3D Navigation
The 3D View window is a three-dimensional scene containing the imported object model, fixtures, cameras and projections. Everything here is done with the mouse: fly around the object, zoom in, select a fixture, move it along an axis. What exactly the left button does depends on the active tool on the toolbar; this article describes the main Select and Move tool and the navigation that works with any tool.
- Mouse wheel — zoom in and out. In Perspective and in project cameras, the camera moves a third of the distance to its target with each click, meaning the zoom moves toward the point the view orbits around, not toward the cursor. If you need to get close to a specific fixture, select it with a click first or press Z — the target will move to it, and the wheel will then zoom there. In flat views (Top, Front and the others) the wheel zooms toward the point under the cursor, and Ctrl switches the behavior to the opposite — toward the center of the window or toward the cursor, depending on what is chosen in the program settings.
- Wheel held down (middle button) — panning: drag the scene in any direction. Works with any active tool. The Hand tool does the same thing with the left button.
- Alt + wheel held down — orbit: the camera circles around its target, staying at the same distance. The Orbit tool does the same thing with the left button. Flat views do not rotate: they always look strictly along an axis, and only panning and zoom are available in them.
- Shift + wheel held down — first-person rotation: the camera stays in place, the direction of view changes. This is convenient for looking around while standing inside the object.
- W, A, S, D — fly the camera forward, left, back and right; the longer you hold the key, the faster the camera flies. + and − on the main keyboard change the maximum flight speed by about 1.3 times per press. Flying only works in perspective views and only when the 3D View window is active; with Ctrl held down the camera does not move, so combinations like Ctrl+S do not disturb the view.
- Z — camera target: fit the selected objects into the window and make their center the point around which orbiting happens. If nothing is selected, the whole scene is fitted; cameras are not taken into account, so the view does not "fly away" because of a camera standing far off. In flat views, Z returns the view to the center of the scene.
Flat views show the geometry as an outline — this makes it easier to target model edges and individual fixtures in them. The full picture with lighting and materials is drawn in Perspective and in project cameras. Views are switched with a list on the toolbar, more details in the article Switching Views and Cameras.
Selecting Objects
Select the Select and Move tool — it is enabled by default when the window is opened.
- Clicking an object selects it, clearing the previous selection. Clicking a spline selects the whole spline, not an individual fixture on it.
- Clicking again in the same spot cycles through objects that are stacked behind each other: each subsequent click selects the next object under the cursor. This is the main way to reach a fixture that is hidden by the model.
- Shift+click or Ctrl+click adds an object to the current selection.
- Box select: click on empty space and drag a rectangle — all objects caught inside it are selected. Box select works in flat views; in Perspective objects are picked up by clicking. Shift and Ctrl make the box add to the selection, while Alt does the opposite — removes objects caught in it from the selection.
- Clicking on empty space clears the selection, and the Properties window opens the background and scene environment settings — see Background and Camera Settings.
- Delete or Backspace deletes the selected objects. The program asks for confirmation before deleting a projection.
Selection is shared with the 3D Objects window: an object selected in the scene is highlighted in the list, and one selected in the list is highlighted in the scene, with the list scrolling to the right row on its own. The Properties window shows the parameters of the last selected object. Objects with Visibility turned off cannot be selected with the mouse — they can only be selected by their row in the 3D Objects list.
Clicking an object in a perspective view also moves the point the camera orbits around onto it. So the usual workflow is: select the object — orbit around it with the wheel and Alt — zoom in with the wheel.
Moving, Rotating and Scaling
Selected objects get a three-axis gizmo: the X axis is red, Y is green, Z is blue. The axis under the cursor is highlighted, and that's the one you drag. What the gizmo does is set by three buttons on the toolbar or by keys:
| Key | Mode | What happens when dragging the axis |
|---|---|---|
| Q | Move | the object travels along the selected axis |
| E | Rotate | the object rotates around the selected axis |
| R | Scale | the object stretches along the selected axis |
- You cannot drag an object "by its body" — it can only be moved by the gizmo axis (or by snapping, see below). This way the object doesn't shift accidentally when you're just selecting it with a click.
- Precise values are conveniently entered into the X, Y, Z fields on the toolbar: they show the position, angles or scale of the selected object.
- With Rotation Snap enabled, rotation happens in steps of a set number of degrees (5° by default); with it disabled, rotation is free.
- If a single object is selected, scaling happens along the chosen axis, and the object can be flattened or stretched. If several objects are selected, they are scaled together evenly along all axes, keeping proportions and relative positions.
- NumPad 4 and NumPad 6 move the selection along the X axis by 5 units, NumPad 8 and NumPad 2 — along Y, the same keys with Ctrl — along Z. Ctrl+NumPad 6 makes a copy of the selection.
- Any move, rotation or scaling can be undone with Ctrl+Z and redone with Ctrl+Shift+Z.
Object sizes, material and other parameters are configured in the Properties window — see 3D Objects.
Snapping to Vertices
The Snap to Vertices button on the toolbar is the most precise way to place a fixture on the model: the object lands exactly on a geometry vertex instead of being placed "by eye".
- Enable Snap to Vertices and select the object you need to reposition.
- Point the cursor at a vertex near the object. When a vertex is caught, it is highlighted with a light-green cross, and the cursor changes to a four-way arrow.
- Hold down the left button and drag the cursor to the vertex where the object should go. The object follows the cursor and snaps to vertices it passes along the way.
- Release the button — the object will be placed so that the caught vertex matches the target one.
Snapping looks for vertices within about ten pixels of the cursor and only works when something is selected. It also works when drawing splines: each point lands on a model vertex — see the article Adding 3D Splines.
3D View Window Hotkeys
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Mouse wheel | Zoom in / out |
| Wheel held down | Pan |
| Alt + wheel held down | Orbit the camera around the target |
| Shift + wheel held down | First-person camera rotation |
| W, A, S, D | Fly the camera |
| + / − | Increase / decrease flight speed |
| Z | Camera target: fit the selection or the whole scene |
| Q / E / R | Move / Rotate / Scale |
| G | Show or hide the floor grid |
| Delete, Backspace | Delete selection |
| NumPad 4 / 6 / 8 / 2 | Move the selection by 5 units along X and Y |
| Ctrl + NumPad 8 / 2 | Move the selection along Z |
| Ctrl+NumPad 6 | Create a copy of the selection |
| Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z | Undo / redo an action |
| Space | Play / pause the current composition |
What is drawn in the window — model wireframe, helper objects (cameras, projections, splines) and 3D GIF preview bounds — is toggled in the View → 3D View menu. The full list of key combinations is in the Help → Hotkeys window.