Stop parts shooting off into space when constraining

[Ben-Cornelius]

So when constraining you place the first constraint so for a example mating axis to axis so you look at the part you are constraining to its not there so you keep zooming out and its way out in space instead the part should go where you clicked. The only way around this is to ground the part create the constraint accept the conflict and unground a far from satisfactory workflow.

[PaulMunford]

That is frustrating. It's usually a matter of perspective. It looks like your parts are close together, but they are actually miles apart. This only becomes obvious when you place that first constraint...

If you have this problem, undo - then use the viewcube to look at your view flat on. You will probably find that your part is further away than you thought.

Heres a tip, If you move the part while the viewcube is flat on to a view, the direction of movement will be limited to that plane. You can scoot the two parts closer together and try the constraint again.

If you can place your second part closer to your first part when you first place it, there shouldn't be a problem...

[VGonsalves]

Ben

You are absolutely right, it's rather annoying when that happens. Using 'Defer Update' is a better approach. You can customise a keystroke to toggle that option on and off. Meaning turn it off, setup constraints and turn it back on. Paul must be right about perspective but I guess it's a valid request from such a mature software to keep the parts in view hence making the users life easy.