Orient Joint Options

Orient Joint options

Orient Joint to World
When on, all joints you create with the Joint Tool are set to align with the world frame. Each joint’s local axes have the orientation of the world axis, and the other Orient Joint settings are disabled. When off, you can specify the joint alignment using the other Orient Joint settings described below.
Primary Axis
Lets you specify the primary local axis for the joint. This is the axis that points down the bone that extends from this joint.
Tip: If you want a joint to rotate about a particular axis, that axis must not be the Primary Axis. For example, a joint cannot rotate about its local X-axis if its Primary Axis orientation is set to X.
Secondary Axis
Lets you specify which local axis to use as the secondary orientation for the joint. Select one of the two remaining axes. To have Maya determine the Secondary Axis automatically, set to None.
Note: You cannot set the same axis for both the Primary and Secondary orientation. If you set either option to use an axis already specified, Maya automatically switches the other option to use a different axis.
Secondary Axis World Orientation
Lets you set the direction (positive or negative) in which the secondary axis points.
Auto orient secondary axis
Orients the secondary axis using neighbouring joints.
Activating Auto orient secondary axis also sets root joints to the plane defined by the child/grand-child joints and zeroes the joint orientation of terminal joints (that is, joints without children, so they match their parent's orientation).
Orient children of selected joints
When on, the Orient Joint Options affect all the joints below the current joint in the skeleton’s hierarchy. When off, only the current joint is affected by the Orient Joint Options.
Reorient the local scale axes
When on, the local scale axes of the current joint are also reoriented.
Local Rotation Axes
Use the Local Rotation Axes options to manage the behavior of rotation axes:
Modify

Selects the rotateAxis and activates the Rotate tool for selected joints.

Freeze

Locks the rotateAxis of selected joints to the joint orientation. Same as reorient/zero local scale axes.

Toggle

Show/hides the local rotation axes on selected joints.

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