Tutorial: Moving and Snapping

Learn how to translate and rotate parts, snap to points and other objects, and organize your model.

In this lesson you will learn about:
  • Opening and importing models
  • Moving parts
  • Snapping to points
  • Copying and pasting
  • Translating and rotating
  • Organizing a model


Import Parts

  1. Press F7 to open the Demo Browser.
  2. In the Structures folder, double-click the bracket.x_t file to load it in the modeling window.
  3. Adjust the view so the bracket is positioned as shown below.
    Tip: Use the middle mouse button to rotate the object, right mouse button to pan, and the scroll wheel to zoom.
  4. Drag the base.x_t and pin.x_t files from the Demo Browser to open them in the modeling window.

Align the Bracket by Snapping to Points

  1. Select the bracket by clicking it in the modeling window.
  2. Press M to open the Move tool, or click the Move tool on the ribbon.
    Tip: To find and open a tool, press Ctrl+F. For more information, see Find and Search for Tools.
  3. Move your mouse over the selected part. Snap points are shown as the cursor moves near end points, center points, mid points, and the quad points of circles. Snap points are used to precisely relocate a part.
  4. Move your mouse over the bottom-front corner of the bracket. An End snap point appears, as shown below:
  5. Drag the End snap point, and move the bracket over the base part. Another End snap will appear at the corner of the base as the cursor nears the front corner. Release the mouse over the snap hint to precisely locate the bracket at this corner point.
  6. While holding down Ctrl, click the bracket to deselect it.
  7. Click the pin to select it. Then mouse over the center of the pin end. Drag the Cen snap point to snap it to the bracket hole end center.
  8. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.

Copy, Translate, and Rotate the Bracket

  1. Select the bracket.
  2. Copy and paste the bracket by pressing Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V. The copied part appears superimposed over the original part, and the Move tool is automatically displayed.
  3. Drag the Move tool's y-axis to move the copy of the original bracket toward the back of the base.
  4. Double-click the center of the Move tool to enter editing mode. Drag the tool by its center to the left-bottom corner of the bracket.
  5. Right-click to exit editing mode.
  6. Drag the center of the tool along the bracket to the top-right corner of the base part.
  7. Click to select the tool's Z rotator, as shown below:
  8. Type 180 in the microdialog and press Enter. The part will rotate 180 degrees.
  9. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click. Click to deselect the copied bracket.
    Note: Copying and rotating the bracket can be accomplished more easily using the Mirror tool. We used the Move tool in this tutorial to show how to enter editing mode and reposition the center of the tool.

Align the Move Tool to the Global Axes

  1. In the Demo Browser, double-click the move tool alignment.stmod file to open it.
  2. Adjust the view so the parts are positioned as shown below.
  3. Select the Base part and press M to open the Move tool.
  4. Double-click the center of the Move tool to enter editing mode, and drag it to the position shown below.
  5. Right-click to exit editing mode.
  6. Select the center of the Move tool and click the Align to Global Axis icon on the microdialog to align the base part with the global axes.
  7. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.

Align the Base to the Bracket

  1. Rotate the model and select the bracket.
  2. Press M to open the Move tool.
  3. Double-click the center of the Move tool and drag it to the position shown below.
  4. Right-click to exit editing mode.
  5. Select the tip of the y-axis on the Move tool, then select the side face of the base closest to the bracket. This will align the bracket parallel to the face.
  6. Select the tip of the z-axis on the Move tool, then select the top of the base. This will rotate the bracket to align it to the top face of the base part as well.
  7. Double-click the center of the Move tool and drag it to the bottom corner of the bracket as shown below.
  8. Right-click to exit editing mode.
  9. Drag the snap point on the bottom corner of the bracket to the snap point on the top corner of the base, as shown below.
  10. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.

Align the Pin to the Bracket

  1. Rotate the model and select the pin.
  2. Press M to open the Move tool.
  3. Click the tip of the Y axis on the Move tool.
  4. Click the interior face of the top hole on the bracket to align the pin to the bracket. You may need to zoom in to make sure that you select the interior face, not the center point of the hole.
  5. Right-click and mouse through the check mark to exit, or double-right-click.
  6. Select the pin.
  7. Press M to open the Move tool.
  8. Drag the center snap point on the end of the pin to the center snap of the hole in the bracket. The pin and bracket are now aligned.