Positioning GameObjects

To alter the Transform component of the GameObjectThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary, use the mouse to manipulate any GizmoA graphic overlay associated with a GameObject in a Scene, and displayed in the Scene View. Built-in scene tools such as the move tool are Gizmos, and you can create custom Gizmos using textures or scripting. Some Gizmos are only drawn when the GameObject is selected, while other Gizmos are drawn by the Editor regardless of which GameObjects are selected. More info
See in Glossary axis, or type values directly into the number fields of the Transform component in the InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, asset or project settings, allowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
See in Glossary.

Alternatively, you can select each of the four Transform modes with a hotkey: W for Move, E for Rotate, R for Scale, T for RectTransform, and Y for Transform.

Move

At the center of the Move Gizmo, there are three small squares you can use to drag the GameObject within a single plane (meaning you can move two axes at once while the third keeps still).

If you hold shift while clicking and dragging in the center of the Move Gizmo, the center of the Gizmo changes to a flat square. The flat square indicates that you can move the GameObject around on a plane relative to the direction the SceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info
See in Glossary view CameraA component which creates an image of a particular viewpoint in your scene. The output is either drawn to the screen or captured as a texture. More info
See in Glossary is facing.

Rotate

With the Rotate tool selected, change the GameObject’s rotation by clicking and dragging the axes of the wireframe sphere Gizmo that appears around it. As with the Move Gizmo, the last axis you changed will be colored yellow. Think of the red, green and blue circles as performing rotation around the red, green and blue axes that appear in the Move mode (red is the x-axis, green in the y-axis, and blue is the z-axis). Finally, use the outermost circle to rotate the GameObject around the Scene viewAn interactive view into the world you are creating. You use the Scene View to select and position scenery, characters, cameras, lights, and all other types of Game Object. More info
See in Glossary z-axis. Think of this as rotating in screen space.

Scale

The Scale tool lets you rescale the GameObject evenly on all axes at once by clicking and dragging on the cube at the center of the Gizmo. You can also scale the axes individually, but you should take care if you do this when there are child GameObjects, because the effect can look quite strange.

RectTransform

The RectTransform is commonly used for positioning 2D elements such as SpritesA 2D graphic objects. If you are used to working in 3D, Sprites are essentially just standard textures but there are special techniques for combining and managing sprite textures for efficiency and convenience during development. More info
See in Glossary or UI elements, but it can also be useful for manipulating 3D GameObjects. It combines moving, scaling and rotation into a single Gizmo:

• Click and drag within the rectangular Gizmo to move the GameObject.
• Click and drag any corner or edge of the rectangular Gizmo to scale the GameObject.
• Drag an edge to scale the GameObject along one axis.
• Drag a corner to scale the GameObject on two axes.
• To rotate the GameObject, position your cursor just beyond a corner of the rectangle. The cursor changes to display a rotation icon. Click and drag from this area to rotate the GameObject.

Note that in 2D mode, you can’t change the z-axis in the Scene using the Gizmos. However, it is useful for certain scripting techniques to use the z-axis for other purposes, so you can still set the z-axis using the Transform component in the Inspector.

For more information on transforming GameObjects, see documentation on the Transform ComponentA Transform component determines the Position, Rotation, and Scale of each object in the scene. Every GameObject has a Transform. More info
See in Glossary.

Transform

The Transform tool combines the Move, Rotate and Scale tools. Its Gizmo provides handles for movement and rotation. When the Tool Handle Rotation is set to Local (see below), the Transform tool also provides handles for scaling the selected GameObject.

Custom tools

If your Project uses custom Editor tools, some of them might also allow you to position GameObjects.

You can access custom tools by right-clicking the Available Custom Editor Tools button in the Scene view toolbarA row of buttons and basic controls at the top of the Unity Editor that allows you to interact with the Editor in various ways (e.g. scaling, translation). More info
See in Glossary.

For information, see the documentation on Using Custom Editor Tools.

Gizmo handle position toggles

The Gizmo handle position toggles are used to define the location of any Transform tool Gizmo, and the handles use to manipulate the Gizmo itself.

For position

Click the Pivot/Center button on the left to toggle between Pivot and Center.

• Pivot positions the Gizmo at the actual pivot point of the GameObject, as defined by the Transform component.
• Center positions the Gizmo at a center position based on the selected GameObjects.

For rotation

Click the Local/Global button on the right to toggle between Local and Global.

• Local keeps the Gizmo’s rotation relative to the GameObject’s.
• Global clamps the Gizmo to world space orientation.

Snapping

Unity provides three types of snapping:

• World grid snapping: Snap a GameObject to a grid projected along the X, Y, or Z axes or transform a GameObject in increments along the X, Y, or Z axes. This is only available while using the World, or Global, handle orientation.
• Surface snapping: Snap the GameObject to the intersection of any ColliderAn invisible shape that is used to handle physical collisions for an object. A collider doesn’t need to be exactly the same shape as the object’s mesh - a rough approximation is often more efficient and indistinguishable in gameplay. More info
  See in Glossary.
• Vertex snapping: Snap any vertex from a given MeshThe main graphics primitive of Unity. Meshes make up a large part of your 3D worlds. Unity supports triangulated or Quadrangulated polygon meshes. Nurbs, Nurms, Subdiv surfaces must be converted to polygons. More info
  See in Glossary to the position of another Mesh’s vertex or surface. You can snap vertex to vertex, vertex to surface, and pivot to vertex.

Surface snapping

While dragging in the center using the Move tool, hold Shift and Control (Command on Mac) to quickly snap the GameObject to the intersection of any Collider.

Vertex snapping

Use vertex snapping to quickly assemble your Scenes: take any vertex from a given Mesh and place that vertex in the same position as any vertex from any other Mesh you choose. For example, use vertex snapping to align road sections precisely in a racing game, or to position power-up items at the vertices of a Mesh.

Follow the steps below to use vertex snapping:

1. Select the Mesh you want to manipulate and make sure the Move tool is active.

2. Press and hold the V key to activate the vertex snapping mode.

3. Move your cursor over the vertex on your Mesh that you want to use as the pivot point.

4. Hold down the left mouse button once your cursor is over the vertex you want and drag your Mesh next to any other vertex on another Mesh.

   To snap a vertex to a surface on another Mesh, add and hold down the Shift+Ctrl (Windows) or Shift+Command (macOS) key while you move over the surface you want to snap to.

   To snap the pivot to a vertex on another Mesh, add and hold the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key while you move the cursor to the vertex you want to snap to.

5. Release the mouse button and the V key when you are happy with the results (Shift+V acts as a toggle of this functionality).

Look-at rotation

While using the Rotate tool, hold Shift and Control (Command on Mac) to rotate the GameObject towards a point on the surface of any Collider.

Screen Space Transform

While using the Transform tool, hold down the Shift key to enable Screen Space mode. This mode allows you to move, rotate and scale GameObjects as they appear on the screen, rather than in the Scene.

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• Transform tool added in 2017.3 NewIn20173
• Selection Outline for child GameObjects added in 2018.3 NewIn20183
• Button and menu to access custom Editor tools added in 2019.1 NewIn20191
• Native grid added in 2019.3 NewIn20193