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3D View Navigation & Selection

3D View Navigation & Selection

Owned by Aurélien Charrier

3D View Navigation

Navigating through the 3D viewport generally* does not require any keyboard shortcuts, only mouse click + drag.

ActionsShortcuts
Rotate ViewLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click + drag in any direction
Pan ViewMiddle Mouse Button (MMB) click + drag in any direction 
Zoom ViewRight Mouse Button (RMB) click + drag Up/Down or Righ/Left, wheel scrolling
Center/Focus Camera ViewF
*Force 3D NavigationV

Force 3D Navigation

When an interactive action is enabled (such as the Skin Painter or another action using mouse events in the 3D view), you should hold on the “Force 3D Navigation” shortcut (‘V’) to override the action and manipulate the camera view.

Focus on current selection

View Navigation focuses on current selection by default. This allows smoother view manipulation around the current selection, but may lead to awkward results if the current selection is outside the screen view at the time. You may disable this behavior in the Preferences dialog, under General Preferences by unchecking the option "Rotate view around selection".


Object Selection

Selecting objects in the 3D viewport does not require any keyboard shortcuts, only mouse clicks. To select an object (joint, mesh, IK target, etc.) place your mouse cursor above the object and just click on it ! 

3D View navigation Vs object selection

Please do not click + drag because you will switch to 3D View navigation mode!

ActionsShortcuts
Select ObjectLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click
Select Object + HierarchyRight Mouse Button (RMB) click
Select Descendants OnlyMiddle Mouse Button (MMB) click
(Skin Painter mode) Select Influence/Joint in 3D Viewport Middle Mouse Button (MMB) click


Skinned Mesh Vertices Selection (Rigging part only)

Selecting  skinned mesh vertices use Shift + mouse clicks.

A joint or a character must be selected to allow vertex selection

Please select first a joint of your character - or even the character itself -  to allow vertex selection on the corresponding skinned mesh(es). If you select directly the skinned mesh (into the Tree) you won't have the ability to select its vertices...


Pick/Rectangle Selection

ActionsShortcuts
Select Vertices Left Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Shift
Add to SelectionLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Ctrl
Remove from SelectionLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Alt

Lasso Selection

ActionsShortcuts
Select Vertices Middle Mouse Button (MMB) click'n'drag + Shift
Add to SelectionMiddle Mouse Button (MMB) click'n'drag  + Ctrl
Remove from SelectionMiddle Mouse Button (MMB) click'n'drag  + Alt


Other Vertex Features

ActionsShortcuts
Increase vertex selection+
Decrease vertex selection-
Select all vertices*
Invert vertex selection/

F-Curves Components Selection (Animation part only)

Selecting vertices F-Curves components as curves, keyframes and tangent handles (in Animation part only), use Shift + mouse clicks.


ActionsShortcuts
Select F-Curves ComponentLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Shift
Add to SelectionLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Ctrl
Remove from SelectionLeft Mouse Button (LMB) click or rectangular selection + Alt


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