After reading this blog, you will be able to draw and navigate around the different planes and axis in 3Ds Max Viewport much more easily.

Axis and Planes

The first thing you need to understand in 3DsMax are the axis that the base plane is using. As you can see there is a Y, X and Z. The base plane uses the Y and the X. 

To move your object up and down, you would move it in the Z direction. So if we draw a box and click on the move button, you can see the Y, the X and the Z.

Moving Objects in Different 3Ds Max Viewports

You can also go into the different modes to only move your object on a certain axis. If you only want to move it in the X and Y, you can press T on your keyboard for the Top view and here you only have access to the Y and X gimbal, not the Z. If you only want to move the object up and down, you can press L on your keyboard for the left view and then you can move it up/down or to the right/left. This can be more clearer when you enable all four 3Ds Max Viewports by pressing ‘Alt+W’, or by going to the bottom left of the screen to ‘Standard Viewport Layouts’ and clicking the layout with four equal boxes.

Now, you can play around with moving the object in the different viewports and seeing how the object moves. You can also get really precise movements in the different axis.

Hopefully you found this blog helpful and if you would like to see a more in depth video tutorial, it will be linked below.

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