Turn something in the middle

[Alokin]

Hello!

I want to know, how can I rotate a group of pieces but in the middle?

I get how to select them, but I can't turn them in the middle, I need to choose the point.

Please help!


,Nikola

[May Kung]

I assume you do not have a suitable point/axis to choose? Are you trying to rotate about the centroid or something like that? Can you post a picture?

[John Scheffel]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking about rotating your view of the group or rotating the group in 3D space relative to other parts? What do you mean by the middle? The middle of the screen, the middle of a part, the middle of the group? If you can attach screen captures it might help understand what you are trying to do.

[gmatelich]

Perhaps you want to Probe for a spot or feature to move around.

Maybe you need to create a clipping plane first, or just turn off parts in the drawlist to pick your point then turn them back on to see how things interact.

[Alokin]

How to select the axis in the middle of a face or edge

[gmatelich]

I think you would have to place a workplane first and use construction lines to give you a point to select to rotate around that.

[John Scheffel]

You can easily select the axis of any 3D element which is defined by an axis, such as a cylindrical face or circular edge. You can also select 2D circular elements to define an axis. If you want to select an axis at the center of a face or edge which is not defined by an axis, then as Gary said you might need to place a workplane on the face or edge and draw 2D geometry which defines the axis you want to use. For example you could create a workplane on a face, then draw a circle with its center at the point where you want the axis, then use that circle to define the axis in future operations.

[Alokin]

Thanks a lot

But, is it possible to make it like "select" the C Point? (to «clip» on it)

thanks,

[John Scheffel]

Originally Posted by Alokin

But, is it possible to make it like "select" the C Point? (to «clip» on it)

You can select the center point of a circlular element or straight edge by using Ctrl-Shift-LeftClick on the element. Or you can open the Catch toolbar (View/Catch) and change the catch mode to Center. Is that what you are looking for?

[highway45]

Sometimes it could be helpful to have some dummy geometry to pick some faces.
For that case I wrote a lisp to create a cylinder at any point of the room.

Preview: http://osd.cad.de/bilder/hilfsbolzen.gif
Lisp: http://osd.cad.de/downloads/hilfsbolzen.zip

Unfortunately only in german, sorry...