Navigating in 3D is like flying through the terrain. You can do this using several methods, or combinations of methods. You can record the “flight” and save it to a video file. See 3D Flight Path for information on recording the flight.
Mouse and keyboard
The location of the cursor controls the direction of the movement when navigating with the mouse or the keyboard. The cursor can be above or below the horizontal centre or to the left or right of the vertical centre. If the cursor is at the exact centre of the view, no movement will occur.
To navigate using the mouse or keyboard:
1. Move the cursor to the position you want.
Select commands according to this table:
Cursor position | Mouse Button | Key | Action |
Centre | — | — | None. |
Above | Left | W | Pan forward in a straight line, horizontal to the terrain. |
Right | | Tilt back. Viewing angle goes up. | |
Left+Right | R | Pan up in a straight line, vertical to the terrain. | |
Below | Right | S | Pan backward in a straight line, horizontal to the terrain. |
Left | | Tilt forward. Viewing angle goes down. | |
Left+Right | F | Pan down in a straight line. vertical to the terrain. | |
Left | Left+Right | A | Pan left in a straight line, horizontal to the terrain/ |
Right | Left+Right | D | Pan right in a straight line, horizontal to the terrain. |
Left | Left | | Rotate left. |
Right | Left | | Rotate right. |
— | Scroll forward | C | Zoom in |
— | Scroll reverse | V | Zoom out |
Note that you sometimes have to press both mouse buttons simultaneously. When using the mouse to navigate, the speed you travel through the display or pan the view varies with the cursor’s distance from the centre (stationary) point. When using the keyboard, the speed varies based on the length of time that the key is pressed. The longer the key is pressed, the faster the view changes.
The Overview command can be used to return the display to the original state after the display has been adjusted. See Overview for more information.
Control Axes
Navigating with the mouse also provides use of the control axes, which allows you to focus the view on a specific location of the view.
1. Move the cursor over the surface.
2. Press and hold the middle mouse button.
The view re-centres on the selected location and a set of control axes are displayed as an overlay to the surface.
3. To rotate the view horizontally, move the mouse to the left or right.
4. To rotate the view vertically, move the mouse up or down.
5. Release the middle mouse button to hide the control axes.
Controller Panel
The Controller panel directional pad and slider controls are used to modify the view and perform a fly-through.
The Controller panel can be turned on or off using the Controller Panel option in the 3D options of the Display category in Tools > Options. When turned on but not in use, the panel becomes transparent so as not to obstruct the view of the data.
The Controller contains the following controls:
1. To pan the view, click the arrow for the direction in which you want to move. Clicking once will adjust the view slightly, clicking and holding the mouse button will continue to move the view until the mouse button is released.
2. To pan the view in a free motion, click and drag the steering ball in the middle of the panel. The view will pan in whichever direction the ball is moved. The further the ball is moved from the centre of the panel, the faster the view will be changed.
3. To change the viewing height or angle, slide the bar on the appropriate tool until the desired view is achieved.
As the view is changed with these tools, the Compass direction will change to indicate the direction in which the data is facing.
Navigation icon
To navigate using the navigation icon, you must have both the 3D and 2D view windows visible. The easiest way to do this is to use Tile Horizontally or Tile Vertically.
The navigation icon is displayed in the 2D window.
The direction of the arrow indicates the compass direction you are facing in the 3D view.
To rotate using this icon:
1. Click on one side of the icon.
The arrow on the icon rotates. The 3D View spins to match.
To navigate using this icon:
1. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the cursor.
A dashed line extends from the icon.
2. Release the mouse button when the dashed line is pointing to the correct location.
The icon turns and moves to the new location and the 3D View shifts to match.
Selecting Data
If the data displayed in the 3D view is in the format of a raster surface, point cloud, variable resolution surface or TIN, it is possible to perform a selection. The selection is performed using the standard 2D view selection tools. Refer to the topics for the various Select commands for information on selecting features.
The selection is made based on the active layer in the Layers window.
• If an attribute band is active, the Selection window is populated with the positions of the selected nodes and the values for that attribute band.
• If a parent layer is selected, the Selection window is populated with the positions of the selected nodes and values for all attribute bands in the coverage. The selection is made on the points that represent the primary elevation band of the coverage. If there is no primary elevation band, then the selection is made on the first elevation type band displayed in the 3D view. If no elevation type bands are displayed, then the Z positions of the first scalar band are used.