What is a 3ds Max Gizmo? How do I turn on, or turn off a Gizmo in 3ds Max?

Posted July 7, 2005

When I first started in 3ds Max, I started hearing about “gizmo” this and “gizmo” that. I have found even in After Effects, this is a popular term when talking about transformation tools. Gizmo to me seems like an afterthought of what they decided to name something late into the development process.

Basically, a gizmo is a little helper for when you are transforming (rotate, scale, move) an object in your viewing plane, or orthagonal view.

In 3ds Max, there are three views, X = Horizontal, Z = Vertical, and Y = Forward and Back in dimension space. This may be hard if you are new to a 3d modeling program, but a 3 dimension space is what this type of program is all about, hence 3d.

So, when you choose one of your transform tools, (again scale, rotate, move or something else) a little 3d dimensional crosshairs comes up to help you know which direction you are applying your transform in. Each direction has it’s own color, X = Red, Z = Blue, and Y = Green.

Without getting into an in depth explanation of how gizmos work, I just want to say that they are extremely helpful for making a shape change to the way you want it. I had some problems one day because when I was using my transform tools, the gizmos weren’t showing up. I had to go hunting to try to figure out how to turn my gizmos back on.

So, to turn on your gizmos, if they aren’t already.

Step 1: Go to Customize > Preferences