2010LT Zoom help needed

[FOURTIEWHEELIE]

Hi

Is there any way to change how the zoom (with mouse wheel) functions? I've recently started using AutoCad after many years of using another drafting program. What is the base point for zooming? Zooming in and out to navigate around a drawing makes no sense in AutoCad. I would like to have the screen stay centered on the crosshair while zooming in and out.

I sure hope there is a way to change or customize this. There are many things I like about AutoCad, but zooming is not one of them.

Thanks,
Todd

[Anonymous]

First of all, have you read the pertaining help files?

Basic tips, (you'll rarely need anything else)

Next turn the scrollbars off. TOOLS, OPTIONS, display tab, window elements.

Next adjust the ZOOMFACTOR variable, just type ZOOMFACTOR and pick a
number between 1 and 100. We all have ours on 100.

Then, understand that when you scroll with your mouse wheel, it will
pull and push your drawing towards and away from you towards or away
from THE CURSOR.

Double click the mouse wheel to zoom all.

Hold the mouse wheel down to pan.

Simples! When you get the hang of it you can get from A to B like
lightening.

[FOURTIEWHEELIE]

Simon,

Thanks, I did read the help files before posting for a way to adjust the centering. The push / pull zooming like you describe is not only annoying, but not how a person would navigate around a paper drawing. A person doesn't look at the top of the page (move cross hair up) and zoom out in order for something lower on the page to come into view and then zoom in on it. Navigation would easier and more natural if the screen was centered on the cross hair.

You would think that with all of the customizable features of AutoCAD, this would and should be one of them.

I'm still hopeful

Thanks
Todd

[Anonymous]

Todd,

All I can say is that it is all I have ever used and it's second nature.
Those I Train feel that it is intuitive to do it this way.

When you have a drawing that covers an area of 10's of metres, it would
take ages just to get from one side to the other by panning. Zooming
and panning is optomised in LT with that in mind.

There are different ways to zoom and position yourself on your drawing,
but the scroll and pan are all you need most of the time. You can even
save specific views if you want.

I must say though that it is most difficult to change when you have been
doing it one for for a long time.

We are possibly moving to use Inventor quite soon. I downloaded the
trial and the scrolling in Inventor is opposite to LT by default, mad!

It's a good job there is a button in there to turn it round otherwise
we'd have been stuffed!

I sympathise with you, but it's one of those things that once you get
used to it, it works as well as anything else.

(Keep checking back to see if anyone else has any tips.)

[Anonymous]

Zooming with the scroll wheel *is* centered on the crosshairs. (Has been
forever, as far as I know.) Where is your zoom centered?

Rolling the scroll wheel forward/up/away from you zooms in, rolling it
backward/down/towards you zooms out. If you'd like to reverse this behavior,
you can change the ZOOMWHEEL variable.

--
Kate Morrical
AutoCAD LT Technical Marketing Manager
http://blogs.autodesk.com/ltunlimited

"fourtiewheelie" wrote in message news:6380445@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Simon,
>
> Thanks, I did read the help files before posting for a way to adjust the
> centering. The push / pull zooming like you describe is not only annoying,
> but not how a person would navigate around a paper drawing. A person
> doesn't look at the top of the page (move cross hair up) and zoom out in
> order for something lower on the page to come into view and then zoom in
> on it. Navigation would easier and more natural if the screen was centered
> on the cross hair.
>
> You would think that with all of the customizable features of AutoCAD,
> this would and should be one of them.
>
> I'm still hopeful
>
> Thanks
> Todd

[FOURTIEWHEELIE]

Kate,

I might not be describing my navigation issue correctly and the zoom may in fact be centered on screen like you say, but it is not centered on screen and on the cross hair. Currently in LT, say I want zoom in on an object or part of a drawing just of screen to the lower left. (yes I know I can pan) In order for it to come into view, I need to move the cursor to the upper right of the screen and zoom out until it appears on screen usually over zooming until what I want is near the center of the screen. This is not how a person navigates around a paper drawing, you don't look right to move left. I would like the on screen view to be centered on the cross hair while zooming.

I realize that this is probably how it's always been and most users don't know anything else. I'll have to adjust or jump ship if I can't, an expensive mistake. I was hoping this was a simple fix, a system variable, maybe a macro.

Todd

[Charles_Shade]

You're correct in that the screen will zoom to the center of the area being viewed at the time the mouse wheel is scrolled not where the cursor is placed and about having to zoom out to zoom in somewhere else.
You're incorrect in wanting the center of the screen follow the movement of the mouse. That is Panning. You can turn it on and off as you choose and then zoom after panning. Cumbersome yes but doable.
If there is a variable to zoom to the cursor placement then let's read about it.
As Simon said this is the way Autodesk does it and if you think about it your eyes do "zoom" to an area of the paper drawing you are working on. Then when you want to "look" at the opposite end you see the whole drawing so that your brain knows where it is spatially and only then can you "zoom" into the new area you want to look.
Regards, Charles Shade

[FOURTIEWHEELIE]

Zooming to (and from) the cursor placement is exactly what I want. I agree with the way you navigate a paper drawing, you do "zoom out" and look too the area you want to view and "zoom in". Too look at part of a drawing to the left of your current view (left off screen), you do not look right (move cursor right) zoom out (scroll) then look left (move cursor left) and zoom in. Which is how it is in AutoCAD LT. I can navigate a drawing. What I would like is to do it with zooming, screen centered on cursor.

If AutoCAD zooms based on the cursor location when the mouse wheel is last activated. Why can't it be set to current cursor location and center screen on it?

Todd

[Anonymous]

I don't know what you are doing or what your settings are, but when I
roll the wheel it zooms in and out based on my cursor so if I want to
zoom out to get a bigger picture I do that but if I want to zoom in on a
point in the lower left corner of the screen I move my cursor there and
zoom in. The only exception is that once I reach my "limits" on zooming
out it will move the drawing to be centered on the screen, but at that
point I can see everything and can move my cursor to the new point that
I want to center on.

On 4/26/2010 1:12 PM, fourtiewheelie wrote:
> Zooming to (and from) the cursor placement is exactly what I want. I agree with the way you navigate a paper drawing, you do "zoom out" and look too the area you want to view and "zoom in". Too look at part of a drawing to the left of your current view (left off screen), you do not look right (move cursor right) zoom out (scroll) then look left (move cursor left) and zoom in. Which is how it is in AutoCAD LT. I can navigate a drawing. What I would like is to do it with zooming, screen centered on cursor.
>
> If AutoCAD zooms based on the cursor location when the mouse wheel is last activated. Why can't it be set to current cursor location and center screen on it?
>
> Todd

[Anonymous]

>>>...I would like to have the screen stay centered on the crosshair while
>>>zooming in and out...<<<

That's how it works and always has, unless you got something special
running: What mouse? What mouse driver? What OS? What is the mouse driver
settings for the scroll wheel?

--
Dean Saadallah
http://LTisACAD.blogspot.com
--

[Anonymous]

>>>...the zoom may in fact be centered on screen like you say...<<<
That's not what you asked for or what anyone said so far.

>>>...say I want zoom in on an object or part of a drawing just of screen to
>>>the lower left...<<<

>>>...I need to move the cursor to the upper right of the screen and zoom
>>>out ...<<<
>>>>..zoom out until it appears on screen ...<<<

No offense buddy, but you just muddied the water: to zoom in LL, you zoom
out UR and centered? To me it sounds like you want Zoom>Dynamic, nothing
else.

--
Dean Saadallah
http://LTisACAD.blogspot.com
--

[Anonymous]

If I wanted to zoom to something just out of sight off the lower-left-hand
corner, I would roll the scroll wheel down (from wherever it happened to be)
until the proper area appeared, maybe hold down the scroll wheel to pan a
little and get the objects all on-screen, re-position the cursor over the
area of interest, and roll the scroll wheel up to zoom in.

Try rolling the scroll wheel back and forth as you hold your cursor over
different objects -- you'll see that the "center" of the zoom changes
depending on where you put the cursor.

I've attached a GIF showing what *should* happen when you roll the scroll
wheel. If your AutoCAD LT doesn't behave this way, there's a problem.

--
Kate Morrical
AutoCAD LT Technical Marketing Manager
http://blogs.autodesk.com/ltunlimited

"fourtiewheelie" wrote in message news:6380521@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Kate,
>
> I might not be describing my navigation issue correctly and the zoom may
> in fact be centered on screen like you say, but it is not centered on
> screen and on the cross hair. Currently in LT, say I want zoom in on an
> object or part of a drawing just of screen to the lower left. (yes I know
> I can pan) In order for it to come into view, I need to move the cursor to
> the upper right of the screen and zoom out until it appears on screen
> usually over zooming until what I want is near the center of the screen.
> This is not how a person navigates around a paper drawing, you don't look
> right to move left. I would like the on screen view to be centered on the
> cross hair while zooming.
>
> I realize that this is probably how it's always been and most users don't
> know anything else. I'll have to adjust or jump ship if I can't, an
> expensive mistake. I was hoping this was a simple fix, a system variable,
> maybe a macro.
>
> Todd

[FOURTIEWHEELIE]

Thank everybody,

Kate- My system behaves like your demo.

Dean- I use XP Professional, Microsoft optical mouse

I do belive everything is working as intended. I probably should have said, I would like the screen to re-center on the cursor while zooming, rather than stay centered.

It's early and I may just need to get use to zooming and pan to navigate around a drawing. You know how it is when you've done it one way for so long.

I was hopefull there was a simple way.

Todd

[Anonymous]

I think Zoom command, Dynamic option, is what you are after.

--
Dean Saadallah
http://LTisACAD.blogspot.com
--