modo absolute coordinates

oobersli

Ok, so spent most of my career in max and I'm hitting a brickwall with modo on this. about a week into modo and I've got down the basics and figuring out the equivalents of my workflow from max.

So the big question is.. does modo have an absolute coordinate system like max? Its a tad odd for me that once you create an object in modo its created there and thats the pivot *correct me if I'm wrong*?

I'm used to in max that I create a box where ever real quick. then I can zero out the coords and such. I know that you can do this in mod when you first create the object, but once done I can't seem to find a a way to move it to a specific place that I'd wish.

And I have found the vert.set command, but its useless if I want to move an entire object. Would appreciate any help or guidance on this!!!

repete

This might help (if I understand your question that is)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_p7I6VeHAo"]Modo quick tip: custom pivot Action Center - YouTube[/ame]

or

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMsbABKkuQ"]Moving Objects in modo - YouTube[/ame]

oobersli

eh, sorta? I usually model pretty exact rather than just moving things by eye so the ability to move meshes to any xyz point in space.

once I move an object with the transform move tool and then go back to move.. it always dispays 0,0,0. Its more like the offset mode max has.great if you want to move something by exact number, but a pain to move it back to a specific point.

Example.. I want to move a box to 2.34 on the x axis.. but then I decided I just want to move it to 2 later on. I have to remember that its at 2.34 in modo so I can do a -.34 move to bring it to 2. Thats dumb. In max I move it to 2.34 and then anytime I click on the model it gives me the world coords still, so just type in 2 and it moves it for me.

so after typing all of this.. I think I found something sorta like what I want in the channels tab. of course, this still requires that I zero the pivot the center of the mesh, unless I zero it out when first created.

I'm still waiting to see why modo is faster and better than max :poly124:

WarrenM

This is something I got hung up on too. I recommend letting it go. I was never able to find a solution although it didn't tarnish my opinion of Modo. It's a WONDERFUL modeling app...

PolyHertz

oobersli wrote: »

So the big question is.. does modo have an absolute coordinate system like max?

It does, but it's only available through the Work Plane. So what you would do is set the work plane to where ever you wanted your selection to be (via 'Work Plane' > 'Reset Work Plane' if you want it at the world center, or 'Edit Work Plane' if somewhere else), then use Model > Basic > center selected > all.

I don't really understand the Pivot and center either, it's probably best to just ignore them and use the 'Action Center' for everything (unless you need to export with a pivot set to somewhere other then 0,0,0).

Farfarer

On the right hand side will be the transform options of the item itself. You can edit them from there. Properties tab beneath the Item List, Transform section.

Is that what you mean or are you after being able to move elements of an item to a specific point?

MrOneTwo

The thing is that in Modo you rarely move the 'Item' object. If you mess around with transform options Farfarer is talking about you can see you move the whole 'Item' object. It means you are moving 'Center' of this object around. In Modo you usually tranform polygons inside 'Item' object. Also when you create object it's easy to throw it somewhere in the scene but the center and the pivot will always be 0,0,0.

If you think about it it is exactly like in 3ds max. I just found that in Modo it is way more apprent than in Max. I hope you understand what I mean

edit: center the 'center' to the polygons and then you can move the object around using Transform tab Farfarer is talking about just like in 3ds max.

Rojo

Absolute positioning isn't a strong point within modo. Item Mode retains editable position and rotation in absolute space, but Component Mode isn't capable of retaining or tracking that once you drop the selection.

PolyHertz suggested a great workaround, that's what you need to do, although it's a bit cumbersome if you're doing this constantly. I typically just setup a grid or use geometry snapping.

This seems like it would be scriptable though, by first creating bounding box volume of your selection, then prompting for a new workplane position, then automatically centering the bounding box to those coordinates, deleting the bounding box, and reseting the workplane back to default. Maybe.