Here is an image of the 2-point rotate gizmo. It has a movable "pivot" and also has a rotating handle that can snap to any type of geometry. In a similar way, the scale manipulator has an extra movable scaling handle. that one actually stretches the mainpulator when you set the handles. Then when you move the scaling handle, the manip will scale along with the object. There is a very large video on Lux's website which can be downloaded in 2 parts. They're about 700Mb each. And i'm not sure which part contains the manipulator preview...


The video in question is just under the picture of Brad Peebler standing in front of a Modo logo...
http://www.luxology.com/whatismodo/301/

jonah