Camera control
Panning
To Pan (move the camera up & down and right & left without turning):
- middle mouse button and drag the mouse,
- Shift + any mouse button and drag the mouse
- Space + any mouse button and drag the mouse
- WASD keys when no parts are selected
Rotating
To Rotate (turn the camera around the model):
- right mouse button and drag the mouse,
- Ctrl + left mouse button and drag the mouse
Zooming
To Zoom in or out:
- mouse wheel up & down
Predefined views
The camera icon on the top left of the Viewport lets you quickly access predefined views.
In the default view: you can pan and turn the camera as you wish, but there are predefined viewpoints: front, back, left, right, bottom and top.
Orthogonal/Orthographic: The last button on the right lets you switch to an orthographic view. All the parts will be the same size whether they’re on the front or the back of the model. This is the opposite of the default perspective view where parts are smaller in the back and bigger on the front, like in real life.
The predefined views are also accessible from View | Orientation in the menu bar. You can use shortcuts to quickly change to a different predefined view:
|
Perspective |
Backquote |
|
Front |
Numpad1 |
|
Back |
Numpad2 |
|
Left |
Numpad3 |
|
Right |
Numpad4 |
|
Top |
Numpad5 |
|
Bottom |
Numpad6 |
|
Orthographic |
Numpad7 |
Centering the view
You can center the view around the mouse pointer by right-clicking and selecting Pan to cursor or by pressing F on the keyboard.
You can center the view to show all of the models by right-clicking and selecting Reset camera origin or by clicking View | Zoom to fit in the menu bar.
You can also center the view on the current selection but this feature has no default shortcut. You need to define one to be able to use it via custom shortcuts.
Note: Pan to cursor used to be named "Set origin". Reset camera origin now centers the camera view.
Splitting the screen
You can split the screen into as many as four (4) Viewports for a project. Each Viewport will have its own view of the model.
To add a Viewport, to split the screen click View | Viewport | Add Viewport in the menu bar or:
- Click on the camera icon
- Click +
To delete the current Viewport, click View | Viewport | Delete Viewport in the menu bar or:
- Click on the camera icon
- Click x
Locking the Viewport
You can lock the view in the Viewport. When the view is locked, you won’t be able to pan or rotate the view.
The Viewport can be locked and unlocked by using the lock icon.
- You can define your own shortcuts by opening Edit | Preferences | Shortcuts | View in the menu bar.
- The number of Viewports is the same for every model opened at the same time, but you can set a different view in each one.
- The level of detail (how smoothly the parts are drawn) can be changed by going into Edit | Preferences | Appearance in the menu bar.