Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale

Introduction
EnSight provides visual only (only the visual elements on the client are changed) global transformations
(rotation, translation, and zooming) to permit user manipulation of all parts simultaneously in the
Graphics Window. The transformations can either be performed interactively with the mouse, or precisely
by entering explicit values. The mouse buttons can be user-programmed to perform different transform-
ations.

Basic Operation
The Graphics window transforms icon on the Tools Icon Bar controls the operation of the left mouse
button (by default) in the Graphics Window:

Fit the geometry to the viewport

To Rotate

1. Click the Rotate icon.

2. Move the mouse pointer into the Graphics Window.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button and:

• move the mouse left and right to rotate about the screen Y (vertical) axis, or

• move the mouse up and down to rotate about the screen X (horizontal) axis, or

• hold down Ctrl and move the mouse left and right to rotate about the screen Z axis.

4. Move the mouse over the axis triad in the graphics area. Hot points will display on the end of the triad axis.
Click the view you wish to show, i.e., the hot point on the X axis will move the model such that you are
looking form the +X axis towards the origin. If you want to view from the -X axis, hold Ctrl when you click
on the X axis.

5. Press the F1, F2 or F3 keys for 45 degree rotation about the X, Y, or Z axis, respectively. Hold Ctrl down for
-45 degree rotation. (Note: cursor must be in the EnSight window for F keys to work)

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Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale

6. To put the geometry in free rotation mode, Put the cursor in the EnSight graphics window. Press the F4
key, and left click in the graphics window and drag the mouse to set the view in motion and then let the
left mouse button up. The geometry will continue to freely rotate according to the speed of your drag.
Press F4 to stop the free rotation.

To Translate

1. Click the Translate icon (or use the middle mouse button in steps 2 and 3 (default)).

2. Move the mouse pointer into the Graphics Window.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button and:

• move the mouse left and right to translate in the screen X (horizontal) direction, or

• move the mouse up and down to translate about the screen Y (vertical) direction, or

• hold down Ctrl and move the mouse left and right to translate in the screen Z direction.

Note:

You can open the Transformation Editor dialog and the Reset Tools and Viewports (p. ?)
dialog here as well.

To Zoom

1. Click the Zoom icon (or use the middle mouse button in steps 2 through 5 (default)).

2. Move the mouse pointer into the Graphics Window.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button.

4. Drag down to zoom in or drag up to zoom out.

5. Hold down Ctrl and move the mouse to pan.

To Rubber-Band Zoom

1. Click the Rubberband Zoom icon.

2. Move the mouse pointer into the Graphics Window and position it at one corner of the desired viewing
region.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button.

4. Drag to include the desired viewing region. An outline of the region will appear as you drag.

To Rubber-Band Zoom Using the Selection Tool

1. Click the Selection Tool Rubber-band Positioning icon.

2. Move the mouse pointer into the Graphics Window and position it approximately at one corner of the
desired viewing region.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button.

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 Basic Operation

4. Drag to include the desired viewing region. An outline of the region will appear as you drag.

5. Manipulate the tool as desired, by clicking at the center and dragging to a new position or clicking on any
corner and resizing.

Note:

The aspect ratio will be preserved as indicated by the dotted lines within the tool.

6. Click the zoom (magnifying glass) indicator at the top left of the tool.

The Graphics window view orientation icon can be used to quickly view the scene from the global
axes directions.

Press +X to view the scene from the positive X axis (looking toward the origin). The +Y, +Z, -X, -Y, -Z
buttons are similar.

It also provides quick access to the Views Manager that will allow you to save and restore your own
custom views.

Note:

You also have the + and - axes buttons available in the Views Manager.

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Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale

To save your own custom views:

1. Orient the scene as desired.

2. Click the New button. And the view will be shown.

3. Repeat steps 1. and 2. until you have all the views you desire.

4. Click the Save views... button, and specify the folder in the dialog that comes up. This will save all of the
views you defined.

To restore your custom views:

1. Click the Restore views... button, and specify the folder containing your views. This will restore them to
the dialog. To apply any views in the dialog, simply left click on them.

Note:

Zooming actually changes the location of EnSight's virtual camera or look-from point.
Zooming in moves the camera closer to the object; zooming out moves it farther away. The
look-from/look-at points (Set LookFrom / LookAt (p. ?)) can also be edited explicitly.

If you have multiple viewports visible (Define and Change Viewports), each one can be manipulated
independently. To transform in a different viewport, place the mouse pointer within the bounds of that
viewport before you click the left mouse button.

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 Advanced Usage

You can reset transformation parameters (as well as tool and frame transforms) by clicking Reset.... See
Reset Tools and Viewports for more information.

The Fit button is useful in causing the currently visible parts to be centered and zoomed to fit within
the selected viewport.

Advanced Usage
All EnSight transformations can be controlled precisely by specifying explicit transforms in the Trans-
formations Editor dialog. To open the dialog, click the Tools Icon Bar → Graphics window transforms
icon → Transformations editor... The slider performs the requested transformation (based on the se-
lected transformation action) in the selected viewport(s).

1. Transform action allows you to select the desired transformation action.

2. Slider to specify transform.

3. Which viewport(s) sets (by clicking within the desired region) the viewport that the transform applies to.

4. Link interactive transforms interactively performs transformations on multiple viewports, Ctrl click on
multiple viewports, then toggle on.

5. Tie viewports to camera, if you have defined cameras, can tie selected viewports to particular cameras.

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Rotate, Zoom, Translate, Scale

6. About axis specifies the axis to which the transform applies

7. Increment controls the step size for the slider end arrows.

8. Enter explicit values in the Increment field (and press Return) to transform by a precise amount.

9. Limit controls the sensitivity and limit of the slider action.

You can also perform scaling in any or all dimensions (to, for example, magnify subtle differences in a
surface). Although you cannot perform the scaling operation with the mouse, you can scale using the
Transformations dialog. Click the Scale icon in the Transformation Action area and specify the scaling
as described above.

You can copy the transformations from one viewport to another. First select the viewport you wish to
copy, select Editor Function → Copy Transformation State, then select the viewport(s) you wish to
modify and select Editor Function → Paste Transformation State.

Other Notes
By default, EnSight uses the left mouse button for performing the selected transformations. You can,
however, program the transformation action attached to each mouse button. See Customize Mouse
Button Actions for more information.

The transformation operations described here also apply to frame transformations. If additional frames
have been created and if operating on frames, then any transform will apply to the currently selected
frame. See Create and Manipulate Frames for more information.

Pressing F5, F6, or F7 while the mouse is within the EnSight graphics window or desktop area will
transform the scene to show a standard right, top, or front view, respectively. Pressing F8 will return
the scene to that which existed prior to F5, F6, or F7 being pressed. Further, holding Ctrl down while
pressing F5, F6, or F7 will store the current view to the selected Fx button.

Pressing F9 while the mouse is in the Graphics Window or the desktop area will zoom the display to
full screen. Press F9 again to return to the normal display.

Other Options for Part Translation, Rotation And/Or Scaling

All of the above transformations are visual only and are much like moving the position of a camera or
visually changing the geometry only. That is, they occur only on the client and don't change the actual
geometry values in EnSight. There are several other different methods for transforming coordinates
described below as follows.

If you want to deep scale model parts with a scale factor or translate using a variable with server-side
scaling and displacement (where the actual coordinates are changed, both visually AND calculational)
then look for Adjust Part Coordinates under Model Parts. This is different from the rotate, zoom, and
translate in that it is part by part and the modification will be reflected in calculations, for example,
calculated length, area, and volume will change.

If you want to displace by a vector, for example a Displacement Variable Vector, then click the dis-
placement icon at the top. The resulting displacement is updated each timestep using the chosen
vector variable and can be visual only (on the client) or computational (on the server) and can be scaled
(see Display Displacements (p. ?)). This is different from the rotate, zoom, and translate in that coordin-

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 See Also

ates are changed using a scalable vector and they can be changed visually on the client or for use in
deep on the server and used in further calculations.

If you want to scale, translate, or rotate a number of parts visually only consider grouping them and
doing a group transform. Also if you have coincident geometry in two parts and need to offset them
slightly from each other use a group transform (see Part Group Visual Transformations ). This differs
from rotate, zoom, and translate in that you can do it only for a select group and not for all parts
globally. This method is very similar to Frames discussed below except it operates on a group.

If you need to define the rotation or translation of a part over time at a deep (computational) level,
then consider rigid body translations (see EnSight Rigid Body File Format ). This is different from rotate,
zoom, and translate in that you can defined precise translations and rotations over time, and they are
deep on the server for use in computations.

If you need precise control of the visual (client only) rotation and translation of parts separately for
animation purposes, consider attaching a separate coordinate frame to each part and manipulating
them separately (see Create and Manipulate Frames). This is different from rotate, zoom and translate
in that you can do these transformations on a part by part basis rather than globally.

See Also
Other viewing operations:

Set LookFrom / LookAt

Set Z Clipping

Create and Manipulate Frames

Reset Tools and Viewports

Use the Selection Tool

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