The Keyboard

L3DD uses special keys in the 3D View to perform rotation, translation, and the selection of vertices, edges and faces.  Some of these keys do powerful and spectacular things to group selections, so you should take the time to try them out:

Page Up and Page Down   In all modes the Page Up and Page Down keys move the entire scene up and down the window.

Home and End   In all modes the Home and End keys move the entire scene left and right across the window.

Arrow Keys   With no selection current, the arrow keys rotate the entire scene left and right, or up and down.  As soon as a selection is made the arrow keys change to translating the selected object up and down or left and right.  Movement per keystroke is one 3D unit by default, or the value set in the Scale dialog box.  In Rotate Mode the arrow keys rotate the current selection about the X and Y axes, one degree per keystroke.

Plus and Minus   If no selection is current, the Plus (+) and Minus (-) keys move the entire scene closer or further away (as does the mouse scroll wheel).  As soon as a selection is made the keys change to moving the selection closer or further away.  In Rotate Mode these keys rotate the selection about the Z axis.

Divide and Multiply   The Divide (/) and Multiply (*) keys move selected vertices and faces back and forth along their normals (perpendicular lines) without changing their size or shape.  If multiple faces are selected, each face moves along its own normal.  If vertices are selected, each vertex moves along a line radiating from the origin.

Escape and Tab   Tab and Escape move selected faces towards and away from the origin, with each vertex moving along its own radius.  Faces gets bigger as they move away from the origin, and reduce to a point as they approach the origin.  If all faces are selected, the whole object enlarges or reduces in size.

Shift   The main function of the Shift key is to make group selections in conjunction with the left mouse button (see Group Selection).  It is also used to make symmetrical selections and it speeds up the rotation or translation of the whole scene when using keypad keys.

Ctrl   The Control key is used with the left mouse button in normal mode to clone and move vertices and faces or to create new vertices under (or close to) the cursor at the depth of the origin.  In Wireframe Mode the Control key is also used with the left mouse button to select, or deselect, ‘invisible’ edges by clicking on their edge handles.

Alt   The Alt key can be used with the left mouse button in Normal Mode to extrude faces.

The keyboard is a more precise method of positioning selections than the mouse.  Each keystroke corresponds with one user-selected increment, normally one 3D unit.  The keyboard is also better for extruding and exploding objects.

Copyright © Ligno3D Systems, 2006