I've got an idea what might be going on, as it looks like everything is centered properly. You are probably correct with your global/local space observation.

If you look closely at the gizmo icons, you'll notice they have a drop down menu. This menu lets you set them to global or local. Try setting them to local. My theory is that the pivot of the object is indeed rotated at 90 degrees from.

For a "kludge" fix, you could also just rotate your hinge on a different axis. But would go into the pivot edit box and just rotate it so it's axii are pointing the right directions, using the local space rotation gizmo.

@rampa

Thanks!!!  I did notice the down arrows, but didn't try them.  I'm liking this idea.

I will let you know.

Tim

There are surely times when it is good to be stubborn.  Knowing when is the gift of experience.

Doh!

Just realized that your hinge may not be in line with your propeller axis. That would cause this issue. Make sure the hinge is sitting flat on the propeller. The hinge rotation takes priority over the gizmo orientation. Notice that the hinge has a little arrow that indicates its axis.

@rampa

Hi.

I set everything to local.  It still happens.  Everything to global.

Ok.  This isn't right.  It changes per click on the drop down, not by the item selected.   I will set it all to world and then reset my pivot points.

the software crashed, no warning.  I can't reload the file so I will have to redo it.

What I did see though, was that when I set it to local, it was lined up.  When I set it to world, my pivot points were all over the map.  When I redo it, I will set it all to local.

Reloaded the prop assembly.  Checked each item in my list and the pivot point in world view is 0,0,0 for everything.  No rotation numbers at all (in the transform data of modify)

Set the gizmo to local.  transform data shows everything in the assembly at 0,0,0.

I keyed my location data into the transform section and moved all of the items to where I want them.

When I look at it now, the location data is entered as the pivot point, but the actual pivot point is showing as 0,0,0

set gizmo to local, set all my pivot points to the location I want  156,-704,-45.6.  Pivot point is lined up with objects in assembly.

added hinge, set location of hinge to 156,-704,-45.6  Rotate in the transform section has Y=-90 for rotation

I give up!!!!  I put a force of .1, activated and hit play.

Here is what I got!!

My spinner is out by 90, and this time my prop rotators are in a perfect group, as well as my props in yet another group, equally spaced away from the spiner.

There are surely times when it is good to be stubborn.  Knowing when is the gift of experience.

You might want to upload the project, as I am out of ideas without playing with it myself. I'd be glad to have a look at it.

Hi

Went back to Hexagon.  created a new prop of a group which is the items in the prop assembly.  saved it as an obj file.

loaded it in 3DXChange

sent it to iclone

set the linear and orbital gizmos both to local.  set the pivot point on all of the objects.

added the hinge and set the pivot point.

activated and set a force.

propeller works perfectly.  everything is lined up and nothing switched positions.  i wish i knew what was different.

I'm thinking that since the arrow is so tiny on the hinge, maybe it was inverted

There are surely times when it is good to be stubborn.  Knowing when is the gift of experience.

Hi:

I now have two working prop assemblies which are both animated properly.  I'm now at the point that I was most concerned about.  I need to keep the props at the end of the motor while the motor rotates through 90 degrees   (vertical lift to forward thrust)

I attached the spinner to the motor and tried selecting position and rotation inside the ... at the right.  The motor rotates, but the props do not follow

I attached a 2nd hinge lower than the first hinge and set it to hand the rotation (thinking I would attach the motor to it later), but the two hinges fight to a draw.

I'll see if I can find a tutorial.  It can't be this difficult

Tim

There are surely times when it is good to be stubborn.  Knowing when is the gift of experience.

OK, I do know what is going on with the props not following. The motors need physics enabled, and set to kinematic. Still just the one hinge on the prop targeted to the motor. You will see a red box for the hinge, and a green box for the target.

The kinematic setting does not respond to physics, and so can be animated. You still need to attach everything, even if it's held by the physics, so you can move your prop around with it in one piece. The physics is only active during playback.

Target the propeller's hinge constraint to the motor body rather than "world" and it works.

See this vid:- http://primaveranz.com/machinima/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/prop.mp4

@rampa, @primaveranz

Thank you both, and yes, primaveranz, I am trying to do exactly what it is in your video.

I have tried everything that I can think of to change the constraint target to be the motor.  It remains at World.  I am convinced that this parameter cannot be changed manually.  Every attempt with the hinge highlighted to "pick target" and then select motorL from my scene list drops me into the material editor.  Do I have to have something specific selected in my scene?

I have attached the iproject, well, tried to.  I'm getting a message that I'm not allowed to attached that file type.  (iproject)  
How can I get this to you so you can see what is going on and try to help me straighten it out?

my email is available on request.  maybe i can reply and attach the file.  

Thanks,

Tim

edited to remove email address

There are surely times when it is good to be stubborn.  Knowing when is the gift of experience.