Orbit like sketchup

[rohantheboat]

Hi as a new user of vectorworks I find it really difficult to orbit in 3d like sketchup which I've used for 15 years.  There are 100's of thousands of sketchup users that for years have been looking for sketchup to fix their Layout program so it can be used for construction drawings, and the last 2 years of releases have ignored updating the program to suit.  I'm one of those many many  people that have decided to pick up another 3d BIM program. 

 

I tested ArchiCAD for a few months on projects and its way too overly complicated and takes too long to draft in, and it feels like using a Mac after using windows, not intuitive.  

 

Revit seems much easier and logical but you can't model in 3d very easily so it feels like a CAD program not design software, but it's very stable and intuitive.

 

Vectorworks feels the most like sketchup and has a more residential style about it and not too complicated.  I've picked up pretty well but a few things bug me, one of the things is the way it orbits.  In sketchup you don't need to select an object to rotate around, it orbits around your mouse pointer or something and it's so intuitive.  If you want to cash in on thousands of thousands of frustrated sketchup users having an option to orbit like sketchup could get you a lot of new clients.  And if you could make an option to use the middle mouse button like sketchup to orbit that would even be better.

 

This obviously isn't an issue for current users but more customers means more money, more staff, more chance of fixing other issues.

 

Thanks

[markdd]

When using. the Orbit tool, check out the mode bar in the Top Left corner. There are several options. Do none of these work for you?

 

 

 

[rohantheboat]

Hi Mark, thank you for the reply.  I've tried all of these and the interactive origin option is the best but you need to constantly more it if you are working all over the place on a masterplan for example.  Sketchup uses where the mouse pointer is on the screen at the time as the interactive origin, so when you engage the orbit with the middle mouse button it uses that point as the origin to spin from.  I'm ok at using the existing system but I try and design so much in 3d like in sketchup that it just makes things twice as hard and find I then just revert to designing it in 2d.  It effects my productivity as well as design freedom, which is what all new sketchup users will first experience.  

[markdd]

The other option would be to get hold of a 3D Connexion space mouse and use that. Many contributors here including me use these all the time and I find it invaluable for lengthy work in 3D. They are a little bit pricey but will transform the way you work once you have got the hang of it.

[EAlexander]

Maybe this helps? 

 

You just have to click to drop your pivot point before you orbit. Seems an extra click, but you get used to it. I don't even think about it anymore. Fly over tool starts at 6:00 minutes. 

Edited March 24, 2020 by EAlexander

[rohantheboat]

I've just worked out after a couple of months the interactive origin mode can be changed by clicking in space somewhere to set it, I had always been selecting objects first and setting the interactive one that way.  So that helps, it works like sketchup but you need to click the mouse first to set where the orbit point is first, not just use where the mouse pointer it..... however... my work flow is in 2d plans then holding down ctrl and the mouse button to activate the 3d orbit tool which makes working in 2d and 3d similtansionsly much better, but you don't get the option to set the interative origin point doing it that way,  you can only orbit from the previous origin which is set. 

 

If Vectorworks was able to orbit about the pointer on the sceen without needing the click to set the interactive origin then you could use the orbit tool straight from 2d plans without having to look for the orbit tool icon and move into 3d that way.

[zoomer]

For me "Flyover" (= standard View rotation) works well in Selected Object Mode.

 

If an Object Selected, it rotates around that Object which what I want in 98% of those cases.

If nothing selected, it will rotate about View Center nevertheless, which is my preferred Mode

in all standard situations anyway.

 

But what annoys more is that CTRL+MMB is hard coded and that I can't set my Shortcuts for

temporary Flyover to my new standard : SHIFT+MMB !

(Bricscad, Twinmotion, Blender)

 

At least MMB for temporary Panning works.

[rohantheboat]

Thank you for all of your reply’s, I’ve been learning a lot from everyone that contributes on this forum.

 

My request isn’t about finding a current solution but rather suggesting a feature that may encourage more users to your program. If you make navigating easier for people testing the program then they will have a better chance of taking up the software, so its more like a marketing thing.

 

Sketchup was the first program to really start getting the mass’s using 3d, but a lot of them are out growing the program and wanting a suitable BIM software. As everything in sketchup is modeled in 3d views then it will make the transition to Vectorworks if that program can be set up similar.  It’s a marketing thing.

[Amorphous - Julian]

@rohantheboat agree with all of your above points and posts. 

 

There’s no hiding that orbiting in VW is cumbersome and unintuitive. I myself have a 3D connection and have for many used the above-mentioned tricks to make orbit behave normally (eg ‘select the object to orbit around’).

 

Your point is that, there’s already a better way that the logic of orbiting can work with, which is already in existence out there (sketchup), where you don’t need to define your centre of orbit for a smooth orbiting experience, it somehow just works!

 

it would be great if such orbiting algorithms can appear in Vectorworks, so we don’t have the pain of making the correct selection (ie ‘right click’ -‘force select’) before orbiting. It’s too many steps as a navigation process while modelling.

 

I may just add one other Orbiting suggestion while we are at it - we should be customise/able to set as default ‘orbiting from TOP/plan activates OpenGL’.

 

I can’t ever see a situation when I’m orbiting from Tap/Plan that I’d need to see the model in wireframe. So, it is just a simple ‘certainty’ in my workflow that I have to additionally and manually switch to OpenGL everytime I orbit firm Top/Plan. It seems redundant as a workflow process.

[Andy Broomell]

3 minutes ago, Amorphous - Julian said:

I may just add one other Orbiting suggestion while we are at it - we should be customise/able to set as default ‘orbiting from TOP/plan activates OpenGL'.

 

 

Is this what you mean?

 

[Amorphous - Julian]

2 minutes ago, Andy Broomell said:

 

 

Is this what you mean?

 

Thank you!!!! Exactly what I meant!!

[Mark Aceto]

On 3/24/2020 at 11:05 AM, zoomer said:

But what annoys more is that CTRL+MMB is hard coded and that I can't set my Shortcuts for

temporary Flyover to my new standard : SHIFT+MMB !

 

This drives me crazy too! Is there a Macro or way to remap that combo (MMB isn't really a keystroke, so... ) in Karabiner or Better Touch Tool or something? I almost want to have a giant red button on my desk to pound for this.

[zoomer]

Not that I know.

I think even when an App or a driver can switch input keys per App,

it would switch for everything. But we want it for Fly Over in VW only.

And AFAIK that is hard coded to CTRL+MMB.

[Mark Aceto]

On 5/27/2022 at 11:14 AM, zoomer said:

Not that I know.

I think even when an App or a driver can switch input keys per App,

it would switch for everything. But we want it for Fly Over in VW only.

And AFAIK that is hard coded to CTRL+MMB.

 

Using this mapping, the wheel button temporarily activates the Flyover tool. Tool modes can be changed with UIOP keys while the flyover tool is temporarily activated.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the wheel button because it feels wonky, is hard to control, and takes one of my fingers off the 3 regular buttons. Another alternative is to use the MMB to temporarily activate the flyover tool, and then fall back on the spacebar for panning.

 

Not sure which is my preference at this point but maybe there's an even better way?

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Mark Aceto

[zoomer]

Yes I have that set too.

 

MMB on CADMouse works great.

I have CADMouse only for their real MMB button,

just because I had a lot of bad scroll wheels in the past and got annoyed.

But there where also very suitable scroll wheels for flyover in the past,

like my Intelli Mouse Explorer - just that there is no more adjustable

driver for side buttons and such on Mac. Same for my MadCatz 5.

Great Mouse and scroll wheel - but no more Mac Support after 10.7 or so.

 

But I would like for my Space Navigator or Enterprise to just do exactly

the same as the Flyover Tool in VW does and not more or different things.

[demetris ktorides]

Hi all, 

 

I am trying to learn vectorworks and the orbiting is driving me mad! (I come from fusion).

 

I think I figured the solution Rohantheboat. 

 

I haven't used sketch up before but I was trying to recreate the fusion orbiting style which goes like this: 

 

- to change the orbit center, you hold shift and MMB. Because orbiting is done with MMB it becomes really easy. Not sure if Sketch up is similar. 

 

Solution:

 

In vectorworks 2023, if you hold ctrl+MMB the viewport naturally orbits.

 

If you click twice anywhere in the viewport using the MMB, the orbit point changes to where you MMB-double-clicked. So it's almost identical to fusion, but instead of 'shift+MMB', its 'ctrl+2XMMB'.

 

Hope this helps. 

 

Demetris