3D Zoom Control

[Philip Cyr]

I use HD Pro 7.0 and would like to verify that when looking at a 3d render view, the only way to zoom in or out is via the mouse wheel? The incremental amount of zoom via the wheel is often more that I would like it to be but I'm not familiar with any way to adjust it so that the increments are smaller. Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust this?
Thank you.

[Deirdre]

You don't have to use any of the alt, ctrl, or shift keys? That's cool, I did not know that you could do that! Any other short cut keys you know about? I usually get tired of spinning my mouse wheel and resort to the magnifing tools, but that is not always available in some of the views.

[Philip Cyr]

Thank you very much! The use of i and o not only gives me better incremental control, it allows me to zoom in much closer than the mouse wheel does.
Thanks again.
Phil

[Kilgore Trout]

I almost never use the mouse wheel in render views. This changes the field of view and can cause the view to look distorted. Also, it has limits so that you can only zoom in or out so far before it stops.

Instead, I use "i" and "o" to move in and out or I use "f" and "b" to move forward and back. These tools are very similar but with a some very subtle differences. The in and out move the camera closer or farther from the current camera focus while the forward and back will move the camera and the focus both together.

Don't forget you can also use "l" and "r" and the arrow keys to move the camera around.

Another thing that can be helpful is to open up the camera defaults and change the settings for how much the camera moves each time. By default the program is setup to move one foot every time you go forward, back, left, or right and 10 degrees when you rotate it. If you need better control you can lower these settings. They don't affect the in and out distance though and I have not figured out any way you can change those.

One suggesion that I heard a long time ago that was very helpful for me was to tile your camera and plan view together and watch what happens when you move the camera. This can really help teach you how the various tools work.

[Deirdre]

Thanks Kilgore, I'll be adding this to my .pdf files for future reference.

Dee

[Philip Cyr]

Excellent information. This is what makes forums like this great.
Phil

[Philip Cyr]

After writing the above I went to try out the f, b, l and r and none of these work for me and I'm using pro? The i and o work and the s will make the render view rotate (why an s?) although I don't know how to make it stop rotating? If you enter the s again, it will spin the opposite direction? The n causes something with the rendering but I'm not sure what as the picture is the same after. FYI.
Phil

[Kilgore Trout]

The f, b, l, r, u, and d don't work in the vector overviews but the i, o, and arrow keys do. Not exactly sure why this is but the camera wants to stay centered on the house. If you are using the rendered overviews or the full or floor cameras, I think all of the camera tools work.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that when you use a full camera, you can also switch back to plan view and select the camera to move it. This can sometimes be a very easy way to change the camera to look at something specific.

[dr0591]

That spinning thing is making me dizzy!! Reminds me of when I was a little girl and I would put my turtle on the record turntable. Remember those? (Turntables, not turtles. Although come to think of it, you don't see those little dime-store turtles around anymore. Or dimestores, for that matter.)

[Allen42ACJ]

Only if you don't eat them before they go bad..
I used to catch mine..I have frogs living in my garden now.
Only place that has been getting any water till now..

[dr0591]

I used to catch little tree toads and dress them up in outfits made of kleenex and make them live in my dollhouse.

Please don't try to analyze that...

[Allen42ACJ]

Starting to feel glad you don't live to close to me now ..

It's raining here now so my frogs should be safe..

[the dude]

i have finnaly got it there are a LOT of WIERD people on here
for instance:kathleen,allen,ME
:0

[dr0591]

yes, yes, and YES

[Deirdre]

About darn time you caught on; we are wierd (or at least a certain percentage of us are; some more so than others), but we all have our addiction to this program, and we all like helping others figure out how to do things.

So what's your MO?