i use maya, but i am trying out wings 3d right now…there is no manipulators for what axis your on? like if i grab a face i want to pull it by its z normal. there is nothing i can grab on to? i would have more control that way.
also, i set xyz view to 1 2 3 but it is still cutting . someone said i need to go to the pref file and change that. does anyone know were i can find that?
there are no manipulators (widgets) in wings, and björn has made it clear that it will be none in the future, at least not by him.
To constrain movement along an axis, right click, choose move, submenu, and pick an axis.
Interest has been expressed by about 50% of the dedicated W3D users that they want manipulators and about 50% the other way… I think that working without them will quickly become second nature for you Lev… I came from 3dsMax and missed them at first in W3D & XSI but now I could care less about them (frankly now I think they get in the way). Actually XSI added them in the latest release, but I don’t even turn them on. Bjorn has made it clear that they will not be in (at least anytime in the near future) but that certainly doesn’t preclude someone from writing a snappy plugin (most likely after 1.0 is released).
<< To constrain movement along an axis, right click, choose move, submenu, and pick an axis. >>
Or assign whatever you want to a hotkey - if you want to avoid using the menus 
pp
thanks everyone, can someone like jdex, can you talk about why you like not having them? i guess it wouldnt be to hard to move stuff. i just have to go to the z y x view. that reminds me does anyone know were the pref file is for wings 3d? i set x zy view to 1 2 3 but it is still cutting.
never used manipulators except in the silo demo and didn’t care for them. I use hotkeys and set them up like so pick 3 keys next to each other I refer to them as x,y,z now I assign a move x to the example x key and I assigned the same move feature for face,vert,and edge select moves to the x key so no matter what I grab I just hit my hotkey to move it on the x axis then just setup a key to move for y and z the same way. it’s quite fast just grab and 1 button push. you don’t need to be in a specific x,y,z view to move if your moving on a axis such as move x thats the direction it will go.
to set a hotkey select a vert then right click for menu select move then hover your mouse over the x axis on that menu and press the insert button now choose any key that is not in use by wings and press it that will be your new hotkey repeat steps for edge and face move but you can asign all 3 moves to the same key.
The preferences file I thought was in the main wings 3d folder.
The x, y and z key are allready assigned to that view but if you really want them on 123 I suppose you can.
thanks blackthorn, i can see how that would work fine for tranlating. but what do you do for rotation hot keys. Do you use 3 keys for xyz for rotation as well? cause i can see taking up 3 keys isnt terrible. but depending on what you do, that might be 6 keys. i think i should watch martin kroll videos again real quick. and maybe ill figure out something. thanks for the advice though. and i looke d for the pref folder. cause everytime i set my hotkeys. iopen wings up and its the defualt settings. its not saving my keys. so its frustrating.
I don’t really know why I don’t like them any more…
They just seem to get in the way now. I don’t even use custom hotkeys… I got used to Wings defaults and the r-click submenus. My speed has increased many fold and continues to get faster.
Originally posted by Levitateme
that would work fine for tranlating. but what do you do for rotation hot keys. Do you use 3 keys for xyz for rotation as well? cause i can see taking up 3 keys isnt terrible. but depending on what you do, that might be 6 keys.
Hot keys are the way to go! After a little while you may have forgotten all about manipulators.
Personally, I use 5 combo-keys for all translations, scales and rotations:
q,w,e,r,t = translate x,y,z,normal, free
shift + q,w,e,r,t = rotate
ctrl + q,w,e,r,t = scale
All these keys are right next to each other, so you hardly have to move your hand and the commands are the same for each selection mode.
I was used to manipulators too, so I know how you feel, but if you find a nice combo for you, you may end up loving the workflow.
actually I don’t have any setup for rotation but I should I have things like scale, bevel and extrude x,y,z,and normal and a couple other things I use all the time. otherwise I just right click menu. I’m not sure why your settings are not saving you might need to actually save a wings file for it to save? try creating a cube then change some settings save the cube file then exit then re open wings and see if your new settings are working.
<< its not saving my keys. >>
Did you delete Cut2 / 3 from keys 2 / 3 and delete view XYZ from XYZ prior to assigning view XYZ to 123 ?
I have stuff (other than cut) on 2,3,4,5 and have no problems
pp
This is reading to me like a “hotkey” propaganda party to me 
I personaly feel that choices are the way to go… yes, for now Wings suits my needs just fine, and this by simply using the default settings… cut through keys, as well loops, rings etc, the right click menu’s are okdoki, though yea, I can see how hotkeys are the way to go, just… some of us don’t have that programmer type memory and are still forced to look down to ensure proper key chosen… just a reality I suppose, but non the less a very real one at that eh… and this is where a widgit plugin would come in very handy… say what yas want, boost the hell out of Your personal preferences, but that still don’t change the realities for many of us lesser keyboard friendly types eh
But yea, if many of you enjoy having a choice for say setting up your hotkeys to make your workflow faster, then what would be so dearly wrong with including a few choices like what I have suggested here for us less adept… you know, some of us lowly plain ole artistic types… I take nothing away from many of you in your prowess to gain a handle in programming and or simply in being able to remember all those hotkeys eh, but I do feel that this singlesided mindset regarding the exclusion of widgits does take away from many of us who simply have a different way/preference of interfacing with our fav apps eh…
and then there is the part about not being able to have the tool active until next tool selection… IMHO this would be much quicker than having to select over and over again for each move/extrude ect… I would rather select multiple faces for instance, via shift and select, while having the tool still active for the task at hand… just an observation 
I’ve got a similar set up to Finkster.
I still use maya for animation, but for a majority of modelling, I now mostly use wings.
I don’t miss the widgets/manipulators at all. I do think they get in the way.
Once you get used to your hotkeys, you will find your speed improves.
And its not as difficult as it might seem to let go of widgets. You’ll soon remember your xyz hotkeys, and its not that hard to remember Y is up and down, X is left and right and Z is in and out.
When you start to appreciate the Mirai style workflow, you might find yourself wanting to make maya more “wings like” rather than wings more “maya like”.
So, if it is true that hotkeys are the only way to go, then why not take things to the next level and incorp all the move, extrude, etc into somesort of “super tweak” with tool and axis remaining active until changed… I mean ya basically start out by extrude, then extrude region anyways, so why not have those tools active until you need to change em as in apposed to having to reselect the durn tools each time… so yea, you can say what ya like, and you are right with the current set up, but that doesn’t mean that there are not areas within the wings workflow which could use some more thought and changes incorped eh… just an observation
I’ve got extrude hotkeys. I like the way you can set hotkeys for anything in wings.
I’m not sure If I know exactly what you mean with the “super tweak”, but it sounds good.
You’re right Ibox, you can always improve upon things.
Having used Maya predominantly from version 1, I was a bit taken aback with the wings work flow and lack of manipulators etc. So I had a little conversation with myself at the time that went something like this:
ME 1: Damn, this thing doesn’t even have a manipulator tool. Having paid a lot for Maya, I thought wings would be crap, why else would it be free? No manipulator - that just proves its crap.
ME 2: But Bay Raitt’s a modelling GOD right?
ME 1: Yeah.
ME 2: And this is the closest you’re going to get to Mirai right now, right?
ME 1: Yeah.
ME 2: So why don’t you quit your moaning and get on with modelling? Complete at least 1 complex model with Wings before you start bitchin about it.
ME 1: Not listening
ME 2: Go away, and never come back!
One model down, and I was sold on wings.
QUICK TIP:
If you’re having trouble remembering hotkeys, STOP trying to learn them all at once. Focus on using 1 or 2 hotkeys in particular for the current model. For the next model, focus on a new hotkey, etc. The repetition will help you remember. But if you keep going back to the menu, you’ll never remember.
Haha, ok Peter, I give… and hehe, I deserved that post
That was pretty good actually, made for some fun reading
Ibox… I love Wings, just wished that I could interface with it the way I feel comfy with is all
TheyBox… ah quit whining IBox, first ya have to learn to model, then you need to learn the keyboard to make you modeling workflow faster
IBox… modling is fun, learning qwerty is a drag
TheyBox… your going nowhere with that kind of a defeatest attitude there IBox
IBox… how many different apps are there out there for modeling, and why?
TheyBox… what would you answer for this last question?
IBox… um, er, because maybe we are all slightly different, and thus our preferences may also be slightly different for many things
TheyBox… so why don’t you choose another option/app then?
IBox… well, if C$D v8.2 was avail, and came c/w the latest plugin Mesh Surgery, and, supported ngons, then hell yea, I would pay to have those widgits eh
TheyBox… no comment
IBox… to me it is all about learning to model using the best tools avail eh, and for now, yea, it is with Wings, but… should another app come along with the features I feel will assist me even more in my endeavours then why not eh?
TheyBox… your not a very loyal Wings user there IBox
IBox… loyalty is a two way street eh… the way I see it, I am but only one of many currently doing beta testing of sorts with an app called Wings3D, and thus I sort of figure that right or wrong, that my feedback regarding said app should count as much as any others eh… or are we to be drones for life, only suggesting what is right for the group despite whether or not it fit’s for all or only some… the way I figure it, if Wings3D had a few more options, widgits included, then everybody would be using it… and nobody would even bother to check out new products such as Silo, or waiting to check out Modo, and/or simply using other apps eh… Why do you suppose this is?
TheyBox… no comment
IBox… wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that we are all different eh?
TheyBox… if it’s good enough for Bay Raitt then it is good enough for me
IBox… um, Bay Raitt is Bay Raitt… and an artist of this caliber could do that level of work with most any decent app eh…
TheyBox… point taken
IBox… one more question… if Wings3D had an option for widgits, one which you could choose to model with the classic Wings approach current, and/or, you could as wel,l choose to use widgits, do you think there would be less Wings user’s all of a sudden, or do you suppose there would be a few more moving over to test the new widgits out?
TheyBox… no comment
IBox Peace man, and happy creat’n eh
Peter, here is my journey with Wings thus far, a few models have not been uploaded yet, but… have a laugh and give me feedback ok… good bad or down right ugly… I look forward
Dude,I get what you’re saying…but what I don’t get is how often you need to say it.
Björn’s not going to do it. Easy as that,really…
So if you REALLY need widgets,I’d get myself a book on Erlang,
and a couple of books on graphics programming,
and just make that plug yourself
For as long as Wings is open source,you’re free to do what you want with it.
Or,you could try what someone did at the official forums…
Can’t remember the name,but a user offered $500 for a plug to be developed,
an exporter to rwx format I think it was,and it WAS developed by someone.
Or,just use it without the manips…I think it works REALLY well without them myself.
one way to help remember hotkeys is to take a strip of paper and tape in on your keyboard above the f1 to f12 keys and just write down above each key what it does. alot of the default hotkeys are pretty easy to remember the more you use them they will be stuck in your brain then you will wonder how you ever managed without them.