Expert: Andre Hickman - 1/9/2007

Question
one of the things I've noticed about 3dsMax I don't really like is that, if an object is created in say... the side view. The axi are relative, so if you change to the front view, the x axis is actually the object's z axis, and vice versa... is there a way to change the axi to a... "world" system, so that they remain constant relative to the object, rather than to the view it was created in?

Answer
Sure...there are probably a few ways to do it. You can also choose which system to use, be it world space, object space, local systems, user defined etc. in the coordinate system pull-down menu.  

In order to manipulate an objects axis, without moving the object, go to the hierarchy menu, and click "effect pivot only".  The coordinate axis for the object is then able to be manipulated apart from the object.  You can rotate it, align it with other objects, etc....it's quite handy if you want to have something  moving in a circle. You can move the objects coordinat axis away from the object as far as you want.  

It is totally adjustable in position as well as orientation, in the hierarchy menu.

Cheers,
Andre