In the Move Tool, Rotate Tool, and Scale Tool settings, you can select what axes to use for transformations. (To access these settings, double-click the respective tool in the toolbox.)
Note: You can only animate scale transformations that occur in Object space. However, if you scale an object on all three axes simultaneously, the object will always scale in Object space, regardless of the current setting.
Note: Scaling an object in any space other than Object space ignores that object’s scale limits. However, scaling an object on all three axes simultaneously, in any space, respects the object’s scale limits.
Note: You can only scale objects without components (for example, joints) in Object space.
Moving or scaling along a live object axis
You can set the Move Tool or the Scale Tool to move or scale objects along the axis of a live object.
To move an object along the axis of a live object
- Create a construction plane ().
- Rotate the plane.
- With the plane selected, click the Make Live icon
in the Status Line or select . - Create another object (here, a polygon torus).
- In the Toolbox, double-click the Move Tool icon.
- In the Move Settings section of the Move Tool options, change the Axis Orientation to Along Live Object Axis.
The Move Tool manipulator handles align to the construction plane.
- Do one of the following:
- Drag the handles to move the torus along the surface in two directions or at exact right angles to the surface.
- Drag the center handle or one of the plane handles.
The torus snaps to the construction plane and movement is constrained to the surface of the plane.
Orient the Move/Scale axis towards a component
You can set the Move Tool / Scale Tool to transform the selected object along an axis defined by selecting a vertex, edge, or face. See Set a custom axis orientation.