Tip – Mirroring Objects Across Pivot Point

Thanks for this – I am sure it will save a lot of time <!– s:) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:) –>

I frequently find that the mirror operation would be more useful if it mirrored objects relative to the group pivot points. This is particularly true when mirroring a selected hierarchy of parts. With the current operation, each part mirrors about its own center, so the end result is not a mirror image of the origional assembly – not quite what I am after.

I have found a good way to accomplish this. You can use the ‘scale – by amount’ operation with a value of -1 to properly mirror a selected group or heirarchy about the group pivot. Here is an example of its use:

1. Select a group or hierarchy of objects.
2. Right click and select scale – by amount.
3. To mirror along the X axis, set X=-1, Y=1, Z=1
4. Click OK and the objects will be mirrored
… BUT they will be inside out.
5. Reselect the group and use the Invert Operation to restore the outsides out.

It works great!

Wayne