3D Orbit settings - center of rotation

[75ironhead]

How can I set 3D ORBIT to control like the "Object viewer".

Currently when i select objects to view in 3d. I can not orbit around the center of it. when I try it just spins in 2d direction more like a Rotate comand. 

[tcrish]

Hi 75,

Is this what you are looking for?  See attachment....

Regards,

tom

[75ironhead]

No,

what I want is the "3D Orbit" command to work like the "Object Viewer".

but thanks anyway.

Todd

[David_W_Koch]

The "regular" Orbit command (the one above "Free Orbit" on the menu tcrish showed in the image attached to his post) seems to behave the same way the orbit in the objects viewer does, to me.  It takes the center of the visible screen and, as you move the mouse left or right, rotates about that center point.  The Orbit option of the Full Navigation Wheel does the same, with the added bonus of being able to use the Center feature to pick any point on your model and have the model initially pan to put the selected point at the center of the screen, so a subsequent Orbit will rotate about that point.

If neither of those works the way you want, you will have to describe what you are doing and what you expect in more detail.

[David_W_Koch]

Here is a Screencast recording to illustrate the similarity. You can also view this Screencast on the Autodesk Screencast site.

[75ironhead]

After checking a slew of variable setting I unintentionally got the 3DOrbit to work better but it still will not spin in all directions as the Object viewer does.

The left to right spin is fine but the up and down or front to back stops at 180 degrees. I thought it could be a world coordinance or system variable setting.

Thanks for your help

Todd

I tried to do the Screen Capture but I'm not that savvy with attaching links. 

my feeble attempt below 

https://screencast.autodesk.com/Main/Details/9a6465b4-fc1b-4f2a-b120-68c3463fc8ce

[David_W_Koch · Accepted solution]

I see what you are looking for now. I believe that the 3DORBIT command is intentionally limited that way (any one orbit is constrained to a horizontal or vertical plane) to prevent an architectural model (or any other type of model that has a defined "ground" plane) from getting too far out of "whack" (pardon the technical term) when orbiting.

The Free Orbit tool (3DFORBIT command) allows for full orbiting, but you have to pay attention to where your cursor is at the start of the orbit, as different locations have differet effects.  This version shows an "arcball" (that is what the Help calls it), which is a green circle that fills a good part of the screen, with its center at the center of the drawing canvas and which is adorned with smaller green circles at the quadrant points.  The cursor icon changes, based on where you are relative to the arcball.  If you are inside the arcball, you get the free orbit icon and dragging inside the arcball allows for free orbiting.  Outside the arcball, the cursor changes to a roll icon, and dragging outside the arcball limits the orbit to a "roll," or a rotation about an axis at the screen center, perpedicular to the screen.  If you position the cursor in the small circles at the left or right quadrant points of the arcball, the cursor changes to the vertical rotation icon, and the orbit will be limited to a rotation about a vertical axis passing through the center of the arcball.  Finally, positioning the cursor in the small circles at the top or bottom quadrant points changes the cursor to the horizontal rotation icon, and the orbit will be limited to a rotation about a horizontal axis passing through the center of the arcball.  There is also a right click context menu while in the command, presenting various options related to the view.

You may find the Orbit available from the Full Navigation Wheel comes closest to the Object Viewer experience.  No arcball here, but you do get a graphical indication of the pivot point, which you can reposition to a point on your model (must be on an object, not just somewhere in space).  While orbiting, you are in full free orbit at all times, and if your desk is big enough, you can keep moving the mouse in one direction and the orbit will keep going - no stopping when the cursor gets to the edge of the drawing canvas - it just hops to the opposite side of the screen and keeps going.

Here is a Screencast showing these two options in action.

[75ironhead]

Thanks David, that explained it very well.

Todd

[jmenier]

I know you wrote this long ago, but do you know if there is a way to change this in the CUI editor? I would like free orbit to be the shift+3rd mouse button, similar to how inventor is.

thanks.

[David_W_Koch]

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@jmenier wrote:

I know you wrote this long ago, but do you know if there is a way to change this in the CUI editor? I would like free orbit to be the shift+3rd mouse button, similar to how inventor is.

thanks.

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The ACA.cuix assigns the Transparent Orbit command (macro:  ^P'_3DORBITTRANSPARENT ^P) to Mouse Buttons > Shift+Click > Button 3.

You might try changing that to the 3D Free Orbit command (macro:  '_3DFOrbit) and see if that does what you want.  I have not actually tried that myself; you may want to back up your CUIX file before experimenting.

[Pola_S]

Thanks so much for the above explanation, exactly what I was looking for.

In case anyone is interested, I modified the shortcut in CUI and it worked (AutoCAD 2019). In the end however I decided to opt out of this behaviour as it's not as seamless as the 3dorbit (you have to escape the command after adjusting).