Show the view panel

Hold + to show the view panel, then click any of the controls in the view panel:

Of special interest are the following tools:

Look at

Clicking on the Look at icon centers the view and zooms in on the selected objects (or all objects if nothing is picked). See also Center the view on specific objects.

Plane view

Checking Plane view lets you tumble about the currently active construction plane (i.e. the construction plane will be used as the ground plane).

Bookmarks

As you work on the model, you will probably find yourself changing the camera view back and forth between two or more areas of interest. The view panel lets you “bookmark” views of the model and return to those views by clicking the name of the bookmark.

Additionally, shading attributes (from the Diagnostic Shading panel or WindowDisplay > Hardware Shade), and annotations (created using tools in the Paint tab) are stored in bookmarks.

When switching from one bookmark (or view) to the next, the camera is animated to take you smoothly from one view to another without getting disoriented.

The time (in seconds) taken to transition from one view to the next is controlled by the View transition time option in Preferences > General Preferences (Model Windows section).

The default is 0.5 seconds. When this value is set to 0.0, the smooth animation is turned off.

Bookmark an annotated modelor more details on annotating bookmarks.

Add bookmark for the current view

1. Tumble, track, and dolly the camera to the view you want to save.
2. Press + .
3. Click New in the Bookmarks section of the viewing panel to add a bookmark for the current view.
   NoteAlternatively, you can create a new bookmark by clicking the New button in the Bookmark Lister (see below).

Edit a bookmarked view

1. Press + .
2. Click Edit in the Bookmarks section of the viewing panel.

   This opens the Bookmark Lister.

   NoteThe Bookmark Lister can also be opened by choosing Windows > Bookmark Lister.

   

3. Release + and do any of the following in the Bookmark Lister:
   • To change a bookmark’s name, hold down and double-click the bookmark icon. Type a new name in the dialog box, then click OK.
   • To remove a bookmark from the list, click the bookmark icon, then click the Delete button.

View your bookmarks

• To display a bookmarked view in the perspective window, click the appropriate bookmark icon in the Bookmark Lister, or the bookmark’s name in the viewing panel.
• Click the Previous or Next button in the Bookmark Lister to view the bookmarks in sequence, starting at the current bookmark (indicated by a green outline around the bookmark icon).

  You can also use the Page Up and Page Down keys as a quick way to show the previous or next bookmark without the need to open the Bookmark Lister.

• Click the Cycle button to see the bookmarks in a slide show fashion. The slide show starts at the currently selected bookmark (green outline) and displays the following bookmarks in order, all the way to the end of the shelf. It then loops around to the first bookmark and continues cycling indefinitely.
  • To stop the slide show, click anywhere in the window.
  • In the option box, an option called Bookmark cycle time specifies how long each bookmark is displayed. Check the Repeat cycles option to make the slide show repeat indefinitely.
• To track or dolly an annotated bookmark view, you must first set the view to isometric mode by clicking the Perspective checkbox in the Viewing Panel so that a checkmark does not appear.
  NoteChanging the view in Perspective mode by tumbling, tracking or dollying will remove all annotations.

Save one or all bookmarks as image files

1. To save only one bookmark, click on it in the Bookmark Lister.

   A green border appears around the selected (current) bookmark.

2. Double-click the Publish Bookmark button to open the option box and set Publish To to Directory.
3. In the option box, choose Current or All, and select an Image File Type (default is jpeg).
4. Click Go.

   A file browser window is displayed.

5. Choose a folder and type in an object name for your image or group of images.

   

6. Press .

   The saved images are called <object name>_<bookmark name>.<file type>.

   NoteIf bookmark names are not unique, “_<#>” is added to the image names to make them unique, for example: issue_BM_1.jpg, issue_BM_2.jpg, etc.

What if...?

The view panel does not appear when I hold + ?

1. Choose Preferences > General Preferences p.
2. Click on Model Windows on the left side of the option window.
3. Turn on Active View Panel, then click Go.