Trying to get my mind around transforms, I realize understanding might be easier if I knew more context. Transforms seem to me like modifiers, except that applying transforms can be undone and modifiers can’t.
Questions then are these:
Are transforms rerversible because they don’t alter the mesh? And applied modifiers non-reversible because they add geometry which can be altered beyond program’s ability to undo?
What are the benefits of being able to switch back and forth between a universal and an object-centric coordinate system?
Not quite,
In the sense of modifiers some but not all are what we call destructive and they once applied cannot be undone so in most cases you would want to leave these unapplied. The reason is the modifiers if i remember rightly are not a magic option it basically does the basic commands behind the scenes together (So subdividing by the menu might actually be the loop cut code too).
The transforms however are independant of those as but they can cause issues.
The problem with transforms is that there is a big difference between object mode and edit mode, Something i think Mikey covers a little later.
Think of it this way, Object mode is the physical representation of the model its not actually is shaped like and the mesh is a the base construction much like a building (If you press z in object mode once it will go into wireframe and show what i mean and press z to come back out)
If you change the physical representation you are not changing the underlying mesh so where the object looks like it is it actually is not.
So you need to apply the changes made in the physical representation (object mode) to the mesh (edit mode) for it to be consistant. This is particularly important when trying to animate and use physics although in some cases with modelling if its remaining in blender and not being modifed then you can get away with not apply the transforms.
I hope this helps somewhat and it becomes a bit clearer in the later lectures.
Edit :- Future me back here.
An example to show this is to
Start a new blend file.
Move the default cube 1 unity on the z axis
Rotate the cube 45 degrees on the Z axis
Make a Diamond by scaling by 2 on Y axis.
This is a challenge from the updated course so you should have a diamond <> shape when complete. However you have to figure out when you need to apply the transforms as will the location affect the rotation or the scale if unapplied.
Please ignore the different UI as its from blender 2.8 as we are updating the course but the shape is what you are looking for. If you dont mind waiting for sections it might well pay to restart the course using the new content as well as you are just starting and we released the updated content very recently. (Dont worry you keep the old content and new at all times)
Hope this helps
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Hey mon,
Thanks for your answer. Not crystal clear yet but it’ll clarify if I work with it. That diamond exercise is a good way to show how unapplied rotation can be a gotcha.
Onward through the fog!
BTW, I played in a group called Roaring Jelly. You’d have fit right in!
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