Split a single mesh object into two?

[Brian Jones]

select the blades polys in Poly mode (and whatever else you want to separate) and run the Split command (right-click or Mesh/Commands/Split) – that makes a copy of the polys in a new object but leaves the originals in the old object – so either delete the polys in the old object or split all the parts and hide or delete the original

[Alex Last]

Thanks!

Now I just need to rotate the blades around the centre node — unfortunately selecting all three blades and just rotating them doesn’t work because they aren’t anchored to that point… any ideas?

I mean if I move them a tiny bit along with the move tool, then rotate them a tiny bit, then make a keyframe, then do that over and over, it kinda works. Just a bit painstaking. It also looks pretty terrible. If only you could designate a curved path or something…. or anchor the blades around something

[Alex Last]

Nevermind, i figured it out!

I basically made the cylinder at the top (which the blades are connected to) into a single object along with the blades. Then I used “select connected” on all the points of the cylinder, then I went to Mesh > Axis Center and made sure that ‘Action’ was set to “Axis to” and Center was set to “Selected Points” then I hit execute. Now when I use the rotate tool, they all turn on that point. Perfect.

Thanks!