Orientation

A very annoying problem i have is that the " X,Y,Z " coloured arrows on a rezzed prim do not correspond to the " X,Y,Z " colours on the edit menu. I always thought that the " Z " box would always move the item up or down. If I want to line up two items, putting the value from " X " in one into " X " in the other does not always put them in line. Where am i going wrong?

[I have just read this and I am not sure i have described it very well but i hope you can understand my ptoblem ]

The edit menu allows you to show those arrows (and their relative effects when dragged) either on the "world" coordinate grid or the "local" grid. On the "World" grid, the Z-axis is always vertical, and Y always increases as you go East. On the "local" grid, the rotation and orientation of the prim is added to the coordinates. So if you tilt a cylinder 47 degrees to the right, and then switch to "local", you'll see the Z-axis is now tilted 47 degrees to the right, and you can slide the prim up and down on that new axis. For multiple linked prims, the offset is based on the offset of the whole linkset from its default rotational oriantation.

The control for selecting world or local is right above the numeric entry dialogs on the edit pane, on the right side.

Note that sometimes SL does not display the correct axis for these. Selecting a different prim and then re-selecting the one you wanted will usually fix that glitch.

Thanks for that Ceera. I understand now

It took me almost 6 months to realize there was a "local" orientation. Boy, I tell you, it makes building much easier sometimes!!

A