The Move Tool

Mistro11

I went through a few tutorials about this tool (move tool) and I still have some trouble manipulating objects along the axes I want it to go. In one tutorial it shows that I have to "feel" around to get the axes then hold shift to constrain it to that axes. I would love it if there was a way to directly select the axes instead of "feeling" my way to it. It's one thing when I'm moving an object with a lot of space around it but it gets difficult for me when the scene begins to get more populated with walls and such. Is there way or plugin that makes this task easier with precision? Thanks in advance.

Jim

Hi Mistro11,

After you have selected the Move tool and the geometry you want to move, you can tap one of the cursor keys to select and lock an axis.

TIG

When using Move you can lock/unlock it to an axis direction by pressing an Arrow-key [right=red,left=green,up=blue]..........

Mistro11

Thanks a million guys!!! Now back to modeling for me.

Dave R

In addition to locking the move direction whether with the cursor keys or the Shift key, make sure you grab the entity you are moving by some logical point that will correspond to some other point in the model. The tool will allow you to grab an entity anywhere but if you want to make a precise move relative to something else in the model, you'll find it easier picking a specific corner, endpoint or perhaps midpoint of an edge.

Box

And don't forget the most common thing people miss, Click and release and move then click again. Click and drag doesn't work so well.

Mistro11

I been experimenting with the move tool. I made a 3D cross I would like to place on top of a small area over the entrance that's a rectangle. This rectangle is about 3" square. I managed to place the cross on top but it was not in the exact position I intended. When I tried to adjust it's position by moving it, it was attached to the rectangle and the top of the rectangle moved with it. I had to undo which placed the cross back at it's original place. How can I get a precise centered placement or what am I missing?

TIG

Mistro11

Generally all 'raw' geometry sticks together - this can be very useful when moving things around, but also annoying [as you found] when you don't want the effect.

You can 'Group' selected geometry etc and it then moves separated from things it might otherwise appear to touch. So if you make your 'cross' a Group then it's easily moved around without any 'stickiness'...

You might also consider making the 'cross' as a 'Component' - which is made similar to a group but it's then available to pick off the Component Browser Model tab later on if you want to insert extra instances of it. The advantage of doing things this way is if you then have several of these placed in your model you can edit just one of them - perhaps to make it another size - and all instances will adjust automatically to match... Also 'components' can be set to 'glue' onto surfaces and even 'cut holes' - which might be useful if you want to place these markers on the planes of floors and walls without worrying about rotating them in 3D beforehand...

Dave R

Mistro11, once you've made the group or component as TIG describes, you can use guidelines placed with the tape measure tool to identify a point on the 3" square where you want some point on the cross to be. Perhaps that's a bottom corner or the midpoint on the bottom edge. It's also possible to use inferencing to center the cross on the square although guidelines may be easier depending upon exactly what you want to do.

Mistro11

Thanks for the tips Dave and TIG!
How did I forget the tape measure??? That's one of my favorite tools. I actually used the top and side views to help as well as making it into a component. I have to practice inferencing more to get the hang of it. I got it where I want it but I know I could've done a better and faster job at getting it done. My scene is not finished yet so I know I'm in for another one of these move operations.

BTW, I just made a copy of one of my windows. I got the top row to cut through the walls so I could delete where the glass will be. With my current window it is not cutting through, The wall around it and in the window remains one face. What will make the difference? I have no idea what I did the first time. I do see the new window has gone through to the other side though.

Dave R

I did the video here quite awhile ago. Perhaps it will be helpful in your coming to terms with the Move tool.

Mistro11

@dave r said:

I did the video here quite awhile ago. Perhaps it will be helpful in your coming to terms with the Move tool.

Thank you Dave. I just watched your video and it cleared up some things for me. I'm bookmarking it as a reference in case I forget what to do again at any time.

Dave R

Glad it helped. There might be more there that you'll find useful, too. Feel free to look around.