Legacy UE4 1.0.5 Guide¶
Use this page as a reference for Pivot Tool 1.0.5 on Unreal Engine 4. It captures the older workflow from the published 1.0.5 user guide so you can compare legacy behavior with the current work-in-progress docs.
Legacy reference
This page documents Pivot Tool 1.0.5 for UE4-era workflows. The current docs on this site target the newer tool layout and continue to change. Use this page for core ideas and older UI flow, then cross-check with the current Quick Start, Guides, and Changelog.
What still maps well today¶
- Pivot presets still center on bounding-box positions.
- Temporary pivot changes, saved pivot offsets, copy and paste workflows, and mesh baking still follow the same core mental model.
- Previewing a target pivot before you commit still matters when you work with dense meshes or grouped actors.
What may differ in current docs¶
- Menu locations and panel docking behavior changed between the legacy UE4 toolbar flow and the current editor integration.
- Panel labels, button placement, and options layout changed as the UI evolved.
- Newer UE5-era features and layout improvements do not appear in the 1.0.5 guide.
Start the Pivot Tool¶
In Pivot Tool 1.0.5, you open the tool from the main Level Editor toolbar in UE4.
When you click Pivot Tool, a separate window opens. You can dock that window in the editor or leave it floating while you work.
Use pivot presets¶
The 1.0.5 tool organizes 27 preset points into four groups. Each preset moves the pivot to a position on the actor's local bounding box.
| Group | What it does |
|---|---|
| Bounding Box Center | Moves the pivot to the exact center of the bounding box |
| Bounding Box Face Center | Moves the pivot to one of the six face centers |
| Bounding Box Corners | Moves the pivot to one of the eight bounding-box corners |
| Bounding Box Edges Center | Moves the pivot to one of the twelve edge midpoints |
Set the pivot to the bounding-box center¶
To place the pivot at the center of the actor, click the single white center dot in the Bounding Box Center group.
The actor pivot moves to the center of the actor's local bounding box.
Set the pivot to a face center¶
To place the pivot on one side of the actor, click one of the six circular presets in Bounding Box Face Center.
The selected face center becomes the new actor pivot.
Set the pivot to a corner¶
To place the pivot on a bounding-box corner, click one of the eight corner presets in Bounding Box Corners.
Pivot Tool uses the actor's local-space bounding box for these positions instead of a world-space bounding box.
Set the pivot to an edge center¶
To place the pivot on an edge midpoint, click one of the twelve edge presets in Bounding Box Edges Center.
The pivot moves to the center of the selected bounding-box edge.
Use preset options¶
The legacy guide exposes additional behavior through the preset options panel.
Auto Save¶
Auto Save controls whether a preset writes the pivot change immediately or leaves it temporary.
When Auto Save is on, each preset click saves the pivot offset right away. When Auto Save is off, the new pivot acts as a temporary working pivot until you save it explicitly.
To test a temporary pivot, turn Auto Save off and apply the preset you want.
Any follow-up transform uses the temporary pivot. If you deselect and reselect the actor without saving, the actor returns to its original pivot offset.
Group Mode¶
Group Mode changes how Pivot Tool calculates the reference bounds for a selection.
When Group Mode is off, the preset applies to the last selected actor. When Group Mode is on, the preset applies to the bounding box of the entire selection as one group.
Vertex Mode¶
Vertex Mode changes whether the tool uses the bounding box or the nearest mesh vertex.
When Vertex Mode is off, the pivot lands on the mathematical bounding-box position. When Vertex Mode is on, the pivot snaps to the closest mesh vertex so the pivot stays on the mesh surface.
Children Mode¶
Pivot Tool 1.0.5 adds Children Mode for parent-child actor setups.
When Children Mode is off, Pivot Tool calculates the pivot from the selected actor only. When Children Mode is on, Pivot Tool includes the selected actor and all attached children when it calculates the bounds.
Use this mode when one parent actor represents a grouped set of attached actors and you want the parent pivot to reflect the whole group.
Preview a pivot preset¶
Pivot Tool 1.0.5 lets you preview a preset target in Editor Preferences > Content Editors > Pivot Tool.
When Display Pivot Preset Preview is enabled, hovering over a preset shows a wire sphere in the viewport at the target pivot position. The preview also shows three lines that represent the actor's local coordinate system after the click.
The legacy guide notes that the preview reads best in Wireframe view. You can also adjust the preview size, thickness, and color in the editor preferences.
Set or reset the pivot¶
Pivot Tool 1.0.5 provides shortcuts for saving or clearing a temporary pivot offset.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Set | Saves the current temporary pivot as the actor's pivot offset |
| Reset | Resets the actor pivot offset to zero |
In Unreal, you can move a pivot temporarily with Alt + Middle Mouse Drag on the transform widget.
To keep that change, Unreal exposes Pivot > Set as Pivot Offset on the actor context menu. The legacy guide positions the Pivot Tool Set button as a faster shortcut to that same save action, and the Reset button as a shortcut to resetting the pivot offset.
Copy and paste a pivot¶
Pivot Tool 1.0.5 lets you copy one actor's pivot offset and paste it to other selected actors.
To reuse a pivot setup:
- Select the source actor.
- Click Copy.
- Select the target actor or actors.
- Click Paste.
Because the pivot is stored as a relative value, the pasted pivot still lands in the matching relative location even when the target actor has a different scale.
Bake a mesh pivot¶
Pivot Tool 1.0.5 can bake an actor pivot directly into a static mesh asset inside Unreal Editor.
This workflow avoids exporting the mesh to a DCC tool for a simple pivot correction.
The legacy guide demonstrates a statue mesh whose default pivot sits in the center of the mesh. That placement causes part of the mesh to drop below the floor when you drag it into the level.
To correct the mesh:
- Apply the bottom-center pivot preset.
- Click Bake.
The baked static mesh now uses the new pivot position as its default origin.
When you drag the baked mesh into the level again, the bottom-center pivot aligns to the floor instead of sinking below it.
The legacy guide also calls out two related behaviors:
- actor rotation is baked with the pivot change
- collision and socket data are preserved when the pivot bake completes
Duplicate and Bake¶
Duplicate and Bake creates a duplicate static mesh asset first, then bakes the pivot into that new asset.
This workflow preserves the original mesh asset and switches the selected actor to the duplicated baked mesh.
Continue with the current docs¶
Use the current docs when you need the newer layout, refreshed terminology, or newer features: