Datasheet

CHAPTER 1 GETTING TO KNOW VIZ

selected. But the Arc Rotate Selected tool works in a slightly different way when objects are selected.

Try the following exercise to see how this variation works.

1. Choose Views  Restore Active Perspective View to restore the view you saved earlier.

2. Click the Select Object tool from the Main toolbar.

3. Click the chair on the left side in the back row.

4. Click the Arc Rotate Selected tool again.

5. Slowly click and drag the cursor within the circle. Notice how the view appears to be fixed

at the center of the selected chair.

6. Slowly click and drag the cursor in a vertical motion outside the circle. The view appears to

rotate around the selected chair.

7. Return to the saved view by choosing Views  Restore Active Perspective View.

If you click and hold the Arc Rotate Selected tool, you’ll see two other Arc Rotate tools in the Arc

Rotate flyout. The tool at the top, called simply the Arc Rotate tool, rotates the view about the view

center, regardless of whether an object is selected. You’ve already seen how the second tool, the Arc

Rotate Selected tool, works. The tool at the bottom of the Arc Rotate flyout is the Arc Rotate Sub-

Object tool. This tool rotates a view about a subobject-level selection. You’ll learn about subobject-

level editing in Chapter 4.

By being able to select an object or set of objects as the center of rotation for your view, you are

better able to set up your views for rendering or editing. The combination of the Zoom, Pan, and

Arc Rotate tools allows you to obtain just about any view you may need as you work within VIZ’s

Perspective viewport. But you aren’t limited to a perspective view of your model. In fact, there are

many situations where the perspective view is not ideal, especially when editing your model. In the

next section, you’ll look at other viewport types that give you greater flexibility in creating and edit-

ing objects in your model.

Arc Rotate on the Fly

You can Arc Rotate on the fly, without leaving the current command, by holding down the Alt key on the

keyboard and dragging the wheel button of your mouse in a viewport. Don’t turn the wheel, but drag it

as if the wheel were a middle mouse button. This is a huge timesaver because you’ll find that you don’t

have to spend time clicking the Arc Rotate button when you want to rotate your viewing angle.

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