Wings 3D question

[GeoBen]

is it just me, or does the ROTATE/FREE command not work as one would expect?

When selected, the object rotates only on the z-axis.

geo.

[gidgit]

Hmm, perhaps right click on free command, then right click on a face,edge what have ya, and move the mouse the intended direction....

[Grafixman]

Good observation. All the time I've been using Wings, I've never touched the rotate/free command. And yes, it does seem to behave differently from other 3d programs I've used.
One thing I observed is that rotate free rotates the object relative to the z axis of your monitor. So you could change the view orientation during rotate/free by click-dragging the middle mouse button and rotate the object any which way you want that way. Why would you want to rotate free, though, is a mystery to me .

[gidgit]

oh... good thought process there GMan...

and yea, the more I think about, like GMan, I don't ever recall having ever used said command either... must learn more about where this would come in handy... even as a alt command to some other method approach... hmmm



GeoBen, when you begin with say a cylinder, it is always a good idea to select the whole object, select rotate>x, and instead of moving the mouse to rotate, hit the tab button, then type in 90 and hit enter... this should correct your objects axis for better object manip...

[GeoBen]

yes, rotates on the x-axis.

as to why i would want it to, dunno, really... you guys are the experts, I am just learning this stuff.

i started out in DP back in the late 70, several years before I was born, doing technical writing and I discovered then that writing helps to cement notions in my mind, so I still do it. And, since i can find no decent user docs (the wiki is good, but far being complete), I thought i would do it myself as a discussion of 3D modeling in general, so I will get to everything eventually. If anyone would like to see (perhaps critique) what I have written so far, it can be found here.



Thanks, Gidgit,for the suggestion,

geo.

[jamesmc]

"i started out in DP back in the late 70, several years before I was born,..."

GeoBen, you must teach all of us this particular technique.

I have some specific things I would have like to done before I was born.