you are only concerned with the actual size of the object, rather than the scale, you can set the "Global size". For the example above, you can set "Global Size" X value to 10 directly.Rotate: This specifies the rotation of the object with respect to the X, Y and Z axes. The rotation is specified in degrees by which the object is rotated (360 degrees is a complete rotation). (Specifying the orientation of the object in terms of X, Y and Z rotations is known to the techie types (!) as "Euler Angles")The tool has 3 thumb-wheels and text boxes for showing X, Y and Z values (the 3 orthogonal directions in 3D space). These get automatically updated depending on object or tool selection, and the Mode selected. The fields also get updated when you move the objects or vertices using 3D manipulators. You can move the thumb wheels left or right, or type in precise values in the text box, and press "Ok".Move OptionThis option applies when more than object is selected, and any one object is moved using the 3D manipulator.Together: By default, all selected objects move, scale or rotate "Together" according to the manipulation of one of the objects.Separate: Only the object being manipulated changes.Snap To Object: This object is used to accurately position objects relative to each other. The object being moved snaps to the nearest selected object in the direction of movement. In other words, when you let go of the manipulator, the object tries to continue moving along the same path and stops when it hits another selected object. You can use this in conjunction with constrained motion in the 3D manipulator to accurately position objects with respect to each other.Snap To Object Rotate: This is the same as "Snap To Object", but it also rotates the moving object so that the surfaces of the two objects in the moving direction lie against each other. Snap To Grid: This will snap the bounding box of the object to nearest snap grid location along the direction of movement. Edit FunctionsYou can also do the following to the current transform being edited:Copy: Copy it to a buffer for pasting onto another object.Paste: Paste the transform buffer to current object. This is useful when you want to apply the same rotation or scale to many objects.Reset: This will set the object to its default position, scale and rotation.
