Move/Copy

Overview#

Move/Copy relocates objects without constraints. It is the quick way to position a body relative to others, rotate a part before an operation, or duplicate bodies. Because it is a timeline feature, the move can be edited or reordered.

In an assembly, use Joints to position components with relationships; use Move/Copy to position bodies inside a part, to nudge components temporarily, or when you want a one-off placement.

Where to find it#

• Workspace: Design.
• Tab / panel: Solid tab > Modify > Move/Copy.
• Shortcut: M.
• Canvas manipulator: the triad that appears in the canvas lets you drag to move or rotate, or you can enter values in the dialog.

Step by step#

1. Press M.
2. Set Move Object: Bodies, Components, Faces, or Sketch Objects.
3. Click the object(s) to move. With Move Object set to Components or Bodies, selection is limited to one component, or to bodies within a single component.
4. Choose the Move Type: Free Move, Translate, Rotate, Point to Point, or Point to Position.
5. Use the manipulator triad in the canvas, or type values (X, Y, Z Distance or X, Y, Z Angle) in the dialog.
6. To keep the original and create a duplicate, check Create Copy after selecting the object and before making any adjustments.
7. To rotate about a specific point, use Set Pivot to specify the center point of rotation.
8. OK.

Worked example: align a second block#

1. Make two blocks of different sizes.
2. Press M, choose Move Type Point to Point.
3. Select block B. Pick a corner of block B as the first point and a corner of block A as the second.
4. The blocks snap corner to corner. Then, with Translate, nudge 5 mm along Z.

Options reference#

Tips and pitfalls#

Tip: Type values rather than dragging so the move is reproducible and the timeline entry is clean.

Tip: Use Move/Copy with Create Copy followed by Scale or Mirror to create variants of a part without touching the original.

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: how Move/Copy interacts with joints and grounded components. Test on a copy of your design, and use joints rather than Move/Copy for assembly relationships.

Warning: Move Object set to Faces can distort adjacent geometry. It is equivalent to a direct edit, and can fail if the surrounding faces cannot adapt.

• Moving sketch objects moves the geometry but may conflict with constraints; use sparingly (general advice).
• After copying a component, check the browser to see what was created.
• Alignment is easier with the Align tool (Modify > Align) when you need to mate faces.
• Moves happen in the timeline order; place the move before features that depend on the new position.
• Use Inspect > Interference after moving bodies to confirm they do not collide.

Move types compared#

Because Autodesk says Free Move is not captured parametrically, use Translate or Point to Point with typed values for placements that matter.

Pivots and rotation order#

Rotation happens about the pivot, which may not be where you want it. Use Set Pivot to specify the center of rotation (for example a circle center or vertex) and then rotate. Rotating 90 degrees about X then 90 degrees about Y is not the same as the reverse order; if you need a compound orientation, do it as two separate Move/Copy features so each is individually editable, or use the Align tool.

Numbers: rotating a 40 mm tall pin 45 degrees about a pivot at its base moves its tip by 40 x sin(45) = 28.3 mm horizontally and lowers it by 40 x (1 - cos(45)) = 11.7 mm. If the tip ends up somewhere else, the pivot was at the center, not the base.

Moving faces#

Move Object set to Faces behaves like a direct edit: selected faces translate or rotate and neighbors extend or trim to follow. It works well for:

• Shifting a hole's wall (selecting its cylindrical face) by 3 mm.
• Tilting a planar face by a few degrees to introduce draft.

It fails when a neighbor face is parallel and would collapse to zero area, or when the move would make the body self-intersect. Use small steps and keep one face selection per feature if you need to isolate the cause of an error.

Moving components in assemblies#

Use joints, not Move/Copy, for relationships between assembly components. The Move/Copy reference does not describe how it interacts with grounded components or joints, so test it in your design.

Worked example: arranging three parts for a render#

1. Place three bodies A, B, C.
2. Move/Copy B with Point to Position: X = 60, Y = 0, Z = 0.
3. Move/Copy C with Translate X = 120 and Rotate 30 degrees about Z, pivot at C's center.
4. Create a copy of A with Create Copy and Translate Z = 80 so the copy appears above A.
5. Verify spacing with Inspect > Measure: the distance from A's center to B's center should be 60 mm.

Because each move is a separate timeline feature, you can edit B's X value later and C and the copy do not change.

Failure modes and fixes#

Choosing between Move/Copy, Align and joints#

A useful habit is to keep every Move/Copy numeric. A Translate of 25 mm in X is self-documenting; a dragged Free Move is not. If you must drag to find a position, read the resulting values from the dialog, then retype them rounded to sensible numbers (24.97 mm becomes 25 mm), so later edits start from a clean value.

Copies that stay useful#

Create Copy duplicates at the new location and leaves the original untouched. For three bodies spaced 30 mm apart, run Create Copy with Translate X = 30 mm, then run it again on the copy; or use a Rectangular Pattern with Spacing 30 mm if you want to change the count later. Patterns are better when the spacing is regular, and Move/Copy is better when each placement is different.

Practice exercise#

Practise precision positioning and then break the model by reordering.

1. Create a 20 mm cube and a cylinder 10 mm diameter and 30 mm tall.
2. Use Point to Point to put the cylinder's bottom center on the cube's top center. Measure the gap: it should be zero.
3. Create Copy of the cylinder, Translate 25 mm in X, then add a second Move/Copy that rotates it 45 degrees about Y with the pivot at its base. Compute the expected horizontal shift of the top (30 x sin 45 = 21.2 mm) and check it with Measure.
4. Create another copy and use Point to Position to place its base center at X = 60, Y = 10, Z = 0.
5. Move the top face of the cube up 5 mm using Move Object = Faces, Translate Z. Note what happens to the cube height.
6. Join the original cylinder with the cube.
7. Drag the Move/Copy from step 3 to before the Join and then to before the cube extrude; note what changes and what errors appear.
8. Add a Move/Copy of a component that has a joint and observe the behavior (the docs do not describe it).

Expected result: a cube with a cylinder on top, a tilted copy whose tip offset you predicted, a copy at fixed coordinates, and a documented effect of timeline order.

Related#

• Mirror and Patterns
• Press Pull and direct modeling
• Construction geometry
• Shell, Draft, and Scale