Q:
Is it possible to use conveniently located pivot point centers for radial
arrays ?
This does not seem to work at all; rather, the
objects revert to the object center.
Must one use the coordinate system center only
? This seems very cumbersome.
(6/7/98) c
A:
Here is how it goes...
1.Create a Point Helper object (or a Dummy) at the location
for your transform center.
2.Make sure you are in Select mode (not Mover, Rotate
or Scale)
3.From the "Reference Coord.System" drop-down list,
select "Pick" and select the Point helper.
4.Set the "Use Transform..." flyout to "...Coordinate
Center" (red point outside of the rectangles)
5.Select the object and click on the "Array" icon
- it says:
"Array Transformation: Point01 Coordinates (Use
Transform Coordinate Center)"
6.Enter the desired values like an angle Value in
Z Incremental Rotate and a number of copies.
The array is going to be created around the Point
Helper.
A second possibility would be
to:
1.Create a Point Helper object (or a Dummy) at the location
for your transform center.
2.Click the "Select and Rotate" icon
3.From the "Reference Coord.System" drop-down list,
select "Pick" and select the Point helper.
4.Set the "Use Transform..." flyout to "...Coordinate
Center" (red point outside of the rectangles)
5.Select the object and Shift-click-drag the mouse
to rotate the object at the desired angle about the Point01
6.Enter in the "Clone Options" dialog the number
of objects to create.
The differences:
In the second case you set the angle interactively.
The Array function supports 1D,2D and 3D arrays,
and lets you uncheck the "Reorient" checkbox.
Hope this helps.
(Have you ever wondered what are these Point Helpers
for? ;o)
Addition:
This works with ANY object as Transformation center,
not only with Helper Objects.
Also, you can use the custom pivot transformation
center for modeling at Sub-Object level, too.