Three-button Mouse | Two-button mouse | Space Mouse

Changing the View Using the Mouse

You can refine the view in the 3D window to see objects more clearly or view them from a different perspective by clicking and dragging with the mouse. These views can then be saved for later use.

Using the mouse to manipulate the view in the 3D window allows you to sweep the view from position, sweep the view reference point, and dolly the view from position. Sweeping the view around either the reference point or the position point creates a rotating effect in the 3D window. This is analogous to turning a camera from left to right or up and down to change the point of reference.

You can also dolly the view position, or move closer to or further from the reference point. Dollying creates a zooming effect in the 3D window that allows you to get a better view of objects and their position relative to the reference point.

Holding different combinations of mouse button down and dragging the mouse in the 3D window allows you to manipulate the view. For example, holding the left mouse button down and dragging the mouse in any direction will rotate the view in the 3D window by sweeping the view position about the view reference point. To rotate the reference point about the view position, press the shift key and the left mouse button at the same time, and then drag the mouse in the 3D window. The button combination that you will need to use to achieve the desired results will depend on the type of mouse you are using. Button combinations for changing the view in the 3D window are outlined in the following sections.

Three-button mouse

Button	Movement
Left	Rotates the view position around the view reference point.
Middle	Zooms in and out.
Right	Zooms in and out.
SHIFT + Left	Rotate the view reference point around the view position.
CTRL + Middle	Resets the view so that the viewer is in its original direction.
SHIFT + Left Double-Click	Double-click an object to set it as the view to/from (direction/position) object.

To use the middle button to control the view in the 3D window, the button function should be set to middle button. If you have programmed the middle button of a 3-button mouse to something other than middle button functions, the middle button will not respond correctly.

Two-button mouse

Button	Movement
Left	Rotates the view position around the view reference point.
Right	Zooms in and out.
SHIFT + Left	Rotate the view reference point around the view position.
CTRL + Right	Resets the view so that the viewer is in its original direction.
CTRL + Left	Double-click on an object to set it as the view to/from (direction/position) object.

Magellan/SPACE MOUSE Settings

If you have the CyberPuck, Space Mouse, or Space Mouse Plus mouse, you can change your view using these devices. To familiarize yourself with the added dimensionality of using any mouse of this family, we suggest you use Logitech's Cube 3D Demo Program that ships with the mouse driver. The puck can also be used in untethered mode instead of using your keyboard.

CyberPuck mouse

Button/Key	Movement
1	Enables fly-through mode.
2	Disables fly-through mode.
5	Incrementally sets the puck's sensitivity level to finer and finer control.
6	Incrementally sets the puck's sensitivity level to courser and courser (rapid mouse movement) control.
7	Resets the puck's sensitivity to its original settings.