Command Line View Navigation: Zoom, Pan and Rotate

Commands used to affect camera position or other functions are listed below. All rotation, panning, and zooming operations can include the Animation Steps qualifier, makes the image pass smoothly through the total transformation. Animation also allows the user to see how a transformation command arrives at its destination by showing the intermediate positions.

Rotation

Rotate <degrees> About [Screen | Camera | World] {X | Y | Z} [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Rotate <degrees> About Curve <curve> [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Rotate <degrees> About Vertex <vertex_1> Vertex <vertex_2> [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Rotation of the view can be specified by an angle about an axis in model coordinates, about the camera's "At" point, or about the camera itself. Additionally rotations can be specified about any general axis by specifying start and end points to define the general vector. The right hand rule is used in all rotations.

Plain degree rotations are in the Screen coordinate system by default, which is centered on the camera's At point. The Camera keyword causes the camera to rotate about itself (the camera's From point). The World keyword causes the rotation to occur about the model's coordinate system. Rotations can also be performed about the line joining the two end vertices of a curve in the model, or a line connecting two vertices in the model.

Panning

Pan [{Left|Right} <factor1>] [{Up|Down} <factor2>] [Screen | World ] [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Panning causes the camera to be moved up, down, left, or right. In terms of camera attributes, the From point and At point are translated equal distances and directions, while the perspective angle and up vector remain unchanged. The scene can also be panned by a factor of the graphics window size.

Screen and World indicate which coordinate system <factor> is in. If Screen is indicated (the default), <factor> is in screen coordinates, in which the width of the screen is one unit. If World is indicated, <factor> is expressed in the model units.

Zooming

Zoom Screen <factor> [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Zoom <x_min> <y_min> <x_max> <y_max> [Animation Steps <number_steps>]

Zoom {Group | Body | Volume | Surface | Curve | Vertex | Hex | Tet | Face | Tri | Edge | Node} <id_range> [Animation Steps <number_steps>] [Direction {options}]

Zoom cursor [click|drag][animation steps <number>]

Zoom Reset

Zoom Screen will move the camera <factor> times closer to its focal point. The result is that objects on the focal plane will appear <factor> times larger.

Zooming on a specific portion of the screen is accomplished by specifying the zoom area in screen coordinates; for example, Zoom 0 .25 .25 will zoom in on the bottom left quarter of the screen.

Zooming on a particular entity in the model is accomplished by specifying the entity type and ID after entering Zoom. The image will be adjusted to fit bounding box of the specified entity into the graphics window, and the specified entity will be highlighted. You can specify a final direction to look at when zooming by using the direction option.

To center the view on all visible entities, use the Zoom Reset command.

The GUI tool bar buttons for controlling zoom in, zoom out, and zoom reset are as follows: