@schreiberbike said:
Thanks for all the information. In all my sketching up, I've just let the axes fall where they may and everything seemed to work. Now I see how complex this can all be made.
Based on what I know now, I might have been able to fix what I messed up before, but it's too late.
What is the advantage of being able to have axes point in all different ways?
Another question: If I can make the blue axis line point to the horizon, what determines where the sky is?
SchreiberBike,
The advantages of rotated axes can be various things.
It can help you to position components or in constructing geometry.
There are more tools that do not act according to rotated axes (as with creating groups and components):
paint straight from the material browser on faces is aligned to the original global axes. (unless painted on groups or components). Sampled paint can act in a different way.
the smoove tool (without holding down shift) is always vertical according to the original global blue axis. Even when holding down shift the boundaries of the influenced endpoints is a vertical cylinder with chosen radius although the displacements are more or less perpendicular to the involved faces in the center of the circle)
text labels on endpoints show X-, Y-, and Z-values to the original global origin, even with rotated axes.
(most likely other features that I can't think of now).
What will be the sky when axes are rotated? ALWAYS where original blue is pointing at.
To reset axes right click on one of the axes and choose 'Reset'
Wo3Dan