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Xxaxx
04-30-2007, 05:54 PM
I'm getting back into modeling after a 10 year recess. Been doing sounds, textures, and the day job :)

In any case, all my old progs don't run on WinXP and I've just found Wings3D. Love the program. Wish I had this 10 years ago.

So I have a couple of noobish type questions.

The first has to do with moving the camera. At the moment I can truck in and truck out, and I can rotate around the Y axis. That's all great. But, how do I move the camera up and down the Y axis.

I am building a model that is tall. And I would like to go up the Y axis so that I can truck in on the top of the model.

I have seen reference in an older tutorial that seems to indicate that holding the control or shift key down while pressing the MMB changes the behavior. That is not working on my system. Could be a change in feature, could be a problem with the mouse, could be a bug in the current version (0.98.36) or most likely user error.

So I wanted to check to make sure there is such a feature as moving the camera along the Y, and perhaps get a pointer to instructions on doing this. If there is no such feature, then I definitely want to add this to the wish list. And I can stop poking my mouse with a stick trying to get it to work.

Regards,
Claude Needham
86point5
04-30-2007, 07:25 PM
Click the middle mouse button - then press 'q' to track - move the mouse in the direction you want the camera to go.
Click the middle mouse button again to exit.
If you don't press 'q' you'll just be in the normal 'tumble' mode.

Make sure to always look at the status area at the bottom of the wings UI. It will tell you what additional modifiers are available (ie. differences between left-click & right-click inside a function, etc.)
Xxaxx
04-30-2007, 08:09 PM
Click the middle mouse button - then press 'q' to track - move the mouse in the direction you want the camera to go.
Click the middle mouse button again to exit.
If you don't press 'q' you'll just be in the normal 'tumble' mode.

Make sure to always look at the status area at the bottom of the wings UI. It will tell you what additional modifiers are available (ie. differences between left-click & right-click inside a function, etc.)


Two excellent lessons in one. First thanks for a direct pointer to the q button. And second thanks for pointing out the status area. I am still habituated to the old microsoft paradyme for invoking commands by having a zillion key combinations to select the different options.

This process of command refinement is excellent. Instead of having ten different commands that handle all the sub-categories of a function, start with one command then refine it as you go. Really nice. Just not used to it. I will definitely pay much more attention to the status line.

Thanks again.
puzzledpaul
05-01-2007, 01:29 PM
A few other comments about stuff you might find of use in your situation.

View | Aim ... hotkey A
Select any bit of geom - from a single vert to an object, press A and wings creates a new tumble origin based on the centre of the selection ... and also centres the model on screen to that origin.

For simple requirements, can be used in conjunction with Select | Store (recall) Selection.
eg select the face on top of a tall cylinder, store it (strongly recommend hotkeying these commands, btw :) ) ... then you can recall that face (selection) at any time - even when off screen, press A ... and the object is appropriately re-cented etc as mentioned.

Gotta be in the same (correct) selection mode as the one used to save the selection, when recalling it ... but then this gives you several options for different saved selns :)

For multiple viewpoints > than above ... try using View | saved view ... this saves all aspects when used ... and thus gets you gack to the identical view / perspective/ zoom etc when invoked.
(Individual views can also be hotkeyed, btw)

View | Align to seln aligns the model so's the plane of a selected face (say) is parallel to the screen plane ... v. useful if you wanna use Move | Free etc and stay on that plane (assuming plane flat)

Dunno what version you're using, but /36 is just as stable ... but many more useful features, btw.

welcome to wings :)

pp


a few odds / ends here - if not already seen
www.puzzledpaul.com (http://www.puzzledpaul.com)

edit
if you use /36 ... with Mirai mode camera, you'll have other camera options too ... check info line for details.
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