Hi. After some months away from 3d again, I'm trying to get the hang of Carrara once again. I cannot figure out how to relocate the hot point of say, a cube, to the precise corner of the cube then to precisely locate (align?) another similar cube to that first cube's corner or hotpoint. (((Wow, wouldn't it be intuitive to just be able to pick up the hot point with the cursor and then 'drop" it on a corner - or a "nearest" or " vertex" or whatever??? OH well, I can dream.))) Many thanks again, Riv

I am not sure I understand your question, put if you unlock the caps lock in you keyboard, you should be able to move the hot point freely.

Hi Riversedge, You can enter a numeric value for the hot point by editing the object's properties in the motion/transform tab of the Properties tray . Don't forget to unlock the hot point there ! I hope it helps, litst

OK, thanks very much, probably I can get it close enough - if not (theoretically) exact. Very much appreciate the help. Rivers

hi, i've done some really accurate hot point movements both visually at sick zoom levels and also mathematically by using the properties tray. basically use the fields at the bottom that tell you what the dimensions in each axis are. then divide by two to find the distance from the center to any given edge. then you know how far to position your hotpoint in either direction to put it smack dab on the edge. also, carrara doesn't display to 3rd decimals or higher, but it will respond to them. so if i enter 2.0625 it will chop off at 2.06. but it will actually place the hotpoint those extra .0025". hopefully this helps. -scott

Thanks Scott, An excellent way to do it. and the advice on t 3 place decimals is also very, very helpful. The only reason this matters much to me is that Ive found some "light leaks" when making fine architectural details such as true divided lights in ornate window frames and with fine trim work etc. When things are not just-so aligned the light leaking through is distracting. In getting used to Carrara, i'm probably trying to make Carrara do something that would be better left to Autocad or Turbocad or something else. I'm just intrigued by the Carrara interface and many of the options and rendering - so wish to give it a try. Tthanks, Kaliman

Kaliman, i think that carrara can recognize more decimal places than that, but after a while it is kind of pointless. one other thought on your problem with light leaking... i found this out while working with terrain. objects planted in terrain "hover" when rendered with the hybrid renderer. actually the terrain renders out at a lower altitude. switching to the raytracer or converting the terrain to a vertex object solves the problem, but in previous discussions, litst mentioned that all objects have a degree of "hover" when using the hybrid renderer. he can probably explain this all more elegantly. but if you align the hot points and still get "light bleed" just try rendering with the ray tracer and see if it solves the problem. lastly, never underestimate the power of 81,162% zoom. sometimes it helps. -scott