Align to floor
Stand a model upright on the grid, centred over the origin, when it arrived on its side or far away from the centre of the scene.
Files arrive anywhere and any way up: a part modelled 40 metres from its origin, an assembly lying on its side. Align to floor turns the whole model in steps and puts it on the grid, over the point 0,0,0.
When to use it
Right after opening a file, before anything else, if the model is not standing the way you expect. A model that sits on the floor at the origin is easier to orbit, and easier to place in the next program.
Steps
- Open the card Align to floor in the right sidebar, under Clean up.
- If the model lies on its side, use the turn buttons. Each of the rows X, Y and Z has two arrows that turn the whole model about that axis, one step back or one step forward. A step is 90° to begin with.
- Press them until the model stands the right way up. You watch it move.
- Press Align to floor. The model moves so that it stands on the grid with its middle over 0,0,0.
What the options mean
- Turn, step
- How far one press turns the model. 90 gives quarter turns. A small number straightens a model that is slightly tilted.
- Sits at zero with its: X and Y
- Which side of the model goes to 0 on that axis: Low side, Middle, High side, or Keep to leave it where it is.
- Sits at zero with its: Up
- Floor stands the model on the grid. Top hangs it from the grid. Middle centres it. Keep leaves its height alone.
- Reset
- Puts the model back where and how it was loaded.
- Place every file I open
- Places every file as it is opened, with the choices above. It only moves the model. It does not turn it.
Middle, Middle and Floor is the usual choice: it stands the model on the grid, centred over the origin.
Undo
A whole run of adjustments is one undo step. Reset in the card goes back to how the file was loaded.