reset Xform question
it,s true it save me a lot of headache in max.
but what it actually do anyway? it,s still beyond my knowledge atm.
FYI my current ( char modeling ) workflow are :
- draw a box
- convert to editable poly
- reset xform!
- add symetry modifier
- extrude / connect here and there
- reset xform!
- convert to editable poly
- add unwrap modifier
- unwrapping..
- reset xform!
- convert to editable poly
- etc etc ( major pain )
am i doing it right? can somebody just write a script so my mesh will "reset"
itself every time i.. well.. blink ?
but what it actually do anyway? it,s still beyond my knowledge atm.
FYI my current ( char modeling ) workflow are :
- draw a box
- convert to editable poly
- reset xform!
- add symetry modifier
- extrude / connect here and there
- reset xform!
- convert to editable poly
- add unwrap modifier
- unwrapping..
- reset xform!
- convert to editable poly
- etc etc ( major pain )
am i doing it right? can somebody just write a script so my mesh will "reset"
itself every time i.. well.. blink ?
Replies
It resets the transform matrix (position, rotation and scale) for that object it also realigns your pivot to the world.
Basically 3dsmax is busy remembering what your object started as, and what you've done to it since. When you reset, it dumps that data and treats it as whatever object it collapses too and it zeros everything out (position, rotation and scale).
So instead of:
Box
Position: (0x 0y 0z) (0x 255y -11.6z) (75 -64.2y 95z)
Rotation (0x 0y 0z) (0.023x -57y 0z) (180 0.23y -57z)
Scale: (0x 0y 0z) (1x 0y 0) (0.5 0y 0z)
EditMesh
EditPoly
You now have:
EditPoly
Position: (75x -64.2y 95z)
Rotation: (0x 0y 0z)
Scale: (0x 0y 0z)
Note: The position didn't zero out but the history was removed. That's because the position is where the object actually is in world space. To zero out the position you would have to move the object back to the center of the home grid which is the world 0 0 0 point.
It's important to also note that the transform matrix only effects what is done to the object while in object mode not sub object. If you apply edit poly to an box and only work in sub-object mode(vert/edge/poly) and the main object hasn't been moved rotated or scaled its transform matrix is relatively intact and unchanged. You can position, rotate, scale a sub-object element of an object and it will not effect the PRS of the main object.
Resetting the pivot on some objects can be disastrous especially since you can't undo a reset Xform. Lets say you have a piston rotated at 45 degrees if you reset the pivot point for that object it will point straight up and no longer look down the length of the piston. Considering someone will comes a long to rig that piston, they will now have to guess and re-manipulate the pivot back into position to match the piston.
Congrats you just made someones job harder than it needs to be.
Or lets say you make a bunch of morph targets and reset xform on one or the main mesh. Now the scales are different and when you turn on a morph with a different scale it is going to change size. Your character might smile but the head is also going to inflate to 2x the size... awesome.
But reset xform can help, especially if you're modeling sloppily or do a lot of really weird things to your meshes.
Honestly the more I use 3dsmax the less weird crazy stuff happens or at least I figure out what causes it. Often it makes sense that something with get dorked out after doing some very specific things. Normally changing a few steps gets around whatever weirdness it was.
What normally gets people in trouble is the scale tool and they use it to scale the whole object this has an effect on modifiers that are applied. If a object was scaled in Y more than X or Z then modifiers have a chance to scale oddly when rotated.
Normally I only reset xform and collapse right before I skin, or if I have a long modifier stack and need to collapse. Personally I think you're overly paranoid...
PEN has a great script for finding objects that need to be reset and resetting them.
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/reset-xform
Sometimes its better to use a screwdriver on a screw rather than a hammer.
You can clear transform and scale in the hierarchy tab without effecting the pivot or having the ill effects of having a modifier added to your stack.
and no i don't overly paranoid. i was only extegerrating my workflow ;P
judging by your animated gif. what make it different than reset pivot function?
when we model a character ( let just say a naked one ) we dont normally mess with it's pivot don,t we?
the reason i ask this it,s because sometimes after i finished modeling my low poly character model. and then convert it to editable poly. then it looks like.. strange smoothing group applied to them ( will post pic if it will ever happened again ) reset xform! it's magically fixed . and it happened to me ... a lot.. anywhere..
so yeah reset xform do saves me a lot. just courious more of basic principle of it.thus thx for providing one ;p. will try the script as soon i go home
( excuse me for my banglish )
To demonstrate this you can create a box, use the mirror tool to create a copy, reset xform on the copy and it will flip inside out (see through with backface culling turned on, black with it off). You can sometimes get around this if you attach the new object to the old before resetting xform but it makes for a crazy chaotic time of trying to remember which was mirrored, what was reset what can be attached to who.
Its for those reasons I really like using the symmetry modifier instead since it doesn't flip polys and it welds the center seam. Because symetry is a modifier you can put it ontop of your edit poly modifier, turn on "show end result" and whatever you do to one side in edit poly is done to the other side as you work.
No more, make changes, mirror, flip, weld, just to see what the other side looks like.
that actually a better way to explain my previous statement.
Max sometimes flips my normal faces on it's own, which not only affects it's appereance, but also generate a mess when i try bake an AO from it.
and if i recall it correctly, i,ve stopped using mirror tool ever since Max 6.
let me recap my current char modeling workflow:
- i start with 6 sided a box. with a random size, always at 0,0,0 position
and this, i misread it before.
- why would anyone rotate/scale their box at this point? instant convert to editable poly for me.
- connect edge, split them in half. have smaller polies positioned to be extruded as limbs later.
- symettry modifier.
- extrusion.. and so on...
but worry not.. i don,t think i need to understand it actually.
i,m here only to find a tool to ease my task, which is PEN Xform script, which i,ve already DLed minutes ago.
a very simple head model i prepared for
contest at GA
it happened exactly after i had my symettry modifier collapsed ( by right click => convert to editable poly )
What about adding a "smooth modifier and setting it all to 1?