Translate and Rotate

Use the Move tool to translate, rotate, and position selected entities.

Certain types of entities, like assemblies, cannot be moved with the Move tool. Entities like pressures cannot be moved because their position and orientation are determined by the entity to which they are applied.
  1. From the Home tools, click the Move tool.
    Figure 1.


    In the external aero setup environment, you can also press M or T.

    In the general environment, the default move mode is set to Interactive.

  2. Optional: In the general environment, click on the guide bar to define movement options.
  3. In the general environment, select an entity type using the guide bar selector.
  4. Select entities and click Move.
    The Move tool is placed in the center of selected entities.
    Tip: Use the middle mouse button to confirm the selection and activate the Move manipulator.
  5. Click a graphical manipulator, and then do one of the following:
    • Drag the entity or graphical manipulator to translate or rotate entities in the selected direction(s).
    • Enter a precise value in the microdialog and press Enter.
    • Press Ctrl and select two locations to align an axis to a vector or three locations to align an axis to a plane normal.
    Note: The Ctrl + click action is valid only for translation and rotation manipulators.
    To Do This
    Translate along an axis Click the X, Y, or Z arrow.
    Figure 2.


    Translate along a plane Click the XY, XZ, or YX plane square.
    Figure 3.


    Translate freely in 3D space Click and drag from the origin of the Move tool.
    Figure 4.


    Tip: Use the icons in the microdialog to align the tool to a part or the global axes.
    Rotate around an axis Click a curved arrow.
    Figure 5.


    Rotate freely Click at the tip of the X, Y, or Z arrow and drag. In the external aero setup environment, an axis line appears and the unresolved rotation is prompted on release.
    Figure 6.


Figure 7.


Tip: Use snap points to align entities by clicking-and-dragging a snap point on one entity to the snap point on a second entity.
Tip: When translating entities between two locations, the distance between the picked locations is automatically calculated in the increment field (Inc.) and can be modified if needed.
Figure 8.


Microdialog Options

When clicking the Move tool origin:

Align the Move tool its default orientation and position:
  • Click once to reset its orientation to match the global coordinate system, or local system if one is assigned.
  • Click twice to also reset its position to the centroid of your selection, or the local system origin if one is assigned.
Align the Move tool along an edge or face. If the Move tool is being repositioned (highlighted orange), clicking this button will force the Move tool to be aligned automatically as you drag it around the model.
Select and assign a local coordinate system to the Move tool. After a new system is assigned, the Move tool automatically repositions to its origin.
Note: Currently, the Move tool only supports assigning rectangular coordinate systems.
Tip: When a local system is assigned to the Move tool, the system button is shown with a tick mark , indicating that the manipulator is now in local system mode. Click this button again to change the assigned system or reset it to go back to global system mode.
When clicking a translation or rotation arrow:
Orient the selected direction using the Vector tool.
Inc.
Use the buttons to apply an incremental translation or rotation in the selected direction.
Tip: When using the Vector tool to define an orientation between two snaps, the Inc. (increment) field is also automatically populated with the corresponding distance.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Table 1.
To do this Press
Quickly align the manipulator to two or three locations Ctrl + Click
Reposition the move manipulator by dragging Shift + Drag
Enter manipulator reposition mode Double-click
Temporarily disable snaps Alt