Bones not rotating properly in gimbal mode

Question

I am trying to pose bones in gimbal mode but they always rotate on odd angles even though the red arrow shows the proper angle of rotation. Why is this and how can I fix it?

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@maddin45 I was rotating with R+X but rotating with the transform manipulator works. :/ — Qwertie, May 28 '14 at 10:51
I thought so ;) Unfortunatly the axis you type on the keyboard always corresponds to the global coordinate system. — maddin45, May 28 '14 at 11:04
@maddin45 Pressing the axis twice on the keyboard will use the orientation specified in the header. — gandalf3, May 28 '14 at 18:31

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered May 28 '14 at 17:32

That red line that shows up when you are rotating means you are locking the rotation to the X axis by pressing X - this will be the world's X axis.

When you first start to rotate by only pressing R the rotation is restricted to the view orientation, meaning it will appear to rotate in a circle as seen in the view you are using.

You can also lock the transform to the objects local X axis by pressing XX.

This can also be adjusted to the Y or Z axis when moving, rotating and scaling. Also to remove an axis from the transform also press Shift. eg pressing S then ShiftX will scale on both Y and Z axes.

You can change the transform orientation used by the widgets in the header menu.

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Sometimes you can also find it helpful to use RR which puts you in trackball rotation - that is not locked to any particular axis.

Bones not rotating properly in gimbal mode

1 Answers1