2. In the Top viewport, create a Cylinder at approximate XY coordinates (66, -66). Make the cylinder approximately 13 units in radius and 40 units in height. These dimensions can be altered in the Parameters rollout of the Create panel or the Modify panel.
3. In the Top viewport, create a Teapot near the center (aka "origin") of the world, at XY coordinates (0,0). Make the teapot about 45 units in radius.
4. In the Main Toolbar, click on Select and Rotate. It turns green to show that the transform is active.
5. Position the cursor over the teapot in the Top viewport. Don't select any element of the Transform Gizmo, just select and rotate the teapot until its spout is pointing at the Cylinder object. (If the teapot rotates in an unexpected direction, undo the rotation and make sure the current Reference Coordinate System is "View" and the Axis Constraint is "Restrict to Z.")
6. Click Select and Move in the Main Toolbar. Right-click an empty space in the Front viewport, then select the Y axis of the teapot's Transform Gizmo. Use the Transform Gizmo to move the teapot about 50 units up, so the teapot is hovering in the air just above the cylinder.
7. Right-click in an empty area of the Perspective viewport to select it. In the Viewport Controls Toolbox in the lower right corner of the screen, click Zoom Extents. Your screen should now look something like the illustration below.
8. Click Select and Rotate in the Main Toolbar. Select the Transform Gizmo of the teapot in the Perspective viewport. Attempt to rotate the teapot as if you were to pour tea into the cylinder. Using the default View coordinate system (which, in the Perspective viewport, is actually the World coordinate system), it is impossible to rotate the teapot to get the desired effect. The teapot's spout always misses the target. You might be able to get it into a static position by making several rotations in various axes, but you can't simulate a pouring motion. This means that you will have problems trying to animate a pouring movement by rotating the teapot in the world axes. Undo the rotations to restore the teapot to the upright position seen in step 7.
9. With the teapot still selected, choose Local from the Reference Coordinate System drop-down list in the Main Toolbar. Observe how the Transform Gizmo changes to indicate a different orientation of the teapot's XYZ axes. Position your cursor over the Y axis of the Transform Gizmo so it turns yellow. Click and drag to rotate the teapot around its local Y axis. Pouring into the cylinder is easily accomplished. See the illustration on the following page.
10. As you interactively rotate the teapot, notice how unnatural the movement seems. This is because the Pivot Point is at the bottom of the teapot. In the real world, the point of rotation might be near the object's center of gravity, or at a joint or connection. For the teapot, the handle is an appropriate point of rotation.
11. With the teapot still selected, and hovering in the pouring position, go to the Hierarchy panel. Select Affect Pivot Only _ it turns blue to indicate that it is active. The Pivot Point tripod instantly appears, superimposed over the Transform Gizmo.
12. Click Select and Move, and choose the Local coordinate system from the drop-down list in the Main Toolbar. In the Perspective viewport, select the ZX plane of the Transform Gizmo by hovering your cursor over the blue and red corner icon. The Z and X axes of the Gizmo turn yellow. Click on the corner icon and drag the Transform Gizmo until it is located in the loop of the teapot's handle. Observe the movement of the Gizmo and Pivot Point in the other viewports. Click Min/Max Toggle to maximize the Perspective viewport. Your screen now looks like this:
13. In the Hierarchy panel, click Affect Pivot Only again to turn off Pivot Point Transforms. The Pivot Point icon disappears, leaving only the Transform Gizmo. Click Select and Rotate, select the local Y axis of the teapot once more, and rotate. With the Pivot Point in its new position, the teapot now spins around its handle for a more convincing tea party.
If you wish, you can make a short animation, but it is not required. The point of this exercise is to illustrate the local coordinate system and placement of pivot points.
14. Experiment with coordinate systems and Pivot Points. Try moving the Pivot Point of the teapot outside the object. Find out what happens when you rotate an object's Pivot Point, then move and rotate the object in its local axes.
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