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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
Anonymous
Not applicable

100% agree Rotating the view is much more useful if you are developing a product. Especially someone coming from Solidworks this is extremely annoying that the middle mouse default is pan.

Anonymous
Not applicable

It is frankly baffling that it isn't already possible to assign the orbit command to the middle mouse button. This suggestion has been around for years, and it isn't even a complicated suggestion.

 

Speaking from personal experience, I never even use the pan feature at all. I really prefer to zoom out, then zoom in at a new point. Although people consider this to be an unusual workflow, it's less claustrophobic and helps me to keep the full model in mind at all times.

 

Since I don't use pan at all, why should I be forced to waste my middle mouse button on it?

Anonymous
Not applicable
I completely agree. I do the same.
Pan lends itself to more 2D applications.
Anonymous
Not applicable
This is especially annoying when talking on the phone while viewing a model. I either have to use speaker phone or try to hold the phone to my ear with my shoulder while I use both hands to rotate the view. And before someone says it, No I do not want to purchase a 3d mouse.
Anonymous
Not applicable

It would appear that AutoDesk is not reviewing these boards.  This has been an issue for 4 years, and is still being ignored.f  It can be an option, then everyone is happy.  Pan or Rotate, user option.  What is so hard?

jtylerbc
Mentor

@Anonymous, even though I don't particularly see a need for this change myself, I will say that a 3D mouse would not help with the phone issue anyway.  They're intended for left-handed use, and don't replace the functions of your normal mouse.  So you would either try to awkwardly operate it with the wrong hand, or would still end up using both hands and pinching your phone with your shoulder.

 

I have a 3D mouse, and love it.  But it's not the answer to everything.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Thats been my biggest beef with Autodesk. I like there products and want them to succeed. but they are not responsive to customer complaints or suggestions. And I am not sure why that is. SolidWorks at lest a few years ago was always very responsive and would also give direct communication.
One almost gets the sense that Autodesk resents the feedback or simply does not care. I don't believe thats true, but the feeling is that they are pretty removed from the end user experience and needs. And perhaps thats the most important fix they need to make.
Anonymous
Not applicable

@jtylerbc I think it's worth noting that this isn't much of a "change." All that is desired is the ability to optionally remap a single command. They can even retain the current state of affairs as the default!

 

I understand that Inventor is very large, complex software. But I can't imagine that adjusting a single command would be particularly difficult, especially since Autodesk is demonstrably capable of managing very large, complex software - so how much easier would it be to implement a single remap option?

jeffg28CLY
Collaborator

@Anonymous 


 
And it's something I also wouldn't think is too much to ask, unless the middle-click behavior was hard-coded into every aspect of the software.
 
- Inventor already allows customization of a huge array of commands. The list of things that can be modified and keyboard-shortcutted just goes on and on and on. That customization is already available, but not a key and basic aspect of 3d manipulation, in a 3d design software package?
- Autodesk's own Fusion 360 allows for some degree of customization of the middle-click behavior. There are five options in a drop-down menu for types of 3d manipulation behavior. (Still not full customization, but closer.) Why is it available there, but not in Inventor?
Anonymous
Not applicable
I wonder if it has something to do with patented code or something. I mean it seems obvious.
Hotkeys and mouse buttons in games have allowed customization for a long time.

I hope Inventor streamlines this stuff and is around for many years to come. Fusion is a non-starter for our work.
Offsite Cloud based software is not secure for sensitive technology....its simply not secure.

jtylerbc
Mentor

"Change" may have been too strong of a word.

 

I doubt it's a matter of whether or not they are capable of doing it.  It's more likely a question of priority, and whether or not enough users are asking for it for them to justify the development time.  This idea has been around a while, and collected a decent number of votes.  But compare it to other ideas that are of a similar age and have 5x the number of votes. 

 

I will admit to a couple of personal biases here. 

 

First, I work with a lot of users coming over from AutoCAD, who tend to whine a lot about "Why doesn't it work like CAD?"  Or even, after an AutoCAD update, "Why doesn't it work like the old release?"  As a result of dealing with that for so long, I tend to be dismissive of "Why doesn't it work like X?" questions - possibly in some cases where I shouldn't be.

 

The second is more practical - the things I work with are often proportionally much longer than they are tall or wide.  We have real pieces of equipment that are only 5ft tall, 2 ft wide, but 60ft long.  Others may be very short and narrow, but tall.  As a result, I actually do use Pan quite often in 3D. 

 

For those that keep asking why the mouse behavior is like this in Inventor in the first place:  I wasn't an Inventor user back then, but I have a theory.  Inventor wasn't designed in a vacuum - it was developed by the company that already had AutoCAD.  Inventor duplicates the mouse navigation controls of AutoCAD, which was likely intended to help users transitioning from AutoCAD to Inventor.  And for those who use both, sometimes simultaneously, as my company does (and I am doing at this very moment - ACAD on the left monitor, Inventor on the right).

 

As someone that does internal support for my company's users for both AutoCAD and Inventor, the fact that Inventor can only be customized so far is a blessing for me.  When I sit down at another user's AutoCAD, I never know how it's going to work.  At least with Inventor it's fairly consistent from one desk to the next.

jeffg28CLY
Collaborator

 

@jtylerbc 

Thank you for the extensive post.

 

"But compare it to other ideas that are of a similar age and have 5x the number of votes."

Do you have knowledge of the review system for Ideas posted here? The number of votes is one piece of it. Some ideas with few votes may be simple to implement, or they may be serious problems for a small number of people. The customization built into Inventor makes me think that this wouldn't be a substantial undertaking. (Without seeing the source code.....well, I know that "simple" programming tasks aren't.)

 

"As a result of dealing with that for so long, I tend to be dismissive of 'Why doesn't it work like X?' questions - possibly in some cases where I shouldn't be."

I guess if you're exposed to that every day, yes, it'll get frustrating.

"I don't like X."

<Fix X>

"It worked ok before, why did it change?"

There's always going to be some kickback somewhere.

But some people are coming from AutoCAD, some are coming from Creo, Solidworks... Some work on tiny parts, some large, some long. Customizability means the software is more easily accessible to more people.

 

"For those that keep asking why the mouse behavior is like this in Inventor in the first place: I wasn't an Inventor user back then, but I have a theory. Inventor wasn't designed in a vacuum - it was developed by the company that already had AutoCAD. Inventor duplicates the mouse navigation controls of AutoCAD, which was likely intended to help users transitioning from AutoCAD to Inventor. And for those who use both, sometimes simultaneously, as my company does (and I am doing at this very moment - ACAD on the left monitor, Inventor on the right)."

Yeah, I'd buy that. It probably was something that made a lot of sense at the time. As Inventor grew and attracted more from outside the Autodesk family, it might make less sense to hold that line. When/if my employer does end up committing to an Inventor license, I will likely find myself with Creo/Pro-E on one monitor and Inventor on the other during the transition. I'd love to be able to have this custom setting in Inventor to help the transition go smoother.

 

Customization and support: Yes, they can be in conflict with one another. A product would be nice if it had two buttons: On and Off. Extremely easy to support, but not necessarily versatile or marketable. One thing my employer offers is substantial customization of our main product lines. It's one of our differentiators in the markets we serve. Support can get interesting, but customization is something that lets us stay in business, so we manage it.
I think that the expectation in software like Inventor is that it can be customized extensively, particularly with things that affect the basics of how you use it, to let more users work more efficiently. Even simple things like the mouse wheel behavior: If I roll the wheel toward me, am I zooming in or out? It depends on the software, and the user. Some software allows that to be customized, which makes me less frustrated and more efficient.

 

(Some day we'll get to the point of some nicer cars, where each driver has their own custom seat settings; you sit down at someone else's computer for a few minutes, and it pulls in your own Inventor settings while you're there. Smiley Very Happy )

 

 

jtylerbc
Mentor

@jeffg28CLY, those are all good points.

 

It wouldn't be something that is useful to me in particular, but I wouldn't have much of a problem with it, provided that the program still defaults to the original scheme.  This is still included in a package with AutoCAD, after all, so maintaining some consistency between their default settings can still have value to companies (like mine) that use both.

 

It's funny you should point out the zoom direction - that would have been my go-to example of a "different on every user's machine" setting that drives me crazy.  Inventor and AutoCAD's defaults are opposite (making it a counterexample for my consistency argument).  Some of our users, like me, change the default AutoCAD setting to match Inventor.  Most have used AutoCAD longer, so they change Inventor's setting to match the AutoCAD default. 

 

Unfortunately, often it's the case that porting your own settings over to the other guy's computer would defeat the purpose, because the problem you're troubleshooting might be affected by those settings.  It might even be caused by their particular combination of settings.  That sort of thing is much more prevalent in AutoCAD, largely because of the ability to customize anything and everything.  I wouldn't want to see that sort of a mess of over-customization spread to Inventor, but maybe this has more merit to it than I had been giving it credit for.

 

I've used Inventor for about 10 years, both with and without a 3D mouse, and had never had any concerns about the way Pan and Rotate work with the mouse. But I've used the same software for most of my career, and most of our new hires are fresh out of school with only classroom-level CAD experience.  I don't typically deal with long-time users of other software (with the sole exception of AutoCAD).  Those at companies that hire more experienced people would tend to see things a little differently than I do, and would likely have different problems.

jeffg28CLY
Collaborator

 

@jtylerbc 

Mousewheel zoom: Two programs I use already, do (well, did) by default, have opposite mouse zoom directions. I probably get some of my mouse zoom preference from years spent gaming in my teen years.
One program did have the ability to customize the mousewheel preference: Set not only the amount of zoom per wheel notch, but also assign it a positive or negative sign to change direction. It's a small feature, but very much appreciated by me.

I'm also certainly not suggesting that Inventor do away with the current mouse behavior. By all means, keep the default as it is. The ability to change it would be much appreciated though.
 
"That sort of thing is much more prevalent in AutoCAD, largely because of the ability to customize anything and everything. I wouldn't want to see that sort of a mess of over-customization spread to Inventor, but maybe this has more merit to it than I had been giving it credit for."
Make the users/customers happy, but don't break everything. Yes, quite understandable. I do design work, having to satisfy customer needs, marketing, sales, manufacturing, purchasing..... I once heard "compromise" roughly defined as "A solution where everyone is equally unhappy."Smiley Happy Customer comes first, but after that, I try to minimize the pain, and then even out what's left. (Same kind of thing: We want the product to be immensely customizable, but not complex, and not expensive. Something's gotta give.)
dan_szymanski
Autodesk
Status changed to: Future Consideration

Idea added to backlog for future consideration [28643]. Thanks!

DRoam
Mentor

Awesome! Thanks, Dan! One step closer...

andrei.bogatov
Explorer

Wow! Just 7 years of complaints - and an obvious idea is finally accepted for future consideration! What a speed!

tmxkn1
Explorer

I'm backing up this idea. Hopefully future is near us!

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

A few more years and it will be accepted!!

 

Then the programmer can write the 3 lines of code to implement!

ChrisMitchell01
Community Manager
Status changed to: Accepted

Please sign up for the Inventor Feedback Community using http://Autode.sk/InventorBeta

 

You might just find yourself an "Easter Egg" 🙂

 

-Chris

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