Chapter 3 | Mouse Cursor Controls
Introduction
In Virtual CRASH for Public Safety, you can find the mouse cursor control types under the Edit > Tools menu, by using the upper icon bar, or pressing [F4] on the keyboard (see below). In “Pan” mode, you can change the interactive view without selecting objects. This is a preferred method of navigating around a complex scene without the risk of modifying the project by accidental mouse clicks. Pan mode is described in more detail below. Note, Pan mode is the default mode upon launch of Virtual CRASH for Public Safety.
In order to interactively select, translate, or rotate objects within the project, you’ll need to be in either “Select And Move” [F2] or “Select, Move And Manipulate” [F3] cursor control mode. These are described in more detail below.
Edit > Tools > Select and Move
“Select and Move” allows the user to select, move and rotate an object or multiple objects simultaneously. It also allows the user to move and rotate the desktop. This function is enabled by clicking on the "Select and Move" on the toolbar or by using hotkey [F2].
After the function is activated, the mouse pointer changes to the shape of an open hand when the cursor hovers over places where there is no object that can be selected.
If the mouse cursor hovers over a selectable object, the cursor turns into the shape of a cross. If the mouse cursor is hovering over multiple objects, Virtual CRASH will cycle through them as the user left-clicks.
To deselect an object, simply left-click on an empty space in the working window, or use alt+left-click.
Multiple objects can be selected simultaneously by using ctrl+left-click.
Once an object is selected, the quick control dialog box can be accessed by performing a right-click (see below).
TRANSLATING OBJECTS
To translate an object within the scene, left-click on the object. Move the mouse cursor near the center of the object and the cursor will change to crossed-arrows. Hold down the left mouse button and move the object to the desired location (see below).
ROTATING OBJECTS
To rotate an object in the scene, move the mouse cursor to the edge of the object until the pointer changes to a circled-arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and rotate the object to the desired position (see below).
OTHER COMMANDS
By holding down the right mouse button at any location where there is no object, you can freely rotate your camera’s view (see below).
Press and hold down the right mouse button away from the place where the object is marked. In this case, the mouse pointer changes to two intertwined circular arrows. This cursor rotates the camera view.
Use the mouse scroll wheel to dolly the camera view in or out.
For more information on the “Select and Move” cursor control, see:
Edit > Tools > Select, Move And Manipulate
This cursor control extends the functionality of "Select and Move". When using this feature, selected objects will also typically include additional 3D manipulators with which you can use to modify their properties. For example, the control vertices of the selected spline curve shown below become visible when the spline curve is selected in the “Select, Move And Manipulate” cursor control mode. This control can also be selected by left-clicking the icon on the toolbar or keyboard shortcut [F3].
For more information on this control, see:
Edit > Tools > Pan
This cursor control enables the user to pan and rotate the camera view throughout the project environment. By clicking on this control the mouse cursor changes to the shape of an open hand. By holding down the left mouse button, the user can freely move the camera view (see below).
With "Pan" mode active, press and hold the right mouse button, and the mouse pointer will change to two circular arrows (see below). This cursor can be used to rotate the camera view.
Use the mouse wheel to dolly the camera in and out.
Restrict To Modes
Sometimes it is preferable to manipulate object position with precise control over the translation direction. This can be accomplished by enabling one of the “Restrict To” options. To enable on of the many “Restrict To” options, use the upper tool bar menu drop down shown below.
Once a “Restrict To” mode is enabled, you will see the gumball, translation, and rotation control grips become visible (see below).
It is often more natural to use the translation and rotation control grips as defined in the vehicle or object’s local “local” frame. To switch the control grips to local, use the toggle in the side tool bar shown below. Note, the rotation control grips naturally set yaw, pitch, and roll when in “Axis Local” mode, whereas in “Axis World” the rotation controls set rotation about the global x, y, and z axes.
Once the translation and rotation controls are visible, you can left-click, hold, and drag directly on the grips to translate and rotate. Note, if you left-click, hold, and drag within the bounding box rather than the control grip, the mouse control will correspond to whichever “Restrict To” mode was selected in the drop down menu.
If you wish to adjust an object’s initial z coordinate, roll, or pitch angle by using the “Restrict To” control grips, you’ll need to first disable “auto align to plane” in the misc menu. “Auto align to plane” will reset the wheel positions and vehicle orientation (excluding yaw) anytime the vehicle is moved with the mouse cursor, including when z, roll, and pitch controls are used. To prevent this reset from occurring, simply disable this option. Note, when using the Path Animation tool, vehicle orientation is control using the Path Animation interpositions menu.
Once you are finished using the translation and rotation grips, you can hide them from view (and the gumball) by using “Restrict To” drop down menu and selecting “Move And Rotate” (or use hotkey [0]).
Tags: Selecting objects, select objects, moving camera, move camera, panning, pan camera, rotating objects, rotating cars, rotating vehicles, rotate vehicle, translating objects, translating cars, translating vehicle, translate vehicle, Restrict To.
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