Universal tool
Last updated
Last updated
The last edit tool is a universal tool that combines the previous three into a single multifunctional gizmo. After selecting the object, it can be activated with the fourth button on the toolbar or with the T key on the keyboard. It is the most versatile of them all and is the one that is generally used to finalize certain details, such as making micro-adjustments to position, rotation and scale.
This potential stems from the fact that the tools proposed within it are 100% fluid, without any snap constraints, allowing complex constructions that can be both totally empirical, without any mathematical relief regarding positions, rotations and scales, and totally regular, following strict geometries and millesimal adjustments.
How these two souls coexist is determined by the individual design intentions, since the tool does not carry an information panel or the possibility of entering specific values.
This versatility is a strength, but it should lead the user to handle the tool with care, since we do not have real time numerical control, but only optical/perceptual. As a result, we have to confirm the object if we want to recognize its values in order to reproduce or correct its position by individually selecting the position, rotation and scaling tools.
Its extreme freedom of use thus makes it an absolute tool when used alone, but its greatest expression occurs when, in the case of a geometrically reasoned design, the finishing touches are applied to a portion of the layout. We will better understand the value of this statement in the next section of copy/paste.
As with individual tools, to activate the action, the mouse pointer must intercept the desired element of the gizmo by changing its color to yellow; it is then possible to click and drag to complete the action.
Let's look at an example of editing through our reference system. The selected yellow cube will undergo some transformations, the end result will be that it will be rotated on all axes and translated upwards.
Again, there is an option to activate a translation mode in the orthogonal plane relative to the universal tool. It is activated by pressing the SHIFT key and interacting with the x, y and z translation axes. Obviously, it follows the same rules as the analogous tool in standard mode, but it inherits the fluidity of the transformation of its parent in the movements on the axes and in the plane.