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Option to change middle mouse button to "rotate view"

Option to change middle mouse button to "rotate view"

I know Autodesk likes the idea of having the middle mouse button as pan. But most operations in modeling involve rotating and navigating the model. Pan as a direct mouse click is OK if you are working in 2D. And yes I know you can drag the navigation cube and yes I know you can hit "shift" and middle mouse button at the same time.

But why not just have a simple selection to customize your own interface.

Perhaps by making the platform more flexible to the user, it will attract and retain users to the software.

89 Comments
PaulMunford
Community Manager

Try SHIFT+Middle mouse button to tumble.

 

Left clicking to select something refers to vertices, edges, faces etc - not just parts.

 

If your 3DConnexion is too slow, try adjusting "Sensitivity" in the settings. You might also like this post:
https://designandmotion.net/autodesk/autodesk-inventor-3d-connexion-registry-hack/

 

 

 

robin_mcg
Explorer

Yes SHIFT + middle button rotates the part but that isn't what I meant. I would like to be able to set it like other CAD-programs i.e. middle button rotates, shift + middle button pans. If it’s shift or ctrl is less important even though ctrl is the better button to assign for this due to its location.

Regarding 3DConnexion I'm fully aware that you can set the sensitivity - that isn't the problem... I work much slower with 3DConnexion than without. Also I don’t want to have the space mouse on some work stations and on others only the mouse, just to compensate for poor usability. Why not just let the user set the program so they work in the same manner. Most other popular CAD programs let you set this as you want it!

Constantly left-clicking when rotating the part/assembly isn’t a very good solution. Why not just make the pointer the center of rotation?

scottspeig
Advocate

This is an old post - Is it possible to edit the mouse button in 2018??

 

(I'm new to Inventor from AutoCAD and my shift MMB is a transparent orbit which stops the rotation effect. Would be nice to keep this effect in Inventor)

 

I'm also thinking of getting a space mouse, and does anyone know if you can program that to be constrained in the same way?

Anonymous
Not applicable

I think, that like Solidworks, you should be able to rotate your Inventor model on screen by pressing the scroll wheel in on the mouse, and then moving the mouse accordingly (without having to press and hold down the SHIFT KEY). I know I am certainly not alone in this, and I think the rotation feature described above would be much more beneficial to us as 3D CAD users than the currently assigned pan feature.

 

Even if it could be made an option to select PAN or ROTATE depending on your preference.

 

Unless Autodesk have a little arrangement going on with a selection of 3D Mouse suppliers? ...Which apparently solve the problem? Whilst creating another problem, not everyone can justify or afford a 3D mouse.

 

I'd appreciate if this feature could be investigated, even if not implemented.

 

Best Regards,

 

Les

 

 

DRoam
Mentor
P-D91
Enthusiast

'Unless Autodesk have a little arrangement going on with a selection of 3D Mouse suppliers?' I think you've hit the nail on the head there mate. I had some inventor training last week and asked the same question, why cant you choose between pan and rotate.... the response he gave me was "You can always get a 3D mouse"

 

 

jtylerbc
Mentor

Other than the fact that you're used to it from another software, what benefit does swapping the Pan/Rotate functionality give?

 

I'm not sure there's a really strong argument for either convention.  But it seems to me that the more common action should be on the middle mouse, and the other as the alternate "shift" mode.  Orbit is does not exist in the Drawing environment, where Pan applies to all.  In my opinion, that gives a slight edge to the current control scheme, even without a 3D mouse.

P-D91
Enthusiast

@jtylerbc It doesn't matter if there is a strong argument for either convention. The ability to configure the mmb between the 2 functions is an enhancement none the less.

danmachen
Advocate

This is covered in this post also.

 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/option-to-change-middle-mouse-button-to-quot-rotate-vi...

 

I think I have used other CAD software that allows a scroll wheel "pan" function, unless you hit a scroll wheel click and right click which activates rotate. Seems quite simple to me.

 

I don't see why they would do this because of the 3D mouse. The 3D mouse would still outperform this, as it has hotkeys, zoom function, all much faster than using the mouse.

 

 

Personally not in favour of allowing customisation of this, but I would prefer to see Autodesk stick to one convention across all their different products! 

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

Fusion360 even gives you the option to select SolidWorks controls for zoom, pan and rotate. Seems like a simple addition to Inventor that would make a lot of people happy and make transitioning from other programs a lot easier. Rotating with the middle mouse button has been the toughest SolidWorks habit for me to break. It was second nature and now I have to think about it.

x35m95
Explorer
I fixed this by downloading the software for my mouse (Logitech m570, for now) and upon opening the settings, I noticed that I could set specific actions for my mouse buttons on an application basis and found out that it sends them as keystrokes. I went onto the Inventor 2018 "customize" setting and found my orbit command and set its keybinding to ctrl+shft+b. After that, I went back to my mouse settings to add that as the keystroke it would send to Inventor and it works flawlessly. I'll see if I can add a screencast or some screenshots of it afterward when I have a bit of time.
Anonymous
Not applicable
Thanks for the heads up x35m95. I'll check it out 🙂
inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Thanks for sharing your Idea. We use this forum to guide product development and help users in the best way we can based on voting. We occasionally merge Ideas or archive old ones to keep the forum working properly - it ensures there is room for people to review new Ideas and that the most relevant and meaningful ones can gain votes. We’re archiving this Idea because it's been on the board for well over a year and hasn't received many votes from the community. If you want to raise it again and try to gain more support, you're welcome to do so. We’ve found that pictures and mock-ups can help get concepts across and win more votes from other users. If you have questions or see a connection between this Idea and others, let us know. - Inventor product team (Inv.idea review)
inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Status changed to: Archived
 
inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Thanks for sharing your Idea. We use this forum to guide product development and help users in the best way we can based on voting. We occasionally merge Ideas or archive old ones to keep the forum working properly - it ensures there is room for people to review new Ideas and that the most relevant and meaningful ones can gain votes. We’re archiving this Idea because it's been on the board for well over a year and hasn't received many votes from the community. If you want to raise it again and try to gain more support, you're welcome to do so. We’ve found that pictures and mock-ups can help get concepts across and win more votes from other users. If you have questions or see a connection between this Idea and others, let us know. - Inventor product team (Inv.idea review)
inv.ideareview
Autodesk
Status changed to: Archived
 
jbrownT9CXP
Community Visitor

My first day using Inventor after using Solid Works. The middle button must ROTATE!!!! So frustrating!!!

 

Anonymous
Not applicable
Yes it is! And having people tell you that all you need to do is buy a 3D mouse makes it even more frustrating. I am slowly adapting but there are multiple things I miss from SolidWorks that made me more productive. It does get better with time.
Anonymous
Not applicable

Can't believe Autodesk hasn't added this simple option...

 

As a work around, you can use Autohotkey to swap shift middle mouse pan and middle mouse orbit:

 

 

1. Download Autohotkey.  It's a lightweight scripting language that can be used to create hotkeys and much more.  In this case, we'll use it to swap around mouse controls.

2. Open notepad, and paste the following script:

 

 

#IfWinActive Autodesk Inventor
;Make middle mouse click orbit
MButton:: 
   Send {LShift Down}
   Send {MButton Down}
Return
~MButton Up:: Send {LShift Up}

 

;Make shift + middle mouse click pan
+MButton:: Send {MButton Down}

 

;To invert scroll wheel zoom, delete the semi-colons below
;WheelUp::Send {WheelDown}
;WheelDown::Send {WheelUp}
#If

 

 

3. Save the file called something like "ahkInventor.ahk". Make sure you include the .ahk part.

4. Double click on the file to run it and use Inventor normally.

 

 

Also if you're like me and think the mouse wheel zoom direction is reversed, you can uncomment the second to last two lines of the script.  Just delete the semicolons before WheeUp and WheelDown.

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