steering wheels are a pain in the _____

[tect75]

far be it from me to complain about "improvements".....so far very happy with the revit 2009 release.....except for the steering wheels. Apparently clicking on orbit and getting the model to rotate to the view i would like is building the pyramids. i cannot get this new tool to work. perhaps its my level of education i dont know. i hope i figure this out soon because my ineptitude at setting a 3d view is killing me. what am i missing?

eddited to add:

how do i lock that stupid wheel in one place?

[Dimitri Harvalias]

The steering wheel is meant to be a cursor type tool i.e. it can't/shouldn't be locked in one place because functions like orbit, pan, zoom etc. are centered on the steering wheel/cursor location.
The view cube will take you directly to a specific default view (N, E, top , left, etc).
Keep in mind that these new tools don't replace the tried and true methods they just give you another option. All this stuff is still available from the View menu.

[tect75]

well after posting the rant i was able to work it out so to speak. still dont like the wheel flying around with me. perhaps as time goes on i will come to like it. just one of those growing pains i guess.

[narlee]

Is it me, or is the steering wheel exceptionally clunky compared to the prior method of navigating? And...it does appear that the graphics speed took a real hit; also quality of at least some elements took a hit, like basic plan graphics. Is this an upgrade?

Postscript - ah...reading the directions helps!

[truevis]

Is it me, or is the steering wheel exceptionally clunky compared to the prior method of navigating? And...it does appear that the graphics speed took a real hit; also quality of at least some elements took a hit, like basic plan graphics. Is this an upgrade?

Postscript - ah...reading the directions helps!

Yes, Wheelie is not very intuitive but View cube is. Having them on slows down the view speed but they have their uses. Also, F8 now brings up Wheelie and the old dialog boxes are gone.

[ian.nichols]

With regards the View Cube:-

When you select a face, is it possilbe to turn off the "animation" of the model as it rotates from one angle to another?

I don't like the way we're starting to get this unnneccessary "Eye Candy" appearing.

Regards,
Ian

[Scott D Davis]

Sure, right-click on the cube and go to Options. You'll see a checkbox near the bottom of the dialog to turn off the animations.

[tomnewsom]

Hmm. Now that the normal F8 dialog is gone, how do you save and revert changes to the view?

[Wes Macaulay]

On the steering wheel, lower right corner, there's a little drop arrow which opens a menu which has the save view command in it ;-)

I hate that they killed DynView because I had a single key shortcut to bring up the DynView dialog, and I used it to pan while on a laptop using the touchpad (it prevented the need from holding down both touchpad buttons to start panning). It's not a deal-killer, but it is a drag. No pun intended.

[ford347]

I love the little cube at the top for 3d. Makes it nice to postition the model in 3d. the steering wheel, although will probably get better as time goes on is an improvment in my opinion. When using a laptop, I now have a way to spin etc. I hated the little eyeball we had before. I thought it was worthless.

Josh

[JamesVan]

I'm on the fence with the Steering Wheel. Love it when I'm using my laptop...so-so on my workstation. Have any of you tried the Mini Wheels? They're less intrusive than the regular wheels.

[Chad Smith]

Have any of you tried the Mini Wheels?
I find the mini wheels even more of a pain to use. More effort goes into directing the cursor into the tiny wheel segments than should be required.

[SCShell]

Hey there,
Why couldn't we have had both? I like the old and the new tools, depending on what machine I am on (Desktop vs Laptop).
Thanks!
Steve

[narlee]

Hey there,
Why couldn't we have had both? I like the old and the new tools, depending on what machine I am on (Desktop vs Laptop).
Thanks!
Steve

Best advice I've seen - always think usability!

[cdatechguy]

So would it be stealing if they were to take on 3D gaming controls? I know of another "to not be named" BIM program that has incorporated it into their latest version. I am talking about the WSAD controls and moving the mouse changes the point-of-view (head).

I tried it on a project I did a while back and was amazed at the speed and ability to "show off" the model I was working on!

As for the steering wheel....turns out our office is waiting until summertime. So I have to wait a while longer for 2009, and for Battlefield Heroes to come out! :(