Use these two viewports to alter the pivot point. Precise positioning is difficult in Perspective. When you're done, the pivot will be at the end of the handle in all four viewports.
You can now rotate the object about the new pivot rather than the center of the grouped objects.

Pivot Points

Altering the pivot point of an object allows you to change the axis of rotation of the object. For the mace example, the pivot point defaults to the center of the grouped objects. In order to make it move more appropriately, you'd prefer the axis of rotation to be at the end of the handle. Here's how you do it.

1. First, click on the Hiearchy tab on the command panel, then click 'Affect Pivot Only'.

2. Use the four-way arrow to move the pivot to the end of the handle. The best way to do this is to move the pivot in the Top and Front views. It is difficult to move objects to a specific position in the Perspective view. When you're done, click off 'Affect Pivot Only'.

3. Now try a rotation on your object to see how it moves with the pivot altered.

Our next step is to create an animation.

Next page