Navigation issues

[Mike_A]

I've recently picked up FZ again after quite a break. Currently using 8.5

 

I'm struggling with navigation... Is there any tool / method to enable me to rotate around an object - that is away from world zero in all axis - with it remaining 'centered' on screen?

Currently I find I'm spending far too much time chasing the right viewpoint, rather than modelling.

[setz]

Select the object you want centered and click Cmd+F (mac) Ctrl+F (Win) or click this icon:

 

[DennisA]

Once you follow as sets suggests... with snap to center of face selected you can rotate around object.

You can also use the Tform tool & rotate object

[Alan Cooper]

Mike, I don't suppose this would be considered to be a direct or conventional answer, but I find navigation a whole lot easier having set custom single keyboard button shortcuts for the navigation, as well as single button shortcuts for isolate selection / reveal, which is also a great asset in FormZ to concentrate on the aspect of your model you are focussed upon.

 

I've assigned F-Keys for the navigation shortcuts. I'm sure this is unusual, but it works for me, and with practice you get used to them, especially as with a wheel on a mouse you may not need the zoom ones. The Space Navigator devices are excellent too, I have the simplest small one but only use it occasionally because seated in an armchair with a laptop, I can knock it by accident. Laptop trackpad set to cursor movement as fast as possible. Hope this helps.

[Alan Cooper]

Mike, also check that you haven't accidentally got any objects, no matter how microscopic, a long way from the main model, because that could throw the centre of the general model way off.

[Tech]

Hi Mike,

 

A few more details beyond what others have already offered for help:

 

Zooming with the Scroll wheel works relative to the current view parameters, and how far it zooms is determined by the length of the line of site (which is the distance between the eye point and the center of interest for the active view -- whose values you can see in the View Parameters Palette). 

If you set the Center of Interest on or near the desired zoom location, then this can make zooming into that part easier. One way to do this is to use the Fit command -- and if you pick any objects and execute the (Command F) key shortcut, the picked objects will be fit -- and the center of interest will automatically be centered these objects. You can also try setting a smaller zoom in by percentage (closer to 100%) to reduce the zoom speed if you like. 

When simply zooming with the Scroll wheel alone, the eye point is moved closer and closer to the center of interest, and the percentage for this movement is controlled by the Zoom Options (palette): Zoom In By value. Thus, as you get closer and closer to the center of interest, you will notice that the zooming gets slower and slower. When this happens, zoom back out a bit until the zoom speed is moving you a reasonable amount.  Then, hold down the Alt and try scrolling back in again.  This will then move the entire camera forwards, and the rate of zooming (also controlled by the Zoom In value) will be constant (since the distance between the eye point and center of interest is not changing). 
 

The same is true when using Set View and the Center of Interest.  Note that there are many different ways of viewing with the Interactive View Navigation, and you can see (and customize) these key shortcuts via the Edit Menu: Key Shortcuts here: