CM Labs Support Portal

Hi,

I watched the first set of tutorials with the forklift, and I'm working on making a simple scene to place it in. One thing I'm having an issue is placing objects - I'm never sure if I reached the exact position I was looking for. Are there any tools to check out and set coordinates, instead of dragging it and zooming in?

There are two ways of placing an object at a precise location. 

The first is by using the Move and Rotate tools, located at the top of the viewport. When either is selected, a panel with coordinates will appear to show you the object's current location, and the delta from its previous position. Clicking on the small target-like icon at the right of the panel will toggle between local transform and world transform.

You can also go to the Properties panel of the object and enter the desired coordinates in the Local Transform. Check the World Transform, in the Outputs section, to see the actual world coordinates. 

Hi Marc,

Thanks for your explanation. I'm not 100% clear on what the local transform and the world transform are. What is the difference? How do I know the right value to enter?

Thanks.

The Local Transform lets you move the object in space. For a top-level parent object, the local transform describes its location with respect to the absolute origin (0,0,0). For a child object, the local transform describes its position with respect to its parent.

The World Transform describes the position of the object relative to the absolute origin of the content space. This is an output, and cannot be edited directly.

When placing an object, you can use the Grid tool as a position reference. Right-click on the viewport and select "Grid..." to display the Grid Options. Check the box on top to make the grid visible, then specify the size and precision you require. Note that you can also change the orientation of the grid. Click "Apply" to make the grid appear.

Alternatively, you can use the world transform of other objects as a reference point, or use the Measure tool to figure out distance.