Doc:2.6/Manual/3D interaction/Transform Control/Pivot Point/Bounding Box Center

Bounding Box Center as Pivot

Mode: Object mode and Edit mode

Hotkey: ,

Menu: Select from the following icon in the 3D window header

The bounding box is a rectangular box that is wrapped as tightly as possible around the selection. It is oriented parallel to the world axes. In this mode the pivot point lies at the center of the bounding box. You can set the pivot point to bounding box with the , hotkey or via the menu in the Window Header. The image below shows how the Object's Bounding Box size is determined by the size of the Object.

Read more about selecting different pivot points »

Relationship between an Object and its Bounding Box.

In Object mode

In Object mode, the bounding box is wrapped around the Object and transformation takes place relative to the location of the Object center (indicated by the yellow circle). The image below shows the results of using the Bounding Box as the pivot point in a number of situations.

For example, images A (before rotation) and B show rotation when the Object center is in its default position, while images C (before rotation) and D shows the result when the Object center has been moved. Image E shows that when multiple Objects are selected, the pivot point is calculated based on the Bounding Box of all the selected Objects.

The grid of four images on the left (ABCD) shows the results of Object rotation when the pivot point is set to Bounding Box. The image to the right (E) shows the location of the Bounding Box pivot point when multiple Objects are selected. The pivot point is shown by a yellow circle.

In Edit mode

This time it is the ObData that is enclosed in the bounding box. The bounding box in Edit mode takes no account of the Object(s) centers, only the center of the selected vertices.

The effects of rotation in different mesh selection modes when the bounding box is set as the pivot point. The pivot point is shown by a yellow circle.