Creating 3D Drawings - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 527

When you are in a plan or top view, the ViewCube will look like a square, and when you
hover your cursor over the cube, you'll see two curved arrows to the upper-right of the cube
(Figure 19.35).
FIGURE 19.35
The ViewCube
top view
You can click on any of the visible corners to go to an isometric view or click the double
curved arrows to rotate the view 90 degrees. The four arrowheads that you see pointing toward
the cube allow you to change to an orthographic view of any of the four sides.
SETTING THE HOME VIEW
In a new fi le, the ViewCube's home view is similar to the SW Isometric view. To set your own home
view, right-click the ViewCube and select Set Current View As Home.
Changing Where You Are Looking
AutoCAD uses a camera analogy to help you set up views in your 3D model. With a camera,
you have a camera location and a target, and you can fi ne-tune both in AutoCAD. AutoCAD
also offers the Swivel option to let you adjust your view orientation. Using the Swivel option is
like keeping the camera stationary while pointing in a different direction. While viewing your
drawing in perspective mode, click Pan on the status bar, right-click in the drawing area, and
select Other Navigation Modes  Swivel. (Remember that you need to right-click the ViewCube
and select Perspective for the perspective mode or choose Perspective from the 3D Views menu
on the Viewport control.)
At fi rst, the Swivel option might seem just like the Pan command. But in the 3D world, Pan
actually moves both the camera and the target in unison. Using Pan is a bit like pointing a cam-
era out the side of a moving car. If you don't keep the view in the camera fi xed on an object, you
are panning across the scenery. Using the Swivel option is like standing on the side of the road
and turning the camera to take in a panoramic view.
To use the Swivel option, do the following:
1. While in a perspective view, click the Pan tool in the status bar.
2. Right-click in the drawing area, and choose Other Navigation Modes  Swivel. You can
also type 3DSWIVEL ↵ at the Command prompt or choose View  Camera  Swivel.
3. Click and drag in the drawing to swivel your point of view.
4. When you have the view you want, right-click and select Exit.