Why can't I get along with orbiting in Onshape?

3dcad

I have similar experience as Michael, the extra buttons are handy with Onshape so I might skip the navigator at this point. Joystick is pretty much the same in both so buttons and design make the difference.

On edit: I remember having sometimes minor problems with navigator moving against the table, space mouse doesn't move since your hand is on top of it..

pete_yodis

I think I'll start with the just the Wireless Navigator.  Makes CAD on the go a little less entangled.  I'll say it again, I think if 3D Connexion eventually offered blue tooth (low energy spec, too), that might parlay nicely into use of phones and tablets with a little more serious productivity use model case.

romney_nash

I don't know just what is different from other programs but I really like the way the model rotates in OnShape. 

romney_nash

I don't know just what is different from other apps but I really like the way the model rotates in OnShape. 

andrew_troup

DaVicki said:

........  I fear that what is being requested is something that I will not be comfortable with.
 I certainly hope that if a change is made that it will be an option.

+1  - not that I wouldn't use a well implemented turntable solution, and would welcome it as an option, but I would need the ability to revert to the trad CAD "free rotate" for certain tasks.
Perhaps the simplest example is dealing with something tall : it's just not great use of the viewable window real-estate (especially with modern wide aspect screens) to have the model constrained to "Portrait" orientation, in printer-speak. Maybe a tiltable turntable would be a good compromise for that option, returnable to horizontal or vertical with a single click. (Me? Demanding?)

Incidentally, without an enhancement along these lines, it could get interesting in a collaborative environment to have both options active: if only one user was using turntable style orbiting, the model behaviour might get unusable for them, if the other person kept introducing tilt.

andrew_troup

pete_yodis said:

Here's an example of what @andrew_troup would call a turntable type rotation: https://sketchfab.com/
Play around with that one for a while.

With the turntable type scheme, you'll find yourself panning things into place after a zoom in.  It's different.  I do like the smoothness of the example I just linked to.  There is something nice about it, and it feels a little more predictable and intuitive to me.  I wonder if at some point, there could be view rotation scheme options.  Different strokes for different folks.

I keep going back to that demo, @pete_yodis , for another play, and the more I try it the more I like it. I think it's the best and smoothest implementation of turntable rotation I've yet seen

I guess a workable definition of traditional turntable rotation, to my way of thinking, is that a projection onto the screen of the vertical axis of the turntable, is always vertical - unless you're exactly above the model, when it's a single point.

It follows that UP on the screen is always UP on the model (never down), for traditional turntable rotation.

And if follows from that: when you tilt the model towards you, it stops dead when the horizontal component of that projection (of the vertical axis) becomes zero.

What I can't be sure of is how the software would choose the centre of rotation, and how well it would work generally,  for quite large, complex assemblies (like an automatic transfer production line, say). If the item of interest exits stage left every time you rotate the model, and you have to go off panning whole metres (or worse) to find it, that would clearly stop the show.

As you point out, it would absolutely have to be optional.

pete_yodis

andrew_troup said:

I keep going back to that demo, @pete_yodis , for another play, and the more I try it the more I like it. I think it's the best and smoothest implementation of turntable rotation I've yet seen

What I can't be sure of is how the software would choose the centre of rotation, and how well it would work generally,  for quite large, complex assemblies (like an automatic transfer production line, say). If the item of interest exits stage left every time you rotate the model, and you have to go off panning whole metres (or worse) to find it, that would clearly stop the show.

As you point out, it would absolutely have to be optional.

@andrew_troupThe smoothness of that example impresses me.  It feels like butter to manipulate the view.  Really nice.

I'm not saying Onshape should or needs to put a turntable style rotate in here.  I think turntable is more for a showy effect of your model/work and less for actual working on it... which is what the site seems to be all about - and maybe why they chose turntable style.

In MCAD methods of view rotation the center of rotation must be a dynamic thing (which is a strength) and I think for one particular model of mine, it's still a little bit off in Onshape compared to say... SolidWorks.  In turntable, it's a static thing (which could be a strength or a weakness).

michael3424

romney_nash said:

I don't know just what is different from other programs but I really like the way the model rotates in OnShape. 

Me too - it seems to work a lot better in Onshape than it did in GeoMagic Design for me.

andrew_troup

øyvind_kaurstad said:

..., in Onshape I always end up with a position/angle/tilt that I don't want, and to fix it I have to either choose a specific plane, or fiddle a lot with the mouse to get it back to how I want.
....

Pending Onshape addressing the difficulties people report in threads like this, it's worth pointing out that it often works better to orbit by mouse-moving the viewcube, rather than the model itself

I'm referring to 'freehand' orbiting, where the view angle smoothly follows the mouse, not flicking it about by clicking on arrows.

I find this suggestion makes it somewhat easier to keep verticals vertical, but a LOT easier to keep the point of interest from drifting offscreen, in large models.

juan_aviles

I found changing the Isometric, Dimetric and Trimetric views gave me what I was looking for in rotation "feel".  OnShape feels much like Solidworks to me now.  I'd like to see some sort of indication though that lets you know which setting you are on.  Right now they all stay blank.