New Commands in AutoCAD 2009: Part 7
The Navigation Wheel, part 1
by Ralph Grabowski
Introduction
The two new viewing tools in AutoCAD 2009 are the ViewCube and the Navigation Wheels. The previous tutorial described the ViewCube; in this one, we look at the Navigation Wheels.
The navigation wheels were first developed in Autodesk's DesignReview software. They were designed to be a single interface that could zoom, pan, and move through drawings. The wheels were added to AutoCAD in release 2009.
They are called the "navigation wheels" because they look like steering wheels, and they help you navigate 2D and 3D drawings. And the name uses the plural (wheels) because there are three different styles.
The navigation wheels are complex enough that they require two tutorials. In this tutorial, we introduce one of the navigation wheels; in the second tutorial, we overview the others.
- NavSWheel -- displays navigation wheels (short for "navigation steering wheel").
Step-by-Step Tutorial: 3D Viewpoints with the ViewCube
In this tutorial, you learn how to use the new navigation wheels.
1. Start AutoCAD 2009 with any drawing, such as the "db_samp.dwg" drawing provided in the Sample folder.
2. Display the navigation wheel using one of the following methods:
Figure 1: Finding the NavSWheel command on the status bar.
- Click the SteeringWheel button on the status bar.
- Enter the NavSWheel command at the 'Command:' prompt.
- Type the Wheel alias.
- Press the Shift+W keystroke.
- Choose Steering Wheels from the ribbon's Home | View panel.
AutoCAD prompts you:
Right-click to display the shortcut menu.
Press ESC or ENTER to exit.
3. Notice that a navigation wheel appears at the cursor. As you move the cursor, the wheel follows along.
Figure 2: One of the navigation wheels.
Commands - execute the action indicated by the label.
Close - closes the wheel, and returns to the 'Command:' prompt.
Options - displays a shortcut menu listing options, as described later.
Help - displays help when the cursor lingers over a command patch.
You cannot enter any other command while the wheel is active. Press the Esc key to clear the wheel, and return to the regular 'Command:' prompt.
I mentioned that there are three styles of wheel. The primary difference among them is the number of commands on each wheel -- some have more, others fewer.
Depending on the wheel selected, you'll see some of these buttons:
| Command Meaning |
| Look |
Freely moves the model in all directions. |
| Orbit |
Rotates the view in real time about a pivot point. |
| Pan |
Pans in real time in all directions. |
| Up/Down |
Tilts the view up or down from the horizontal. |
| Walk |
Moves about the model constrained to the z plane. |
| Zoom |
Zooms in real time in and out of a center point. |
| Rewind |
Reviews earlier viewpoints (like Zoom Previous). |
| Center |
Relocates the pivot point. |
Actually, there are six wheels, in total. There are the three different wheels, and each comes in two sizes: normal and small.
4. To execute a command, move the cursor over a patch on the wheel, and then press'n drag. For example, to pan the drawing:
a. Move the cursor over Pan.
b. Hold down the left mouse button (press).
c. Drag the cursor around the drawing (drag).
As you do, the drawing pans along with you, and the navigation wheel tags along. The words "Pan Tool" appear in the drawing.
5. To end panning, release the mouse button
To exit the navigation wheel, press Esc.
6. Zooming drawings with the navigation wheel is similar: press'n drag on Zoom. As you do, a sphere appears. Its job is to show you the relative zoom ratio: bigger sphere means you are closer, smaller sphere means further away.
Figure 3: The zoom sphere.
7. There is, however, an added twist to zooming. You can specify a pivot point -- the point about which the zoom takes place. This is useful for locating the zoom off-center from the drawing screen.
To reposition the pivot point:
a. Press'n hold Center.
b. Drag the green ball (Pivot) to where you'd like the zoom centered.
c. Let go of the mouse button.
Now when you use Zoom, it zooms in and out on the relocated pivot point.
8. "Pivot point." The phrase sounds like things should rotate about it, not just zoom linearly. True. The pivot point is also used by Orbit, which runs like the 3dOrbit command.
To orbit about the drawing:
a. Press'n hold Orbit.
b. Drag the mouse around the drawing. As you do, notice how the drawing tilts and rotates about the green pivot ball.
c. Let go of the mouse button to stop orbiting
9. So that's a lot for you to try out. We'll continue this tutorial in the next installment.
Press Esc to exit the command, and then exit AutoCAD, if you wish; there is no need to save the drawing.
Command Reference
NavSWheel command displays the navigation wheel.
CaptureThumbnails system variable determines how thumbnails are captured for the Rewind tool.
NavSWheelMode system variable specifies the style of navigation steering wheel to display.
NavSWheelOpacityBig system variable changes translucency of big navigation steering wheels.
NavSWheelOpacityMini system variable changes translucency of mini steering wheels.
NavSWheelSizeBig system variable sets the size of the big navigation steering wheel.
NavSWheelSizeMini system variable sets the size of the mini navigation steering wheel.
NavsWheelWalkSpeed system variable controls the walking speed of the navigation steering wheel.
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