Hello,
Another newbie question – my viewport used to rotate somewhat around the center of my scene when I held option and dragged the mouse. Now, though, it seems to rotate around some point way off in space. What did I do to throw it off? Where is that set?
Thanks very much for answering these questions.
Bob
You might have changed the pivot point of the object. Try these:
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+C and reset the origin to the center of the object, or you can go into edit mode (Tab) and manually move the whole object. (1st one is easier)
Also, change the pivot point, it’s the one in the 3D view header next to where it says Object mode, next to the white sphere.
You can also just do Shift+C to reset the cursor (I think you have the pivot point set to 3D cursor instead of origin.)
Hello,
I haven’t been able to get this to work. I tried Ctrl-Shift-Alt-C, and got a menu (set Geometry to origin?..) I tried a few of these choices and saw no change.
I see the pivot point icon – but what should it be set to? I tried a few things and it did not seem to change either. For example, I set it to 3D cursor, and I can plainly see the cursor sitting near my objects, but still the view rotates around this crazy point in the distance.
Also shift-C caused my view to zoom way back, I am not sure what that did but the pivot point still has not changed. This software is so frustrating, it does not make any logical sense to me!
The camera seems to be swinging around the midpoint formed by all of my scene objects and the camera’s cutoff point (I think that’s what it is), this line that extends way off beyond any of my objects.
Thanks for any more help,
Bob
The camera seems to be swinging around the midpoint formed by all of my scene objects and the camera’s cutoff point (I think that’s what it is), this line that extends way off beyond any of my objects.
Is this line solid or dashed? Solid shows the camera’s limits; dashed line would suggest a relationship like a constraint. You may have accidentally added a Track To constraint to the camera. I’m not in front of 2.5 right now but I think Alt-T still removes constraints.
I just re-read your post and I realized it’s not clear if you’re talking about the render camera or rotating the viewport with the middle mouse button; they are two different things. If you’re having viewport problems, select an object and hit the numpad dot/period/decimal key (make sure NumLock is on). This will make the viewport pivot around that object.
Also shift-C caused my view to zoom way back
Shift-C sets the view so it’s centered and encompasses all your objects. If it zoomed way out you probably have some object way off to the side somewhere. If you can’t find it, try selecting all the objects you want to keep in the scene, then go Select Menu -> select Inverse, then x key to delete the offending hard-to-find object.
Yes, I am talking about rotating the viewport with the middle mouse. And I got it to rotate around objects, using the numpad key. Thanks!
Is there any way to make that viewport rotate around the 3D cursor, or the center of the current view? Or perhaps make it rotate around the focus point of the camera? My objects are all really big, and so rotating around them is not what I really want.
Thanks
Bob
By default the viewport always rotates around the center of the current view. You could change to Turntable mode in User Preferences->Input and see if that’s more to your liking.
I don’t think you can make the camera rotate around the focus point that’s used for DOF. However one common practice is to have the camera Track-To an aiming object like an empty. Create an empty, select the camera, shift-select empty, Ctrl-T->Track To constraint. Then you use the Empty to aim the camera; conversely, when you move the camera, it turns to keep pointing at the Empty.
Arrgh well I don’t know what I am doing wrong. Can someone load this file in the 2.5x beta and tell me what I need to do to get it pivoting around someplace desirable?
http://********.org/blend/3511
Is this menu supposed to do anything? I could not get it to do anything. I was assuming that setting it would change my pivot point, is that not what it does?
Thanks
Bob
No, that menu is not for the viewpoint pivot. Rather it sets the pivot point for rotation and scaling operations on objects or vertices.
View this: http://www.blendernewbies.com/tutorials/video/pivot_power/pivot_power.html. It’s for older versions but the concepts are the same.
I think you could really benefit from view this series for Blender 2.5 beginners:
That first video seems to be all about object pivots! Not what I want.
Did anyone try my file? Can you tell me how to fix it so it rotates around the center of the view?
Thanks
Bob
In the User Prefernces / Interface, make sure you have selected ‘Rotate Around Selection’. If not, select it and use Ctrl+U to save as a default.
If you don’t want to set Rotate Around Selected permanently, you can use the numpad . (decimal/dot) key to rotate around a selection. However this also centers the view on that object, unlike the Preferences option.
That first video seems to be all about object pivots! Not what I want.
Right. But now you know what that menu does. 
Thanks! I am just going to start over. I think there was just something seriously wrong somewhere. The default cube behaves much more like I expect. I will work from there.