Option to keep vertical axis upright in rotated view

bergdesign

I'd kill for the option to keep the model's vertical axis vertical, like a gimbal lock that allows view pitch and yaw but not roll. SolidWorks finally added it after umpteen years and called it "Rotate about scene floor," but it's been part of many Mac 3D apps for a loooooooong time. It sounds trivial, but you waste a lot of time and suffer mental distraction having to upright your model after even the most simple view rotations without it.

lougallo

@bergdesign I do remember that they always had the ability to pick an edge and rotate around that. Ill write it up...

leonardo_teixeira

This has been driving me nuts!

Even if I'm really careful, as I rotate around the model it slowly starts to turn sideways, it's really irritating... any modern CG application (like Maya or 3ds Max, not CAD applications) gets this right. A simple "keep camera upright" option is really necessary!

andrew_troup

bergdesign said:

I'd kill for the option to keep the model's vertical axis vertical, like a gimbal lock that allows view pitch and yaw but not roll. SolidWorks finally added it after umpteen years and called it "Rotate about scene floor," but it's been part of many Mac 3D apps for a loooooooong time. It sounds trivial, but you waste a lot of time and suffer mental distraction having to upright your model after even the most simple view rotations without it.

You may or may not realise that "uprighting your model" is at least made easier by choosing the option "Align View with Vertical Axis" (not yet documented in Help) from the RMB context menu, after picking an edge you wish to revert to vertical.

I already have a request ticket in the system for this to be enhanced so that, if a pick is NOT made prior to choosing it, it lives up to the option's name, and aligns the VIEW so that the construction axis which is currently nearest to vertical is made vertical. 
This would be particularly handy in the case where there are no convenient edges to pick.

I suggest you raise an "Improvement Request" for your "Rotate about scene floor" option - but perhaps it would be better if it were something like "Keep Verticals Vertical", so that the user could use the previous option to decide what axis or edge was to be considered vertical, rather than being restricted to what Onshape thought was the "scene floor"
This may be helpful when there are reasons why the part is being modelled in an orientation which is optimised for output, rather than viewing.

Narayan_K

Hi,I think there is a option to keep vertical axis to vertical.

1. You can click on isometric/dimetric/Trimetric view option from the small cube provided near the view cube.

This will keep vertical axis up with default view.

2. If you want make a view other than above.then you can go for named view where you can created some views and save it.

 


3. Right click any edges and you can find a option "Align view with vertical axis" to make selected edge vertical.

3dcad

Or just have a 3d mouse (3dconnexion products recently got driver supporting Onshape on windows machines with firefox or chrome).

It is amazing how all the viewing troubles disappear once you get used to 3d mouse.

ps. For example Adobe's 3d pdf with big model (building) is almost impossible to manipulate with mouse - 3d mouse works like a charm (at least in makes them decent to view)

andrew_troup

@3dcad
3D mice are not a viable option for a large sector of the prospective Onshape userbase, nor are they either necessary or sufficient for excellent view manipulation.

I'm not convinced you do other users a good turn when you argue that deficiencies in the user interface need not be addressed, because of a technology fix which happens to suit the way you work, and the platforms you work on.

3dcad

@andrew_troup You are right, I tend to forgot sometimes that everybode doesn't follow forum as actively as few of us. My official opinion is (still) to have a button which pressed would lock vertical movement.

leonardo_teixeira

Narayan_K said:

Hi,I think there is a option to keep vertical axis to vertical.

1. You can click on isometric/dimetric/Trimetric view option from the small cube provided near the view cube.

Clicking on that menu every time you rotate the view is not a really good option. A simple "turntable style" or "Align camera vertically" checkbox would ensure the camera never rolls.

hans_peter060

Any news on this topic? I am just trying Onshape for the first time and the rotation is driving me nuts. IMO it is a absolutly no-go how this simple function is not implemented. No, clicking every time on an edge and align the view is not an option, because this is really annoying already after a few times.

Jake_Rosenfeld

@bergdesign @leonardo_teixeira @hans_peter060 @andrew_troup We now have a view manipulation that allows for this.  Holding down the ALT key while you rotate will first align the model to vertical and then keep the vertical axis vertical, allowing pitch and yaw but not roll.

See https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/4707/improvements-to-onshape-september-14th-2016/p1 for more detail.

Hope this helps!

bruce_williams

very nice!  thank you OS development...

tom_wardrop

I'm really glad this has been implemented. Is there a view to make the alt behaviour the default, where the view rotates about the vertical axis by default, and holding alt does the inverse? That would be a very handy preference to have.

davidw34

I think having a setting to make this the default behavior would be very useful.  Also on the mobile app where it is harder to control the view.

nicolas_duhamel

I have to agree with davdiw34, and was looking for a way to set this "ALT" behaviour the default behaviour when I arrived here. Is there a improvement request on this feature you can add me to ?

daniel_staudt

i also want to be on this feature request. user options always make software more usable.

Jaimeeow

leonardo_teixeira said:

Narayan_K said:

Hi,I think there is a option to keep vertical axis to vertical.

1. You can click on isometric/dimetric/Trimetric view option from the small cube provided near the view cube.

Clicking on that menu every time you rotate the view is not a really good option. A simple "turntable style" or "Align camera vertically" checkbox would ensure the camera never rolls.

no, i tried these. as soon as i rotate the view it misaligns. in literally every other 3d model program i've ever worked in (solidworks, sketchup, revit, inventor) the view automatically stays vertical unless you hold control or something. it's absolutely frustrating.

Jaimeeow

Jake_Rosenfeld said:

@bergdesign @leonardo_teixeira @hans_peter060 @andrew_troup We now have a view manipulation that allows for this.  Holding down the ALT key while you rotate will first align the model to vertical and then keep the vertical axis vertical, allowing pitch and yaw but not roll.

See https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/4707/improvements-to-onshape-september-14th-2016/p1 for more detail.

Hope this helps!

this is even more frustrating. it has been added but you have to hold a button when that should be the default. all other programs i use keep view aligned UNLESS you hold another button. now i just have to hold alt all the time? make it default. this is ridiculous.

david_brophy

Yes I have to agree, I'd love an option to make the new "alt" key behaviour the default...

eric_pesty

The "alt" behavior should definitely NOT be the default for everyone (I rarely need/use it, and I believe most other 3D CAD software behaves this way)... But it might be nice to have it as an option for those that do need it I guess.

S1mon

I would agree with @eric_pesty. This issue comes up periodically. It seems to be very polarizing, depending on what CAD tools you've used previously, and what sorts of things you model.

For me having 30 years of Pro/E(Creo) and Solidworks, and working with a lot of hand-held products, the ground reference isn't as relevant all the time the way it is for architecture, furniture, cars, etc. I forget that the "alt" behavior even exists - I almost never need/want to use it.

willy_foo

This drove me nuts and surprised the answer is not in here. They added in an option in My Account > Preferences > Mouse Controls > Set default rotation behavior to constrained rotate. Almost gave up learning onShape because of this