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Grid alignment in 3ds Max/placing a pivot to a line


filipkoruznjak
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I've read about a 100 posts, but it just doesn't seem to work and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong

 

I want to align a grid to a polyline I've drawn or I just want my pivot to be oriented with the x axis to a line (defined by 2 points). In autocad is that just one command and it works flawlessly. In 3ds Max I doesn't seem to work at all.

 

I've created a grid that looks like a square with diagonals. Used the align command and the grid always ends up aligned to the center point (diagonal section) and never to the outer grid borders.

 

I can't imagine that I would have to extrude the polyline, only to place a working pivot on a surface or use autogrid. It just doesn't make any sense that such a basic and necesarry option is so complex to carry out in Max.

 

The idea is basic, unfortunately, most of the site plans I get are rarely orthogonal. Polyline modeling is a nightmare, because I often want to create tiles (or similar) that need to be parallel to one of the existing lines. It takes ages and the result is often not good.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited by filipkoruznjak
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3 Grid.jpg

 

Hi James, thank you for your reply.

 

I've tried using your proposed method, but it still doesn't get me where I want to be.

When I change the gizmo mode using the pick command, the gismo is oriented to the middle of my polyline, but the X/Y axis are still orthogonal to the default Max grid.

 

I was hoping to get the Y axis on (or parallel) to the drawn polyline and the x axis with a 90 degree angle to the newly selected Y axis (polyline).

 

Option 2; when I'm trying to use a custom grid, the grid alignment is not possible along the grid edges, yet only the grid middle(diagonal intersection).

 

What I want to achieve would be to rotate the gismo and align X or Y axis along any polyline I've created.

Similar action could be achieved just by editing a working pivot(I can drag it, snap it, rotate it), but it is never a 100% accurate solution (rotation angles differ up to 0.00032 degrees for example).

 

I've attached 2 screenshots showing what the problem/wishes are.

 

Best regards

1Grid.jpg

2 Grid.jpg

Edited by filipkoruznjak
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