Manipulate Nodes in Medium

Last updated on 16 May 2021

Learn the basics of Manipulating Nodes in Medium.

Transforms are a way to mathematically describe the position, scale, and rotation of an element in your scene. When you transform your sculpt, for example, it doesn’t change the inherent shape or surface detail of the clay, but rather changes its relationship to the space around it.

There are two general categories of things that you can transform in Medium:

Layers of your Sculpt: transform one or more layers of your sculpt.
Scene Elements: reposition lights, the lathe, and other scene elements to customize your workspace.

Note:

Transforming a layer of your sculpt is not the same as using the Move tool. The Move tool actually pushes or pulls the clay (even if the whole layer is contained within the bounds of the Move tool preview); transforms are limited to position, scale, and rotation, and express the relationship of the object to its world space.

Transforms: Coordinate Space

Transforms also have a frame of reference, also known as a Coordinate Space; the coordinate space defines the space in which the transform is applied, and the transform is applied relative to a specific origin.

Medium supports the following coordinate spaces:

World space: transforms are applied relative to the global origin (the point at which the dark lines drawn on the ground plane meet). You can think of this as an environmental frame of reference.
Sculpt space: transforms are applied relative to the sculpt origin. The sculpt origin is the parent level for all layers in your sculpt.
Object space: transforms are applied relative to the layer’s origin.

Manipulating Scene Nodes

Transform operations let you move, scale, or rotate the selected scene nodes (Layers, Lights, Transforms, Images, Meshes) using one of two methods:

Interactively: select one or more layers, choose an operation, then manipulate the appropriate types of handles that appear around the element.
Menus: select one or more elements in the Scene Graph, then enter values directly on the transform menu.

Note:

A given node can also be referred to as an object, and you will see that terminology on some of Medium’s transform menus.

Transforming a Node Freehand

To transform a layer freehand:

Pull the Support hand thumbstick backward so that the Scene Graph appears.
Select the node you want to transform using either of the following methods (selected nodes highlight green when selected):
1. Aim the Tool hand at the node on the menu and squeeze the Tool hand trigger.
2. Aim the Tool hand at the part of your sculpt that corresponds to the node and squeeze the Tool hand trigger.
Squeeze the Grip button on either hand and move or rotate the object (by default, the object moves relative to the displayed sculpt origin, which remains stationary). Squeeze both Grip buttons and move the controllers toward or away from each other to scale the layer:

Select the node you would like to transform.

Use the Grip button to move or rotate the object.

Transforming Multiple Nodes Freehand

If you’ve created a sculpt and want to transform several nodes at once, select them before executing the transform operation:

Pull the Support hand thumbstick backward so that the Scene Graph appears.
Select the nodes you want to transform using either of the following methods:
- Squeeze the Support hand trigger and select multiple nodes from the scene with the Tool hand trigger (selected nodes highlight green when selected).
- Squeeze the Support hand trigger and select multiple nodes from the Scene Graph with the Tool hand trigger (selected nodes are highlighted with a thin blue border).
Squeeze the Grip button on either hand and move or rotate the object (by default, the object moves relative to the displayed sculpt origin, which remains stationary). Squeeze both Grip buttons and move the controllers toward or away from each other to scale the nodes.

Selecting a Transform Mode for a Node

To select a specific manipulation mode on a node:

Select the layer you want to transform using either of the following methods:
- Aim the Tool hand at the node on the menu and select with Tool Hand Trigger.
- Aim the Tool hand at the node in the scene and select with Tool Hand Trigger.
On the Selected Node menu, select the Manip banner.
Select the Transform mode you want to apply to the node.
Node Transform options.

Select from any of the following operations:

Freehand transform (selected by default; see the previous section)

Move

Rotate

Scale

Set Pivot

Depending on which transform operation you select, a different menu appears.

Translation

To move a layer along any of the X, Y, or Z axes:

Select the Move transform operation (the white sphere with six arrows pointing away from it) and two things happen:
- Move manipulators appear around the selected objects (red, blue, and green cones).
- The Move Transform Settings menu opens.
Aim the Tool hand at any of the manipulator handles and drag it to a new location; the object moves relative to the origin for the specified coordinate space:

Original object at sculpt origin.

Object translated along the Z axis by dragging the move manipulator.

Translate Settings Menu

When you select the move transform operation, the Move Transform Settings menu opens above the Action menu:

node-translate-settings — Translate Settings.

Axis: Shows the current values for the object’s X, Y, and Z axes:

Click any number to enter a new value.
Click X to zero out that transform.

Coordinate space: Selects the frame of reference for the transform. Moves are executed relative to the world, sculpt, or object origin.

Rotation

To rotate a node around any of the X, Y, or Z axes:

Select the Rotate transform operation (the white sphere with three rings around it) and two things happen:
- Rotation manipulators appear around your object (red, blue, and green rings).
- The Rotation Transform Settings menu opens.
Aim the Tool hand at any of the rings and rotate it to a new orientation. The object rotates around the axes for the specified coordinate space:

Original object at sculpt origin.

Object rotated about the Y axis by dragging the rotate manipulator.

Rotation Settings Menu

When you select the rotate transform operation, the Rotate Transform Settings menu opens:

node-rotation-settings — Rotate Settings.

Axis: Shows the current values for the object’s rotation around the X, Y, and Z axes:

Click any number to enter a new value.
Click X to zero out that transform.

Coordinate space: Selects the frame of reference for the transform. Rotations are executed relative to the world, sculpt, or object origin.

Scale

To scale a node:

Select the Scale transform operation (the white sphere with three arrows pointing away from it, surrounded by a white dotted line) and two things happen:
- Scale manipulators appear (six yellow rectangles).
- The Scale Transform Settings menu opens.
Aim the Tool hand at any of the manipulators and drag it to a new location. The object moves relative to the origin for the specified coordinate space:

Original object at sculpt origin.

Object scaled up by dragging a scale manipulator

Note:

For the Scale operation, the resizing is uniform regardless of which handle you select.

When you select the scale transform operation, the Scale Transform Settings menu opens:

node-scale-settings-menu — Scale Settings.

Axis: Shows the current scaling factor.

Coordinate space: Selects the frame of reference for the transform. Scales are executed relative to the world, sculpt, or object origin.

Setting the Pivot Point (Object Origin) for a Node

You can set the pivot point for a node. You can think of the pivot point as the node origin. To set the pivot point’s new position:

After selecting the move, rotate or scale operation, also select the Pivot Point icon (the red, green, and blue axes at the far right). A small set of red, green, and blue axes appears at the object origin.
Use the manipulators to transform the position or orientation of the node origin.

After moving the pivot point, transformations made in the node frame of reference will be based on this new location:

Original object with object origin coincident to sculpt origin.

Node origin translated along the Z axis by dragging the move manipulator.