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Synopsis

rotate( float float float [objects] , [absolute=boolean], [centerPivot=boolean], [componentSpace=boolean], [constrainAlongNormal=boolean], [deletePriorHistory=boolean], [euler=boolean], [forceOrderXYZ=boolean], [objectCenterPivot=boolean], [objectSpace=boolean], [orientAxes=[angle, angle, angle]], [pivot=[linear, linear, linear]], [preserveChildPosition=boolean], [preserveGeometryPosition=boolean], [preserveUV=boolean], [reflection=boolean], [reflectionAboutBBox=boolean], [reflectionAboutOrigin=boolean], [reflectionAboutX=boolean], [reflectionAboutY=boolean], [reflectionAboutZ=boolean], [reflectionTolerance=float], [relative=boolean], [rotateX=boolean], [rotateXY=boolean], [rotateXYZ=boolean], [rotateXZ=boolean], [rotateY=boolean], [rotateYZ=boolean], [rotateZ=boolean], [symNegative=boolean], [translate=boolean], [worldSpace=boolean], [xformConstraint=string])

Note: Strings representing object names and arguments must be separated by commas. This is not depicted in the synopsis.

rotate is undoable, NOT queryable, and NOT editable.

The rotate command is used to change the rotation of geometric objects. The rotation values are specified as Euler angles (rx, ry, rz). The values are interpreted based on the current working unit for Angular measurements. Most often this is degrees.

The default behaviour, when no objects or flags are passed, is to do a absolute rotate on each currently selected object in the world space.

Return value

None

Related

move, scale, xform, xformConstraint

Flags

absolute, centerPivot, componentSpace, constrainAlongNormal, deletePriorHistory, euler, forceOrderXYZ, objectCenterPivot, objectSpace, orientAxes, pivot, preserveChildPosition, preserveGeometryPosition, preserveUV, reflection, reflectionAboutBBox, reflectionAboutOrigin, reflectionAboutX, reflectionAboutY, reflectionAboutZ, reflectionTolerance, relative, rotateX, rotateXY, rotateXYZ, rotateXZ, rotateY, rotateYZ, rotateZ, symNegative, translate, worldSpace, xformConstraint
Long name (short name) Argument types Properties
absolute(a) boolean create
Perform an absolute operation.
centerPivot(cp) boolean create
Let the pivot be the center of the bounding box of all objects
componentSpace(cs) boolean create
Rotate in local component space
constrainAlongNormal(xn) boolean create
When true, transform constraints are applied along the vertex normal first and only use the closest point when no intersection is found along the normal.
deletePriorHistory(dph) boolean create
If true then delete the history prior to the current operation.
euler(eu) boolean create
Modifer for -relative flag that specifies rotation values should be added to current XYZ rotation values.
forceOrderXYZ(fo) boolean create
When true, euler rotation value will be understood in XYZ rotation order not per transform node basis.
objectCenterPivot(ocp) boolean create
Let the pivot be the center of the bounding box of each object
objectSpace(os) boolean create
Perform rotation about object-space axis.
orientAxes(oa) [angle, angle, angle] create
Euler axis for orientation.
pivot(p) [linear, linear, linear] create
Define the pivot point for the transformation
preserveChildPosition(pcp) boolean create
When true, transforming an object will apply an opposite transform to its child transform to keep them at the same world-space position. Default is false.
preserveGeometryPosition(pgp) boolean create
When true, transforming an object will apply an opposite transform to its geometry points to keep them at the same world-space position. Default is false.
preserveUV(puv) boolean create
When true, UV values on rotated components are projected across the rotation in 3d space. For small edits, this will freeze the world space texture mapping on the object. When false, the UV values will not change for a selected vertices. Default is false.
reflection(rfl) boolean create
To move the corresponding symmetric components also.
reflectionAboutBBox(rab) boolean create
Sets the position of the reflection axis at the geometry bounding box
reflectionAboutOrigin(rao) boolean create
Sets the position of the reflection axis at the origin
reflectionAboutX(rax) boolean create
Specifies the X=0 as reflection plane
reflectionAboutY(ray) boolean create
Specifies the Y=0 as reflection plane
reflectionAboutZ(raz) boolean create
Specifies the Z=0 as reflection plane
reflectionTolerance(rft) float create
Specifies the tolerance to findout the corresponding reflected components
relative(r) boolean create
Perform a operation relative to the object's current position
rotateX(x) boolean create
Rotate in X direction
rotateXY(xy) boolean create
Rotate in X and Y direction
rotateXYZ(xyz) boolean create
Rotate in all directions (default)
rotateXZ(xz) boolean create
Rotate in X and Z direction
rotateY(y) boolean create
Rotate in Y direction
rotateYZ(yz) boolean create
Rotate in Y and Z direction
rotateZ(z) boolean create
Rotate in Z direction
symNegative(smn) boolean create
When set the component transformation is flipped so it is relative to the negative side of the symmetry plane. The default (no flag) is to transform components relative to the positive side of the symmetry plane.
translate(t) boolean create
When true, the command will modify the node's translate attribute instead of its rotateTranslate attribute, when rotating around a pivot other than the object's own rotate pivot.
worldSpace(ws) boolean create
Perform rotation about global world-space axis.
xformConstraint(xc) string create
Apply a transform constraint to moving components.
  • none - no constraint
  • surface - constrain components to the surface
  • edge - constrain components to surface edges
  • live - constraint components to the live surface

Flag can appear in Create mode of command Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
Flag can appear in Query mode of command Flag can have multiple arguments, passed either as a tuple or a list.

Python examples

import maya.cmds as cmds

# create a circle and grouped cone to rotate;
cmds.circle( n='circle1' )
cmds.cone( ax=(0, 1, 0), n='cone1' )
cmds.group( 'cone1', n='group1' )

# rotate the active objects 45 degrees about the world space X axis
# centered at each object's rotate pivot point.
cmds.select( 'cone1' )
cmds.rotate( '45deg', 0, 0, r=True )

# Set the rotation values for group1 to (90, 0, 0). This is
# equivalent to:
#   cmds.setAttr('group1.rx',90)
#   cmds.setAttr('group1.ry',0)
#   cmds.setAttr('group1.rz',0)
cmds.rotate( '90deg', 0, 0, 'group1' )

# rotate the circle 180 degrees about its local space Y axis
# centered at the rotate pivot point 1 0 0.
cmds.rotate( 0, '180deg', 0, 'circle1', pivot=(1, 0, 0) )