Move object to center of another object

ThomasSc

Hi,

Is there an easy way of moving one object to the center of another object?

Best wishes,
Thomas

Wee Dangerous John

The easiest way is to Zero both objects using the Properties Panel - X, Y & Z =00.00.00

ThomasSc

Hi,

Thanks, any other solutions?

Best wishes,
Thomas

Wee Dangerous John

Here's something to try - Take a cube, then make a small ball. In a straight on view (front, back etc) with the ball selected hold down shift and drag the ball to the center of the cube. It should snap to the center, but this method can be used to snap to any part (not just points, it varies on your snap options) of the cube. 

ThomasSc

Good point, thanks. If there aren't many points, it snaps. If there are other options, feel free to tell me. Thanks! :)

Ascania

With the Snap/Align tool you can accomplish this too but it will take several steps and use of the space bar to put on restraints. And maybe a helper object too.

Easiest to just copy-past the object coordinates over.

ThomasSc

Thanks, but it should be fast than copy/paste all 3 values (x, y, z)...

Ascania

There is no faster way. And it's not as if copy-pasting the coordinates is particularly slow.

ThomasSc

Hi,

Thanks. Copy&paste is slow.. IMHO :(

Wee Dangerous John

Type 0 into X position, highlight and copy the 0.000 and paste that into the other 2 boxes.

JonnyRay

Now if they would add some simple macro/scripting support that would be cool. :) But I'm not holding my breath. I don't even bother with copy/paste. I just double click in the X, Y, and Z boxes and press '0', then enter to confirm it.

DzFire

Fastest way for me is to take the x,y,z values of the main item and type those numbers into the part I wished moved. -Dz

Roman_K2

I've asked this before I think, but does DAZ Studio similarly allow you to type in the coordinates to zero a prop, and if so where does this function reside?

Just as an example I've had trouble putting Faveral's pirate ship into a glass bottle. I was thinking of solving the issue by zeroing both objects in Hexagon -- after making the bottle much bigger of course -- and from there sending them back to DS. So doing it this way means using Hexagon to perform a function that DS doesn't seem to have... or so I'm thinking.

JonnyRay

I *think* that the Geometry Editor might let you reset the point of origin for the mesh in Daz Studio, but I bet if you ask this in the Studio forums, Richard will respond quickly with how to do it. :)

Syrus_Dante

I'm not Richard but I'd like to add some informations to this disscusion. Its not the first time I got confused by writing something meant for DazStudio into a Hexagon thread but since you asked for how to do that in DazStudio here I have some info about that.

Quick tips for DazStudio:

Use the Alt+LeftClick on a property slider in the Parameters pane and the value instantly resets to the "default" value, that is by default zero. The default value for that property can be changed individualy with the Paramterer Settings - press the gear icon on the slider. Or you select the item and use Memorize Item / figure - with this all current property values are set to default values.

Select the item (object / figure) in the scene and press Ctrl+C select the other item in the scene and press Ctrl+V. This should copy not just all coordinates for translation but also all rotation and scaling property values these are called the transform properties found in the property group with this name.

The result depends on the origin point of the item that can be changed with the Joint Editor and opening the Tool Settings pane the origin point is called Center Point (same as for figures and bones) but with the item root node (the most upper part of the items hirarchy in the scene pane) the Center Point is the actual origin for rotation, scaling and the center for snapping.

Speaking of snapping, if you turn off the setting Parent Items In Place from the Parameters pane option menu you can actualy snap items to the position of others with drag and drop them in the scene hierarchy tree to change their parent. This "snap to parent" also uses the Center Point to determin where to snap to. Alternatively you could use the Change Parent dialogue found in the main Edit menu for Objects and Figures.

@ Roman_K2 / JonnyRay

By importing geometry with OBJs into DazStudio the "origin point" (Joint Editor > Center Point of Item Root Node - the red no its the green dot in the viewport) will be automaticly placed at the bottom of the geometry and not at the world origin (the zero point) as you may think.

If this isn't what you want use a script like this mcjZeroOrigin.

It's a little handy timesaver if you don't like to go into the Tool Settings pane with the Joint Editor tool active and type the zeros in there. I'm not shure but you may want to use Memorize Rigging from the Geometry Editor right-click at viewport menu after that to have the new origin point memorized as default value.

/*================================================================================Source code it's as simple as...================================================================================*/var node = Scene.getPrimarySelection();if( node ) {   beginUndo();   node.setOrigin( DzVec3( 0, 0, 0 ) );   acceptUndo( "mcjZeroOrigin" );}