individual element pivot point option
The individual origins option is great, and effectively works like an individual bounding box for each group of touching selections.
Often though you need to transform/rotate/scale each selected face or edge based on it's own pivot point. I propose an individual element option in the pivot point settings.
For example, in the below scenario I want to scale all the faces along their own local z axis to make the thread narrower. This isn't possible because all of the selected faces are touching, which means they all scale from one origin rather than their own face origin.
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Now imagine case when selected elements is not same consistent as in your example GIF. Lot of possible cases mean that scaling one of selected face should move vertices of another selected face, but this face want to transvorm his own vertices in different direction ....
So you have to find way to work around. In your example it's easy. Select edge ring -> scale by Individual Element, Normal Orientation Y(along edge).
PS
...For example, in the below scenario I want to scale all the faces along their own local z axis...
You can't in your example because face " local " Z is perpendicular to face and all faces in your example is flat... Even more - you can't even scale by X or Y to achieve desired result. Your faces normal axis don't look along tube... So u have to use edges
in this
case.
PPS Sometimes world is not simple.
* @IIIFGIII * absolutely. I'd suggest a better calculation of tangent and bi-tangent in this scenario. Possibly based on the average between two adjoining faces based on longest edge.
But yes, in some scenarios (like the one you mentioned), axis would need to be unavailable, otherwise they'd fight with neighbours, in other words an impossibility as you rightly said.
Perhaps the tangent and bitangent could be calculated by drawing a curve that passes through the centre of each connected selected face (shortest distance), and then the tangent follows the curve, and then in the case of a loop, the bitangent points towards a central point on the meshes surface but parallel to each individual face. Obviously the pivot should be the most central point of each face, and the indivual faces would also need to be flexible during transformation in some cases.
What i do is Inset the faces, and remove the extra edgeloop. But it sure would be nice to have this
there is a workaround for this select edge ring then scale with individual origins
* @yasharjk * yep, that would work in the above example, but in more complex cases it wouldn't, a row of connected ngons for example.