Precise Editing: Pivot Point
 

One thing I find frustrating about Maya is that doing anything in it using exact values always seems to be buried and convoluted. And in tutorials everyone seems to overtly ignore the idea entirely. Why is it that in all of the tutorials I've watched I've never seen anyone say, "This is how you move it exactly this many units" or "Here's how you rotate exactly this many degrees"???

What I need to do now is set the angle of a pivot point to exactly 45* relative.

I found this which says to use the pivots section in the attribute editor, so I tried it.
http://download.autodesk.com/global/...mber=d30e20082

But when I set the local rotation of the pivot point, weird things that don't make any sense happen, and none of them are: the pivot rotates the number of degrees I input.
First, whether I set Local Rotate Pivot or World Rotate Pivot the value appears in both tabs. Then, setting rotation on the pivot in either tab, does not. rotate. the pivot. What it does instead is it moves the pivot on the axis instead of rotating it around the axis.

Here's the original pivot.
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d1&oe=59F364C9

And this is what happens when I set Local Pivot Rotate to 45
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c4&oe=59F0D439

As you can see here the change is set in Local and World Space tabs of the attribute editor even though I only input it in Local Space tab. Also the pivot has offset some wacky direction instead of rotating in place the designated number of degrees.

Just. Why???

Can someone tell me what I need to do to JUST ROTATE. THE PIVOT. 45 DEGREES???

Why is that so hard? Why does this have to be so convoluted???

How is there not, just... a set of coordinate fields that I can edit at any time and will always apply the translation input to any object that is selected/being edited??? Including pivot points????

Why is everyone in the universe apparently perfectly content to just drag things around in the 3D view pane with no regard or desire for precision in anything they ever do whatsoever???

Have you tried double clicking the rotate tool to adjust the pivot angle to 45 deg relative to your object?

You can also hold down 'j' before rotating to constrain your rotation steps to 15 degrees. This can be changed in the rotation settings window.

Thanks for the help, that got me one step closer but it's still not working.

Yes, I tried using the edit pivot function in the tool settings before and that didn't do anything useful either. I forgot to mention that.

Using the j key did help me set it to 45* though so there's that. But, amazingly, once I've edited the pivot point to 45* offset, as soon as I click on the object again the pivot resets itself!!!! I just. Want to scream. At the top of my lungs. All day.

What I find really lovely is that if I reposition the pivot that change is persistent, but if I rotate it the change doesn't stick? Why would one work but not the other??? Why does nothing that I need ever work but everything immediately adjacent to what I need does seemingly just to rub my face in the thing I need not working???

Anyway, here's some screens of what's happening.

Edit pivot:
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...19&oe=5A04681F

Move pivot. The change is persistent. No matter what I do, the pivot always stays here, unless I got back into edit pivot.
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...a6&oe=59F54FDF

So can someone tells me when I do the exact same thing but with rotating the pivot instead of moving it, this happens:
Edit pivot, and rotate 45* using "j" (thanks):
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...cc&oe=5A06ECED

Exit edit pivot and the move manipulator is exactly where it's supposed to be:
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...9d&oe=59FF9F13

But as soon as I click anywhere or do anything:
https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...2a&oe=59F046FA

The pivot. MAGICALLY RESETS IT'S SELF.

So now I can make it LOOK like the pivot is at 45* but anytime I do anything it jumps back to 0* and I can't even take the first step of making this model. STILL.

I ALWAYS reset my tools before closing them.