SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [75]
FIGURE 5.1
Use the Heads-up View toolbar to easily access most visualization tools.
The Heads-up View toolbar can be customized and disabled using the same method that you use for all other toolbars, through the Tools⇒Customize dialog.
Tip
Some mouse drivers change the middle-button or scroll-wheel settings to do other things. Often, you can disable the special settings for a particular application if you want SolidWorks to work correctly and still use the other functionality. For example, the most common problem with mouse drivers is that when the model gets close to the sides of the graphics window and the scroll bars engage, the middle mouse button suddenly changes its function. If this happens to you, you should change the function of the MMB to Middle Mouse Button from its present setting.
Using arrow keys
You can use the arrow keys on the keyboard to manipulate the view in predictable and controllable ways. You can use the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys to add to the behavior.
The arrow keys enable you to rotate to the following views:
• Arrow. Rotate 15 degrees. To customize this setting, choose Tools⇒Options⇒View.
• Shift+arrow. Rotate 90 degrees.
• Alt+arrow. Rotate in a plane flat to the screen.
• Ctrl+arrow. Pan.
Using the middle mouse button
Most, if not all, mice sold today have middle mouse buttons (MMBs), usually in the form of a clickable scroll wheel.
The MMB or scroll wheel has several uses in view manipulation:
• MMB alone. Rotate.
• Click or hover on edge, face, or vertex with MMB, and then drag MMB. Rotate around selected entity.
• Ctrl+MMB. Pan.
• Shift+MMB. Zoom.
• Double-click MMB. Zoom to fit.
• Scroll with wheel. Zoom in or out. To reverse direction of the zoom setting, choose Tools⇒Options⇒View.
• Alt+MMB. Rotate in a plane flat to the screen.
Using mouse gestures
Mouse gestures are an interface method that you can customize to do anything a SolidWorks toolbar button can do, but by default, it controls view orientation. Figure 5.2 shows the default configuration of the mouse gesture donut.
FIGURE 5.2
Click+drag the right mouse button (RMB) to access the commands on the donut.
It may take a little time for you to get used the interface. It works best when you understand what the commands are before you use them, so that you can invoke the Top View command in a single motion. It does not work well if you have to initiate the interface with a very short RMB drag, then drag again to select the command. For this reason, it might be better to limit the donut to four commands rather than eight, and set it up intuitively such that the top view is an RMB stroke up, a right view is an RMB stroke to the right, and so on.
You can customize the mouse gesture donut in the Tools⇒Customize⇒Mouse Gestures. This works much like the Keyboard (hotkey) customization, where you can turn gestures on or off, set the mouse gesture donut to four or eight sections, and any gesture direction to any available command.
Using the View toolbar
The View toolbar, shown in its entirety in Figure 5.3, contains the tools that you need to manipulate the view in SolidWorks. Not all of the available tools are on the toolbar by default, but I have added them here for this image. To customize your own View toolbar, you must use choose Tools⇒Customize from the menu and select the Commands tab. Then click the View toolbar, and either drag items from the Customize dialog box to the View toolbar to add them or from the View toolbar into the empty graphics area to remove them. You can use all of these tools with part and assembly models but only a few of them with drawings.
The toolbar that holds tools for direct access to standard named