Free transform tool in Illustrator?

Question

I have drawn a set of boxes, copy and pasted them. I now want to make them look like they vanish into the distance.
So I want to select the free transform tool then hold ctrl, sft, & Alt to make them warp.
Why wont it do it on multiple items?

Answer 1

In the original file, the boxes are trimmed (pathfinder tool) out of one solid shape. I then deleted the outside to leave the individual boxes, so if I select one box now they are all selected as they are cut out of one shape.
Allreet,
If you really care to get to the bottom of this, you need to describe EXACTLY the steps you performed, and not withold pertinent information preventing anyone from replicating your situtation. The above description makes no sense, but it suggests there is more going on your file than just a few simple paths, which may very well have a bearing on the Free Transform tool seeming to fail. (It's really annoying when someone posts a question resulting in a long thread with others trying to help, only to find that pertinent information has been witheld.)
Why did you use a Pathfinder, and EXACTLY which Pathfinder did you use? (Trim does not do what you describe.) What was the "solid shape"? What was its content, if any? What EXACTLY were the other objects involved, and how many? Which were selected when you applied the Pathfinder? Did you Expand the Pathfinder, or is it still a live effect? Are there any raster images involved in this at all?
HR,
Neither of your suggested alternate methods (FreeDistort Effect or Warp Envelope) equate to the so-called perspective distortion of the Free Transform Tool. Both of those methods simply distort the content into a "wedge" envelope. The Free Transform Tool logrithmically moves/scales anchorpoints toward/away from the so-called "vanishing point."
You can see the difference by comparing the results when performed on a grid:
Even the "perspective trick" of the Free Distort tool alone does not result in convincing perspective if not followed by other moves. Note that in the top right image, the square "floor tiles" have become grossly stretched. There is no way that the supposedly square tiles, viewed at an angle, would appear taller than their width; quite the opposite would be the case. A second vertical scaling move is required.
None of the above nor other more tedious workarounds in Illustrator come even close to the practicality and utility of the dedicated Perspective Grid toolset built many years ago into FreeHand. It was a true ground-breaking innovation in 2D vector drawing programs; the first-ever real example of how the interface in mainstream Bezier drawing programs could break free of their lamely pervasive vertical/horizontal orientation and provide an environment in which an illustrator is allowed to think like an illustrator, instead of having to continually devise workarounds to achieve what was intuitively done on paper for centuries before these lame flat-design softwares (which is all they really are) appeared.
Adobe, of course, has simply removed this ground-breaking innovation from the market. There is nothing in Illustrator nor in any of the other mainstream Bezier drawing programs that even comes close to it. Adobe has set practical 2D vector drawing development backward by 10 years.
JET