Struggling to understand how orbit works when sketching vs. modeling...

[jonYDM8U]

In a new design, the document origin defaults as the orbit point.

I create a sketch and add a rectangle to the sketch, then finish the sketch.  Now, the default orbit point becomes the center point of that rectangle.

If I edit that sketch and create a construction plane, move that plane away from the sketch plane and finish the sketch,  the pivot point is now hovering  directly centered between the rectangle and the construction plane.

Now, if I edit one of those sketches, the pivot point becomes the document origin, making it impossible to fine tune my movements if I'm further from that point.

I understand that I can redefine the orbit point while in a sketch, but ideally, I'd just simply like the orbit point to always be where my cursor is when I orbit.

Is there a reason for this behavior and can it be customized to do what I want it to do?  I spend more time fighting with moving around the interface than I do creating anything.

[jodom4]

Hey jonYDM8U,

The orbit origin point defaults to the center of mass of the entire visible model, so to speak. That's why it moves as your design takes up more space. The Look At tool will move the orbit origin point to a face, sketch profile, or construction plane. At this time there's no setting for making the orbit point change with the location of the cursor.

[jonYDM8U]

Hmm...I'm not getting it.

Let's say I draw and extrude a 4" slab of concrete (bathroom (8'x5') with 8' ceilings).  The model is anchored to the document's origin.

Now, I want to model a linear drain which will be 24" by 4" by 3/4" deep and position it in the floor by the edge of the slab.

I would typically take these steps:

1. New Document
2. Sketch Slab
3. Extrude Slab
4. New Sketch - Here's where I get stuck.  Since I'm essentially creating  a new component that will eventually have a rigid joint, I can basically draw that sketch anywhere I want in the main document.  I don't want to attach the sketch to one of the slab faces, so I just choose one of the planes of the main document origin and then scoot the view over so the slab isn't interfering with my line of sight.  It's at this point that I'm left with a pivot point at the original document origin, so anything I draw in this 2nd sketch when I orbit, whips out of the view.
5. To solve, I double click the mouse wheel which seems to zoom me out to the entire document.  Then I can zoom into the 2nd sketch and continue with a pivot point as expected, but if I leave the sketch and re-enter it, I have to do this again.

Perhaps my order of operations is screwy, or perhaps I'm supposed to sketch everything either right at the origin (in which case I would need to isolate everytime I sketch (in which case I lose 3d sketching surfaces) or I have to create a new document for each component and then link that component and unlink it to get it into the main document.

Can you point me in the right direction regarding whether or not I'm not understanding a typical and efficient workflow?

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