Orient a joint’s local axes manually

To manually orient a joint’s local axes

1. Select the joint whose local rotation axes orientation you want to set.
2. Select Display > Transform Display > Local Rotation Axes.

   The current joint’s local rotation axes appear.

3. Click Select by Component Type in the Status line (toolbar) to turn on the Select by component type mode, then right-click the Select Miscellaneous components icon and turn on Local Rotation Axes.
   
   Note: Select by Component Type must be active for the Select Miscellaneous components icon to appear.

   You can now select the local rotation axis of your joint.

4. Select the local axis.
   
5. Do one of the following:
   • Select and use the Rotate Tool (hotkey: E) from the Tool Box.
   • If you want to enter precise orientation values for the local axis, you can use a MEL command like the following:

     	rotate -r -os 180 0 0;
     

     This command rotates the current joint’s local axes 180 degrees about its X-axis.

Related topics

• Understanding the attributes of a joint
• Orient a joint’s local axes automatically