To open the Rotate Tool, click the Rotate Tool 
icon in the Tool Box.
Rotate Tool options
Rotate Settings
- Axis Orientation
- Object
-
Rotates the object about the object space axes.
Note:
In Maya 2015 and earlier versions, Object mode was Local mode. - World
-
Rotates the object about the world space XYZ axes. In this mode the rings never change.
- Component
-
Rotates selected vertices or CVs about the average of their combined normals.
- Gimbal
-
Changes only the X, Y, or Z rotation value. In local and world modes, the XYZ constraint rings may change more than one of the rotation XYZ channels.
- Custom
-
Lets you set a custom axis orientation. Custom axis orientation is automatically selected when you activate custom pivot editing mode. The offset coordinates update as you edit the orientation of the custom pivot. See Activate custom pivot editing mode.
- Set Orientation to Component
-
Lets you orient the Rotate Tool's X-axis by selecting a component in the scene. See Set a custom axis orientation.
Note: Set Orientation to Component replaces Set to Point, Set to Edge, and Set to Face. - Edit Pivot
-
Activates pivot editing mode. See Activate custom pivot editing mode.
- Reset
-
Resets the custom pivot's position and orientation. See Reset the custom pivot.
- Rotate pivot
-
Lets you rotate object components about the object's pivot.
- Default
- Lets you rotate the selected objects about each object's individual pivot point. Note: In component selection mode, all objects rotate about a pivot point in the center of the selection.
- Object
- Lets you rotate the selected objects about each object's individual pivot point.
- Manip
- Lets you rotate all selected objects using the manipulator as a pivot point.
- Discrete rotate
-
The Discrete Rotate setting enables the Relative option and lets you specify the amount an object is rotated in increments (determined by the Step Size value).
- Relative
-
While Maya rotates the object, relative spacing is maintained. Turn this option off if you don’t want to preserve relative spacing while rotating.
- Step size
-
Enter a value to determine the amount an object is rotated in increments when the Snap Rotate option is selected.
- Center as virtual Trackball
-
If this option is turned on, dragging the area inside the rotation manipulators (the center) rotates the object or component. If this option is turned off, you can only rotate the object or component by dragging directly on the rotation manipulators, also allowing you to select objects or components by clicking in the area bounded by the rotation manipulators.
This is useful when you want to add to a component selection. With Center as virtual trackball off, you can immediately add to the component selection even if the component is within the area bounded by the rotation manipulators. Otherwise, you would have to change manipulators to the Select Tool, shift-select to make your selection, and choose the Rotate Tool again.
- Preserve Child Transform
-
When this option is selected, moving a parent object does not move its children.
- Preserve UVs
-
When this option is selected, moving components in the scene view causes the corresponding UVs to move accordingly in the UV space. The net result is that the texture does not become warped.
- Pin Component Pivot
-
When on, locks your edits to the custom pivot in place, letting you use the same custom pivot to transform different components on one mesh. See Pin the custom pivot.Note: Pivot pinning is only available when a custom pivot is set. See Change the pivot point.
Common Selection Options
- Selection Style
- Determines what happens when you drag the mouse in the scene panel.
- Marquee
-
When you drag your cursor over components in the scene, a marquee appears. When you release the mouse button, components within the marquee are selected.
Tip: You can quickly toggle selection styles. Holding Tab after making a marquee selection temporarily activates Tab Drag select, letting you quickly add and remove components from your existing marquee selection. See Resize a marquee selection with drag select. - Camera based selection
-
When on, you can only select components that are not obstructed by other components relative to the current camera.
- Drag
-
When you drag the mouse in the scene panel, components under the cursor are selected.
If Camera based paint selection is enabled, you can only select components that are not obstructed by other components relative to the current camera.
- Highlight backfaces
-
When on, backfacing components are highlighted for preselection and can be selected. When this option is off, backfacing components can still be selected, but they are not highlighted for preselection. See Highlight components before selecting them.