Problem:  The drawing cursor can go out of the current view when drawing a line (not a NURBS curve - just a regular spline).  When this happens the user has no idea where the creation point is. They may be able to see it in other views that are zoomed out but this is not useful if they, for instance, need to do their creation in the top view. 

Solution: Most drawing programs scroll the screen in the opposite direction that the drawing cursor is moving when a line is being drawn .  This keeps the drawing cursor in view.  This way you don’t have to manually scroll the screen to find out what is in the upcoming blind area.

I think I know what you are talking about. Move the cursor in the direction you would like to “scroll” to and hit the letter “i” key. It won’t break the current command.

Yes, this is extremely annoying. Why is navigation disabled when creating an object? It makes no sense.

Every other 3D program has the ability to navigate the viewport when creating, editing etc., some even track the mousepointer in other viewports (like Rhino).

MBM

3D Studio DOS to 3ds Max 2010
Windows XP 64
NVidia Quadro FX 3700
Dual Quad Xeon, 6Gb Ram

MLB,
What Kev is saying is that using the (default) key “I” will allow this.
Read his response again.
Kev,
What is the function assigned to the “I” key called, I use the “I” key for something else.
I’ve been reminded of this a number of times but have forgotten again.

Max 2012
Windows 7 64 SP1

Yeah, I know that “I” centres the view on the mousepointer. Now try rotating around your model…

MLB

3D Studio DOS to 3ds Max 2010
Windows XP 64
NVidia Quadro FX 3700
Dual Quad Xeon, 6Gb Ram

Ah, ok, I see…
Seems it was mentioned at some time in the past that you could move to other open views as well, but I am not sure.
Still, not the same a rotating the model.
Seems this would occur to Autodesk that this is something that is long over due for implementation in Max.
It would be quite useful.

Max 2012
Windows 7 64 SP1

Don Gray 24 July 2008 02:14 PM

What is the function assigned to the “I” key called

“Pan Viewport”.

Max 4.2 through 2013.
XP-64 (SP2)
NVidia 9800GTX-512 (Driver 266.58).
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX9.0c.

For rotation, I solved it with a piece of hardware. Not ideal I know and not a fix for Max software, but I use the 3Dconnexion space traveler, but any of their desktop items would solve this. I didn’t even think of rotation as a problem because I have become so used to the device and I haven’t experienced rotation problems in a while. They start at around $60 and after you get used to it and set it up correctly, you will probably wonder why you didn’t have one in the first place.

So with a 3D mouse I can nvaigate the viewport while creating/editing? That’s interesting!

Why Autodesk cannot implement this is beyond me…

MLB

3D Studio DOS to 3ds Max 2010
Windows XP 64
NVidia Quadro FX 3700
Dual Quad Xeon, 6Gb Ram

"So with a 3D mouse I can nvaigate the viewport while creating/editing? That’s interesting! “

Yep, and in the ortho views (top, right, front, etc..) you can zoom and pan without breaking the command. So the “i” key isn’t necessary at all.

One more question before I buy one :)

- Is rotation locked in an ortho viewport? It would be quite annoying to accidently rotate the view, which happens to me all the time in MAX.

MLB

3D Studio DOS to 3ds Max 2010
Windows XP 64
NVidia Quadro FX 3700
Dual Quad Xeon, 6Gb Ram