[MacOS X] rotating a view

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barrygou
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[MacOS X] rotating a view

Post by barrygou »

My Rotate icon (I assume it's the one that is two arrows forming a circle) is grayed out. How can I rotate a view?
Last edited by NormandC on Sun Apr 27, 2014 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added [MacOS X] to topic title to facilitate search results.
jmaustpc
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Re: rotating a view

Post by jmaustpc »

barrygou wrote:My Rotate icon (I assume it's the one that is two arrows forming a circle) is grayed out. How can I rotate a view?
No that's the "recompute" button. If you hold the mouse over the buttons a small message will pop up telling you what it is for.

There are lots of ways to rotate the view, if you are using CAD style navigation, then press and keep holding down the Ctrl key, right click on your model then, press and hold the left mouse key. You can also click on the various "views" in the views tool bar e.g. top view, front, axometric etc.

I wonder how old your FreeCAD version is. When asking questions you should always tell us what version you are using and what your operating system is, so we can offer you sensible answers.

If you are not already using FreeCAD 0.13, then upgrade, as it is far superior to earlier versions.

Also you will no doubt find a lot of useful information on the FreeCAD wiki, see here
http://freecadweb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

One more important thing, use the different workbenches, if you are a beginner do not just use the "complete" workbench, if you do you will be missing a lot of features.

I hope you enjoy FreeCAD.

Jim
Last edited by NormandC on Sat Jul 12, 2014 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed link which pointed to former sourceforge domain
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NormandC
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Re: rotating a view

Post by NormandC »

jmaustpc wrote:There are lots of ways to rotate the view,
To add on what Jim said, here's the direct link to the wiki page that explains the mouse navigation styles.

Mouse Model
Last edited by NormandC on Sat Jul 12, 2014 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed link which pointed to former sourceforge domain
barrygou
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Re: rotating a view

Post by barrygou »

I am using FreeCad V .12 on a Mac running OSX 10.7. And I'm in the CAD style navigation.
The "middle" mouse button on a Mac opens the Mac's Dashboard. None of those mouse maneuvers work for me.
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NormandC
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Re: rotating a view

Post by NormandC »

Well, Apple always needs to be totally different from the rest of the computer world... :roll:

I'm sorry, another Mac user had the same problem last week, but none of the developers own a Mac, and none of the regulars here like Jim or I own a Mac, in the past 3 years we got absolutely no feedback on this issue from Mac users apart from you and the other guy from last week. So we have no idea why it does not work the same as on Windows and the billion Linux distributions out there, and how to fix this. Basically, you're on your own.

All we can suggest is to try another mouse navigation mode that is listed in the link I gave you, and/or try other key+ mouse button combinations.

I just added a new "Mac OS X Issues" section to the Mouse model page.

By the way, v0.13 was released last week, but we are still waiting for someone to step up and compile Mac builds. In the meanwhile, I suggest you upgrade your FreeCAD version with an experimental build that was created last August by a forum user. Even if it's not final it should be a lot better than the v0.12 you have right now, and who knows maybe it will solve your mouse problem? If you do install it please report back, and let others benefit from your experience. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2064&start=90#p22395
barrygou
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Re: rotating a view

Post by barrygou »

The Mac keyboard has a Control, Option, and Command key and they have different functions than those keys on a Windows keyboard so some key / mouse combo may work for rotating an image and I'll try to find it. The Mac works "totally different" but much better. No viruses. No constant "cleaning" and maintenance. (running virus scans. running Spyware, Adware, etc.) No hard disk defragging. No closing programs because you are running out of RAM. No conflicts with other programs. You purchase a new application for a Mac, install it, and it just works. Connect a printer or peripheral, it just works. Turn a Mac on, boom, there's the desktop. It's on and ready to use. (I used to start up my high end Windows machine and then go start a pot of coffee and hang around the lunch room for 15 minutes until everything loaded. Shut a Mac down, ping, it's off. Magically the Mac computer box is never hot. No loud fans spinning. No grinding, clicking, spinning hard drive. A very small amount of RAM is required. Mine has 12 GB and with 6 or 7 large programs running (Word, Excel, a BIG SQL customer database open, Adobe Acrobat, and on and on) and I still have 8 GB of RAM unused. And interestingly, when a Windows based software company develops a Mac version of their program, it works better than their original Windows version. I always bought the latest and greatest, biggest and best, Windows based machines, and kept them very "clean" and up to date, and there was always something going wrong with them. I'm so done with Windows machines.

For CAD viewing I have TurboCad Deluxe for Mac. And SolidWorks eDrawings runs great on the Mac. Of course, it only opens exports out of SolidWorks for eDrawings. I just need to open and view so I don't need a full seat of a design package. I'm a middle man between OEM design engineers and manufacturers for their companies.
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NormandC
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Re: rotating a view

Post by NormandC »

barrygou wrote:The Mac works "totally different" but much better.
Great, here we go, a Mac fanatic. :roll:

Listen, I know the spin, I used to be a Mac user until 1999 when I left the sect. And yes, I did the requisite pilgrimage to the Mecca (MacWorld 1998 in New York). :roll:

You know what? I'll raise you some spin of my own:

Ubuntu, an easy to use free Linux distribution, works much better. No viruses. No constant "cleaning" and maintenance. (running virus scans. running Spyware, Adware, etc.) No hard disk defragging. No closing programs because you are running out of RAM. No conflicts with other programs. You install freely and in a single click a new application from the Software Center out of thousands of free applications, install it, and it just works. Did I mention that most everything is FREE?

Connect a printer or peripheral, it just (mostly) works. Turn an Ubuntu PC on, boom, there's the desktop. It's on and ready to use.

And you know what? No jumping through hoops to use open source software on an Ubuntu PC, because it's actually an OPEN system, not a walled off one made by control freaks who think they know better than their users!
barrygou wrote:And interestingly, when a Windows based software company develops a Mac version of their program, it works better than their original Windows version.
Yeah, interestingly, when the Fruit company develops a PC version of their program, it works like sh*t on Windows and does not care about complying with the system's default keyboard shortcuts *cough* iTunes *cough*
barrygou wrote:For CAD viewing I have TurboCad Deluxe for Mac.
For CAD designing I have FreeCAD on Ubuntu. And I have always the latest version, no installation necessary, since with the Ubuntu PPA repository we set up it updates automatically through the system's update manager. Oh, and the mouse buttons actually work like intended!

I use my Ubuntu system how I want, not how some big corporation bent on shackling its users to its closed ecosystem wants. :roll:
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Re: rotating a view

Post by wmayer »

Wait! I need some potato chips, first. ... OK, now start the flamewar :D
jzampieron
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Re: rotating a view

Post by jzampieron »

I'm using FreeCad v0.13 on OS X 10.8.2 on a Retina Macbook Pro.

Here's some information on the mouse usage:

CAD Navigation Mode.
1. A two-finger scroll does zoom in and out.
2. A two-finger click brings up the navigation menu.
3. Open-Apple (aka Command) + two-finger click allows panning the display, but you have to hold down Command while you two-finger drag around the pad.
4. Control + Single Finger Click brings up the navigation menu.
5. Command+Shift+Two Finger Click will also zoom, but changes the mouse cursor.

I can't figure out rotation in CAD Navigation Mode.

Inventor Nav. Mode.
1. Fn+Click will Rotate
2. Two-Finger Scroll will Zoom
3. Command + Shift + Click will Pan
4. Two-Finger Click will bring up navigation menu.

Hope that helps people.
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NormandC
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Re: rotating a view

Post by NormandC »

Thanks jzampieron.

I'll keep this under my hat, the wiki is going to be moved this week, as soon as it's done I'll add the info to the Mouse navigation page.
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