If you're making the transition from 2D to 3D art, you need to understand pivots and centre points to prevent total chaos. Nearly every 3D scene has a determined centre point, but each object within it also has its own 'centre point', which can cause confusion when moving, rotating, or scaling an object.

Most 3D applications make it easy to show where the centre of the scene is with their default viewport – for example, Blender uses the intersection of the red and green lines. However, being aware that a 3D scene does have a middle, even professional 3D artists can sometimes overlook.

Each object has its own pivot point, as seen in ZBrush's default figure with the gimbal tool activated. The rotation point is often around the crotch area or feet, depending on the application. Pivot points can be moved; for instance, in ZBrush, pressing Alt (PC) or Option (Mac) allows the gimbal to be moved independently of the object.

Another option is parenting an object to a null or group object to create an independent pivot point. This article originally appeared in ImagineFX and was written by Mike Griggs, a veteran digital content creator with over 30 years' experience.