What is a 3ds Max Gizmo? How do I turn on, or turn off a Gizmo in 3ds Max?
When I first started in 3ds Max, I started hearing about “gizmo” this and “gizmo” that. I have found even in After Effects, this is a popular term when talking about transformation tools. Gizmo to me seems like an afterthought of what they decided to name something late into the development process.
Basically, a gizmo is a little helper for when you are transforming (rotate, scale, move) an object in your viewing plane, or orthagonal view.
In 3ds Max, there are three views, X = Horizontal, Z = Vertical, and Y = Forward and Back in dimension space. This may be hard if you are new to a 3d modeling program, but a 3 dimension space is what this type of program is all about, hence 3d.
So, when you choose one of your transform tools, (again scale, rotate, move or something else) a little 3d dimensional crosshairs comes up to help you know which direction you are applying your transform in. Each direction has it’s own color, X = Red, Z = Blue, and Y = Green.
Without getting into an in depth explanation of how gizmos work, I just want to say that they are extremely helpful for making a shape change to the way you want it. I had some problems one day because when I was using my transform tools, the gizmos weren’t showing up. I had to go hunting to try to figure out how to turn my gizmos back on.
So, to turn on your gizmos, if they aren’t already.
Step 1: Go to Customize > Preferences
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Step 2: In the preference dialog box you will see many tabs. Click on “Gizmos”
Step 3: Click “On” to turn your gizmos back on. You can see the option here in the upper left.
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Simple, but yet when you are in such a complex program, finding something out simple like this, without knowing where to go can be very hard.
Here are some similar arcade posts
- Changing shortcuts / Customize shortcuts in 3DS Max
- How do I change the background matte color when working in Photoshop? How do I change the gray color in the gutter area of Photoshop?
- Shortcut to switch through Photoshop tools
- Using the “Fit Canvas” shortcut.
- How do I save my action files? How do I bring / import my actions into a newer version of Photoshop?
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Comments
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No problem….I try to write about things that I also have issues with when I can’t find them in searching.
I was having issues with this when I was working in 3DS Max, so I am glad someone else got some benefit out of this.
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I’m new to 3dsmax too but just want to share a shortcut that does this in a second. To turn on or to turn off your gizmo you just press keyboard “X” in your 3dsmax … and woala it’s on or eventually off ๐
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Thank you so much. I do not know how my gizmo got turned off but I knew I could not work without them. All I could think of was to reinstall 3ds max. I am so happy that you took the time to help people out. God Bless You!
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Thanks to both Jeff and Drax. Would have been a good thing for them to put into Essential Skills Movie Tutorial #2.
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Thanks for the note.
You’d think….but when you work on something that much, maybe they’re too close to 3DS Max to know any better.
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I cant see the type in dialog box but my gizmo are all turned on. Any suggestion to avail the dialog box to be viewable.
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Bong, I no longer use 3DS Max, nor do I have a seat installed, so I wouldn’t be able to help you with this, sorry. Hopefully someone else who has commented on this thread can help you out.
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merci beaucoup, urs guidance with the pics. helped me to discover the gizmo, thanks a lot. i’ll be back with new doubts ๐
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thankyou so much I’ve been searching for ages about how to turn the gizmos back on! I found how all about axis constraints on! I didn’t want the cross hairs it was frustrating!
Thankyou!
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Hey sometimes it doesnt work, in that case you can get in view menu & make SHOW TRANSFORM GIZMO ON that’s it.
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Thankss dude, it was really messing up with my mind and i was unable to do my work properly in 3ds max..thnks a lot..:)
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February 23, 2009
thank you soooo much i couldn’t figure out why my gizmo’s weren’t showing up because i had them set to on in the view menu but this fixed it im a beginner but am learning fast and the gizmo’s help enormously lol