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3ds Max Pivot Positioning???

MDuncan3D
polycounter lvl 6
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MDuncan3D polycounter lvl 6
I'm trying to switch over from rigging in Maya to 3ds Max. 

One of my favorite features in Maya is the ability to grab a group of vertices, find their perfect center pivot, and snap a joint to this position. I usually do this by selecting the vertices and then creating a cluster that acts basically like a placeholder. 

What is the Max equivalent to this action? How can I snap a joint to the center point of a group of vertices? 

Thanks,
-Monica

Replies

  • monster
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    monster polycounter
    You can create a script that places a helper object at the vertex selection center. Then manually align the bones to the helpers using pivot snap. When you are done run a one line script to delete all the points.

    1. --//USES THE WORKING PIVOT TO CREATE A TEMP POINT OBJECT
    2. (
    3. --//SET GIZMO TO SELECTION CENTER
    4. toolMode.selectionCenter()
    5. --//ENABLE WORKING PIVOT
    6. workingPivot.UseMode = true
    7. --//RESET WORKING PIVOT TO THE SELECTION CENTER
    8. actionMan.executeAction 0 "40845"
    9. --//CREATE TEMP POINT HELPER AT THE WORKING PIVOT
    10. point transform:(workingPivot.getTM()) name:(uniqueName "Temp")
    11. --//DISABLE WORKING PIVOT
    12. workingPivot.UseMode = false
    13. )
    14.  
    15. --//DELETE ALL TEMP OBJECTS
    16. --delete $Temp*
    The workflow would look like this...

  • MDuncan3D
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    MDuncan3D polycounter lvl 6
    Thank you! This script works perfectly for what I needed. 
  • McGreed
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    McGreed polycounter lvl 16
    Yeah, I remember that XSI had an awesome temporary pivot you could place on your selection with just a key press, was really good and I wish that 3ds max had the same, with the same workflow.
  • monster
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    monster polycounter
    @McGreed set Use Working Pivot and Reset Working Pivot to hotkeys.

    Use Working Pivot will enable the temporary pivot and align it to your object. If you have a subobject selection tap Reset Working Pivot to align to the selection. When done tap Use again to turn it off.

    I actually put those two operations in and Edit Working Pivot in a quad menu because I use them so often.
  • McGreed
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    McGreed polycounter lvl 16
    Does it allow you to activate and change and snap to vertex while while in sub mode? I guess one could create shortcuts for it as well, need to test it out and see if it's the same as XSI's.
  • monster
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    monster polycounter
    @McGreed  You might be interested in the  FB Sub-Obj Pivot script by Funky Bunnies. http://www.funkybunnies3d.com/tools.php
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