howdy,

1.
so when you FREEZE TRANSFORMATIONS, all the values get displaced from OBJECT SPACE to a LOCAL SPACE OFFSET and local space is also the natural space for all joints.

ok.

but WHEN ELSE does local space come into play?  there seem to be allusions to other circumstances but those other circumstances are never elaborated.

2.
WHY would use local space mode for translating?  under what circumstances would local space axes differ from object space?

i’m using rigs at work that for some reason only yield correctly aligned translate axes when set to local space… but shouldn’t object space be correctly aligned?  what would have caused this situation?

3. graph editor keys everything using OBJECT SPACE correct?  NEVER world space or local space (except for joints)?

thanks much.

jin

Transforms behave differently in local and object space if an object has been rotated (and the parent has not). In object space the move tool observes the rotation, in local space it looks at the parent.

aha,

thank you.

jin

okay,

so after an hour or so of experimentation, i finally got the info that i wanted that imo should really be better documented!!!

the “natural” axes that both reflect the information in the channel box as well (and therefore) as the graph curves in graph editor are:

TRANSLATION - LOCAL SPACE

and

ROTATION - GIMBAL

and your gimbal rotation gizmo will be aligned to your local transformation axis but only necessarily for your PRIMARY AXIS (determined by your ROTATION ORDER… so for rotation order xyz where Z is your primary axis, that is the rotation axis that will match up with the z axis on the local translate gizmo).

you can check this out by being in a translation or rotation mode that is not the above and then hiliting a channel in the channel box to mmdrag… the manipulator that appears when you hilite a channel will NOT match.  it will only match when you switch over to local space for translate and gimbal mode for rotation.

also of note for translate, your LOCAL SPACE axes will be the SAME as WORLD SPACE AXES.  the ONLY thing that will change this is if your object becomes a child of another object.  THEN, the local space will be the “real space” you are keying and graphing and it will be the space of the parent that is shown in your gizmo.

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everything else - world space or object space are simply user aids.  they do not reflect how animation or tranformations are ACTUALLY being recorded.

good to know.

jin