228 chapter 7 ■ Transpose, ZSphere Rigging, Retopology, and Mesh Extraction
To scale an object, make sure Scale is active at the top of the screen by clicking the Scale
button or pressing the E hotkey. Click and drag an action line on the model. Place one endpoint
where you want the center of the scale or the origin to be. The polygons under this endpoint will
not move. By clicking and dragging in the other endpoint away from the origin, you will scale
up the model. By dragging toward the opposite endpoint, you will scale it down (Figure 7.4). To
scale in a plane perpendicular to the action line, click in the center point and drag toward one of
the endpoints. Dragging to one end will thicken the figure; dragging to the other will thin it.Dragging an endpoint will scale
around the opposite endpoint.Dragging the center point will
thicken or thin the figure.Figure 7.4 Scaling with TransposeThe Alt key will produce alternate effects in Transpose mode. Holding down the Alt key
while scaling a figure will affect the parts of the model closest to that endpoint more.
This could have the effect of lengthening the legs while leaving the rest of the figure rela-
tively unchanged. Alt-dragging the midpoint will increase the scale effect between the
midpoint and the last touched endpoint.To rotate the model with Transpose active, enter Rotate mode by pressing the R hotkey
or by clicking the Rotate button. Draw an action line and drag one of the endpoints. This will
rotate the entire model around the opposite endpoint. If you click and drag in the center mid-
point, the model will rotate around the axis of the action line itself.
When rotating in Transpose, it is sometimes important to keep the action line straight
and perpendicular to the viewplane. To do this, start the action line on the model but drag
off the model to release. This ensures the line snaps to a plane perpendicular to the view-
plane, thus allowing you to make accurate rotations in X, Y, and Z (Figure 7.5).