Navigate the camera and standard views

Mouse controls

Drag with the middle mouse button to orbit. Hold Shift and middle-drag to pan in screen space. The mouse wheel zooms; in perspective it follows useful model geometry under the pointer when possible. Double-clicking with the primary button resets the current standard view.

Autostrek smooths camera motion, so let the view settle before recording a Planner page.

Zoom and pan near details

In perspective, place the pointer over the part you want to inspect and scroll. Zoom automatically slows as you approach its surface, giving finer control over framing joints, door hardware and other small details. Scrolling away starts gently and becomes faster as you move farther from the part. Ordinary zoom stops short of the surface, including when you scroll quickly.

Start Shift + middle-drag over the detail to pan more gently at close range. The speed stays steady during that drag, even if the pointer moves off the part. There is no extra precision setting to enable. Aim at visible model geometry for close-up control; empty background uses ordinary navigation.

Travel through a wall

In perspective, hold Shift while scrolling to move faster and pass through faces or walls. Point towards where you want to go; scroll forward to enter and backward to retreat. The boost is 1.5 times normal speed, with a minimum travel step near surfaces so the camera can get through the wall.

Release Shift to return to ordinary precision zoom and its surface stop. Shift + middle-drag continues to pan. Orbiting and orthographic wheel zoom work as before.

Custom Solid previews and small parts

The close-up controls also work over live solid previews while creating or editing a body. Aim at a visible face and scroll to approach it gently, or start Shift + middle-drag there for a controlled pan. Shift + wheel lets you travel through preview faces. Cancelling the preview restores navigation over the remaining model.

For tiny parts, middle-drag orbits around the nearby solid or finished sketch, including when starting just beside it. Pan follows the screen scale in Sketch and Custom Solid 3D. Perspective wheel zoom makes finer steps near small details and lets you inspect surfaces at submillimetre distances. Shift-wheel travel also scales down for small parts. Sketch wheel zoom keeps its usual behavior.

Standard directions

The quick views include isometric, opposite isometric, top, bottom, front, back, left and right. Use isometric for spatial inspection and an elevation direction for dimensions, openings or drawing pages. Fit model reframes the visible model when you have navigated too close or lost it off-screen.

3D and 2D projection

Perspective is the natural 3D working view. Orthographic removes perspective convergence and is the correct base for plan measurements, Quad View and scaled elevation output. Some tools—such as Opening Framer and Truss Builder—move to a front orthographic view because placement is clearer there.

The O shortcut toggles perspective/orthographic and selects Front. Use it with focus outside an input or text area, then verify the direction before measuring. It is not a projection-only switch that preserves any arbitrary camera angle.

Reliable page capture

For an internal view, use Section view to expose framing and connections. Look at section faces the cut directly; normal camera controls let you inspect it in 3D. Section view pauses in Planner, so the temporary cut is not recorded as a saved drawing section.

Set the projection, direction, visibility and line style first; then add or update the Project Planner page. A saved page records its own viewport state, so later camera changes do not have to alter the intended drawing view.