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Using the mouse

Toolbar overview

toolbar overview

Mouse mode shortcuts

Mode mouse can be temporarily modified by holding down a key while you click the mouse:

Holding down the shift key if clicking the mouse in Rotate mode restricts the rotation axis to be the model Z axis.

Rotation and orientation keys

Using the up, down, left, right arrow keys on the keyboard, 90 degree rotations may be performed quickly to view the model from different sides. The Home key sets the orientation to XY, if you wish to start from an axis-aligned orientation.

On the Graphics menu the Re-orient menu item will tumble the view between various orientations. Particular orientations may be set using the Orient sub-menu. This submenu is also available on the contextual menu (control-click on the view).

To understand the orientation, turn on the axes or bounding box (via the contextual menu or options sheet). The x-axis is red, the y-axis is green, and the z-axis is blue.

Multi-button mouse

With a multi-button mouse, you can access mouse modes as follows:

Level button

level button

Pressing the level button in the toolbar rotates the camera so that the object horizon is horizontal and the object axis is vertical. This is useful after manipulating the model with the trackball. The object axis is defined on the Preferences panel.

If the level button is not present on the toolbar you can add it by customizing the toolbar (control-click in the toolbar). You can also use the contextual menu to perform the Level function.

Options sheet

options button

The options button causes a sheet to appear allowing you to change change various rendering settings, the color of the background and of the (unpainted) model. On this panel are buttons to save and restore default values for these options. Also present are the options for mesh coloring.

options sheet

See also

Menu commands