How do I move origin and apply transform?

Question

Full disclosure, I am newb and dumb.

So long story short, I got a model someone else made and chopped it up into multiple meshes for exporting to Unity and animation. When I got to Unity I found that things were off and I think it's because all the origins for my individual meshes are still at the center of the original model. So I tried moving all the origins to the center of their respective mesh but this changes the location. There is also a black line connected to the previous origin location when I move it no matter what method I use. So I try to apply the location to zero everything out because that what people say to do and the origin jumps back to where it was before. The black lines lead me to assume this is due to some sort of parenting hierarchy so I press all the clear parent buttons I can find, delete all my armatures, and still nothing works. Can't even get rid of the black lines.

I give up. What the hell is going on? How do I move the origin of a mesh and zero out the transform? Everything I can find on the subject makes it so simple. Like I'm the only person who failed Blender 101. I can move the origin. I can apply the transforms. I can't seem to do both at the same time. Also, why am I getting black lines when I move the origin? I don't see this happen when other people do it. Help me.

EDIT: So I got rid of the black lines by clearing the parents of the meshes' children, but this did not solve my problem of applying the location with out the origin moving back. I guess I should ask if I even need to zero out the location. What is the reason to do so and will I run into more problems if I don't?

Answer 1

1. Keep the origin where I want, here, in the center of each mesh

2. Make sure your 3D cursor, is at the center of the world (Shift+S => Cursor to world origin)

3. Select one mesh, ⇧ Shift + S > Selected to cursor

4. Do this for all the parts, then export it

5. Press Ctrl + Z multiple times to make everything return back to normal position

6. When you import it into unity, you'll have what you need, but then again, you'll have to rearrange your skateboard to make it look like a skateboard

7. Go back to Blender, copy the location (rotation if needed), of each object and paste it into unity's coordinates.

Again, this is what I used to do way back then, now if there are any other easier ways, somebody pls help him out, but if you can't find any help, and since this is a small object, I think this should work out