Using Pivot Points to Control Rotation and Scaling
The LevelEditor scales and rotates
an object around its pivot point. The default pivot point is at the object’s
origin, but you can reposition the pivot point by dragging its Move-Pivot
manipulator, using the Move Pivot command, or editing the Pivot
property in the Property
Editor.
The cube in the figure below has its pivot point positioned away from
the object’s origin and placed outside the cube.

For grouped
game objects, the group has its own pivot point, which is independent
of the pivots for the individual game objects that belong to the group.
For a demonstration of how you can use pivot points to control scaling
and rotation, view the “Moving Pivot Points” video, either on the GitHub
site or on SHIP.
Using the Mouse
To position an object’s pivot point using the mouse:
- Select the Modify > MovePivot
menu item to turn on the Move-Pivot manipulator.
- Select the object whose pivot point you want to move.
- Drag a Move-Pivot manipulator axis to move the pivot point in that
direction. Drag a shaded (yellow) square to move the pivot point freely
in two dimensions.
Using the Move Pivot Command
To position an object’s pivot point using the Move Pivot command:
- Use the Modify > Move Pivot
> X menu item to set the object’s pivot point along the
X axis:
- Min sets the pivot
point to the object’s minimum along the specified axis (for example,
at “-0.5” for an object whose axis is 1 unit in length).
- Center sets the pivot
point along the center of the specified axis for the object (for
example, at “0” for an object whose axis is 1 unit in length).
- Max sets the pivot
point to the object’s maximum along the specified axis (for example,
at “+0.5” for an object whose axis is 1 unit in length).
- Use the Modify > Move Pivot
> Y menu item to set the object’s pivot point along the
Y axis. Select Min, Center, or Max.
- Use the Modify > Move Pivot
> Z menu item to set the object’s pivot point along the
Z axis. Select Min, Center, or Max.
- Select Modify > Move Pivot
> All > Center to set the object’s pivot point to the
object’s center (typically, the point “0, 0, 0”).
You can also use the keyboard shortcuts (1,
2, 3
to move the pivot along the X axis; 4,
5, 6
to move the pivot along the Y axis, 7,
8, 9
to move the pivot along the Z axis, and 0
to move the pivot to the object’s center.
Using the Property Editor
To position an object’s pivot point using the Property Editor:
- Select the object.
- Open the Property Editor, and edit the values for the Pivot
property. The value 0, 0, 0 represents the object’s origin.