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NavBar tools

The navigation tools (NavBar) are associated with the Viewcube and can be accessed or displayed by:

  • Pressing Shift + Alt
  • Moving the cursor towards the ViewCube and NavBar area. In a multi-window layout, click in a window first to make it active.

The NavBar tools can appear in three different formats:

In vertical mode, the two navigation tools sections can be collapsed by clicking the horizontal line between the sections.

In radial mode, the two navigation tools sections can be displayed or hidden using the +/- icon.

View tools

Previous View

Click to return to the previous view. Clicking again returns to the view you started with.

This tool does not step-back further than the previous view. Use variants to store views and be able to return to them. See Windows > Variant Lister and the variants icon below.

Perspective/Orthographic

Toggle between an isometric/orthographic view mode and the selected perspective view modes: Perspective with Ortho Faces or Perspective (as set in the ViewCube More Settings menu).

A label above the ViewCube indicates when the view is orthographic.

Most users work in perspective mode for the 3D view when evaluating the real-world aesthetics of a design. Isometric/Orthographic is often used when you want to assess the flow of CVs free of any distortion.

Non-Proportional Scale view

A non-proportional view is scaled in one direction to compress the view, typically to evaluate surface or curve flow. It is a method of viewing that you might do if you looked at the side of a car from the front three-quarters to compress the view.

Click and drag on the Non-Proportional Scale icon to modify the view.

In a perspective view you can only distort the view horizontally.

In an orthographic view you can use the mouse buttons to control the distortion:

  • Left - Free adjustment in the screen plane
  • Middle - Horizontal adjustment only
  • Right - Vertical adjustment only

When a distorted view has been set, the icon is displayed with a thin blue border to indicate that a distorted view has been set. Click-release to switch between the non-proportional (distorted) view and the default (non-distorted) view.

Note: A Non-Proportional View icon is displayed in the lower left hand corner of the window when the view is non-proportional.

Scale the view independently along the horizontal and vertical axes. After you click this tool, the interaction depends on the setting of Non-Proportional Scaling Box in General Preferences > Miscellaneous > Viewing.

If this option is checked on, click and drag to draw a box on the screen around the area you want to examine. When you release the mouse button, the window fills with the content of the box.

If this option is unchecked, drag the mouse to scale the view interactively. Drag left and right to scale the view horizontally, and up and down to scale the view vertically.

Variants

The Variants menu provides shortcuts for saving and switching to saved views, and for opening the Variant Lister.

These NavBar tools will typically be used for quick saving of views while modeling, whereas the Variant Lister can be used to prepare for presentations or to manage the saved views.

Note: Creating a Markup automatically creates variants when the option is selected in the General Preferences > Markups section.

Advanced navigation tools

Azimuth View

Revolves the camera about the point of interest in the perspective view. Press Shift + Alt, click the tool and then click-drag the mouse to revolve the view.

To revolve the view both horizontally and vertically, click-drag the .

To revolve the view horizontally only, click-drag the .

To revolve the view vertically only, click-drag the .

Dragging the mouse across the whole window (either horizontally or vertically) rotates the view 180 degrees.

Twist View

When Camera Based Tumble is selected, it turns the perspective view in the viewing plane as if you are watching the scene while tilting your head to the side. Press Shift + Alt, click the tool and then click-drag the left mouse button.

Dragging the mouse to the right rotates the view counterclockwise, and dragging to the left rotates the view clockwise. Dragging across the whole window rotates the view 360 degrees.

Turntable

Click-drag on the icon to achieve a smooth turntable effect in a perspective view window. This is useful for reviewing or presenting the design.

  • Press the to rotate the model freely.
  • Press the to rotate the model horizontally.
  • Press the to rotate the model vertically.

With the mouse button pressed, move the mouse slightly. Moving the mouse begins tumbling in that direction. Tumbling continues even if you don't move the mouse.

The further you move the mouse away from its original position, the faster the view tumbles in that direction. Moving the mouse in the opposite direction (back toward its original position) slows the tumble.

Releasing the mouse button stops the turntable.

Plane View

Clicking Plane View lets you tumble about the currently active construction plane (that is, the construction plane is used as the ground plane).

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