[Blender] Toggle orbit/rotate similar to 3ds Max?

Bleed

I'm coming from 3ds Max where I'm used to pressing a keybind (CTRL-R) to enter Orbit mode (rotate around selection), in which left click and drag rotates the view and right click exits the mode. My question is, is there a way (settings or otherwise) I can get Blender to do the same -- basically toggling rotate on/off instead of holding down a key?

birb

You can do pretty much anything with Blender's keymap. Go to Edit > Preferences > Keymap and search for the shortcut you want to edit. Expand the shortcut entries you want to edit and click on the "Press" dropdown to pick a behavior you like better, eg "Release".

That said, I don't think "Orbit" is the shortcut you need to edit. I'm not familiar with the 3D Max interface (so a video would help!), but I suspect you'll want to edit "Rotate View" instead.

V!nc3r

Maybe it's more the Navigation option "Orbit Around Selection" which may have his interest (don't remember if it's checked by default). Note also the Numpad view navigation shortcuts: Shift Numpad 4 or 6 which allows to turn around a bit like 3dsMax orbit mode.

pior

Also keep in mind that it is possible to make the Blender navigation way more precise than anything else out there by using the 3d Cursor as a navigation aid.

It is done by placing the 3d cursor where you want to focus and then use "Center View Cursor" (view3d.view_center_cursor). I have it set to alt-F myself. It allows for great speed and precision, without having to deal with any object or component selection. I have been using it ever since I've started using Blender a few years ago and it truly is a game changer imho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faWhnOL6mtQ&feature=youtu.be

Bleed

@"V!nc3r"  It's not that, I've already tried it.

I should be a bit more clear. It's basically a toggle, like I've said. You press a keybind to turn it on and afterwards you click on any part of the view to rotate the view. You press the keybind again to turn it off and go back to normal - click selects objects, etc.

birb

Bleed said:

@"V!nc3r"  It's not that, I've already tried it.

I should be a bit more clear. It's basically a toggle, like I've said. You press a keybind to turn it on and afterwards you click on any part of the view to rotate the view. You press the keybind again to turn it off and go back to normal - click selects objects, etc.

Did you try altering the setting as I described?

Bleed

birb said:

Bleed said:

@"V!nc3r"  It's not that, I've already tried it.

I should be a bit more clear. It's basically a toggle, like I've said. You press a keybind to turn it on and afterwards you click on any part of the view to rotate the view. You press the keybind again to turn it off and go back to normal - click selects objects, etc.

Did you try altering the setting as I described?

I did, but that just rotates the view as soon as I press or release the key, there's no clicking in the viewport to rotate the view.

V!nc3r

It looks like a 3dsMax-specific functionnality to me. So I think best way to mimic this is probably a combination with what have been said above (pref & numpad keys) and also maybe this widget

Or maybe of course writting an addon but it's not the easiest way

RN

There's a hidden operator that changed my life w/ Blender after I found out about it.

It's the view3d.view_center_pick operator. The name is a bit vague, what it does is it places the view center at the depth at the mouse coordinates when the operator is called.

So this is exactly like placing the 3D cursor somewhere + using Center View To Cursor, but reduced to one action (I had written a simple add-on for doing these two things at once, when I found out that this hidden thing already existed).

This is me hovering the mouse over the tip of the cone and hitting the keycombo I put for view3d.view_center_pick, then hovering over the eye of Suzanne and doing the same. Now navigation is a breeze. Edit: It also works when the mouse is hovering over empty space, it just translates the view center to that location.

Eric Chadwick

How is this different from pior's method?

Ruz

slightly off topic, but just found out you can move the pivot around by checking 'affect only origins' in the move tool options, very handy :0

pior

@Eric Chadwick : Rafael's trick basically saves one from having to even right click (and it also leaves the 3d cursor where it is) ; besides that it's the exact same principle indeed. Of course it's a matter of taste - it can be faster, but can also mean that a slip of the mouse can be a false positive, I think.

But either way I highly recommend anyone to try out these navigation methods, it really is a game changer when coming from other apps that do not allow for such precision. The cavehat with my approach is that it does require to free up right click for 3d cursor placement. Personally I got used to it from learning Blender right before 2.8, but for those who got into 2.8+ relying on "regular" right click context menus it could be a bit too annoying to setup. Well worth it though, I could think of working any other way because of the gains in speed and precision.

birb

RN said:

There's a hidden operator that changed my life w/ Blender after I found out about it.

It's the view3d.view_center_pick operator. The name is a bit vague, what it does is it places the view center at the depth at the mouse coordinates when the operator is called.

I don't remember when I first came across this one but it's been so long I thought it was one of the default, well-known operators, hah.

If bound to an easily accessible key like a mouse button (ALT+button4 for me) the only downside will be that you'll get greatly annoyed at other packages for not offering a similar mechanic. Centering alone would already make this operator fantastic, but it matches the zoom to the focus too and Blender's zoom is in fact smart.

RN

birb said:

I don't remember when I first came across this one but it's been so long I thought it was one of the default, well-known operators, hah.

I like to call it hidden because it's not on any of the UI menus, and that's how I usually find out that something exists heh. But I guess it makes sense that it's not in the UI as it acts on the mouse coordinates, if it were on a menu you would always focus on the wrong part of the screen (wherever the mouse was when clicking that menu). 

This one needs to be keymapped to be used accessibly, like you said, so the mouse can be free to pick a point on screen.

Yadoob

RN said:

There's a hidden operator that changed my life w/ Blender after I found out about it.

It's the view3d.view_center_pick operator. The name is a bit vague, what it does is it places the view center at the depth at the mouse coordinates when the operator is called.

So this is exactly like placing the 3D cursor somewhere + using Center View To Cursor, but reduced to one action (I had written a simple add-on for doing these two things at once, when I found out that this hidden thing already existed).

This is me hovering the mouse over the tip of the cone and hitting the keycombo I put for view3d.view_center_pick, then hovering over the eye of Suzanne and doing the same. Now navigation is a breeze. Edit: It also works when the mouse is hovering over empty space, it just translates the view center to that location.

That look so nice and comfy !! But I've trouble to set it in Blender 2.83, do you happen to have some screenshot of your keympa settings ? Thanks!

RN

@Yadoob I think the input category is the most important part, it's how you define when Blender will keep listening for the key combo. 
You want the keymap to work any time the 3D View has focus (no matter if you're in Edit, Sculpt, Object etc. modes), so I placed it on the 3D View > 3D View (Global) category:

The choice of shortcut key is up to you, I'm using Shift + X, and @birb said above that they set it as a Mouse keymap: Alt + (Mouse)Button4. 
(That is, there's a dropdown menu in that keymap box where you can set if it's a Keyboard or Mouse type keymap).

Yadoob

Awesome ! Thanks a lot for your answer, it works well, I guess it can replace the "." entierly ^^
(ah yes it looks like it's by default on alt+middle mouse button )