manipulator/3D-editor with plane pan option

Coding Python Support
1

hello,

is there a plug-in for Blender to enhance the 3D-editor with a plane pan feature?

You probably know from other 3D modellers like modo or silo, the item in the manipulator that constrains movements not to only one dimensional direction but to two directions, or ratherspeaking to a plane.

I would find that feature very handy very often when working in perspective view :slight_smile: .

(Where has the manage attachments option here in this posting panel gone?
I can’t see it.
I’d like to attach a screenshot)

2

Shift + X/Y/Z restricts the movement to that plane. Eg Shift+Z locks the Z-movement - allowing you to move/rotate/scale only in X & Y axis.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

3

ah, first thanks for the reply :slight_smile:

So you have to hold shift and Z to constrain movements to a plane (in this case XY-plane)?

Isn’t that a bit painful?
And it doesn’t seem to work on my side.
(using Blender 2.49)

But I requested this because that kind of moving gedget integrated into the 3D editor is the most comfortable solution for moving constrained to one plane and pretty much standard in various 3D modelling packages so i thought that Blender could maybe have a look at it and copy it, please??

(btw, why don’t the rules allow to post attachments here ???)

4

I can confirm holding “Shift” works :smiley: Hold shift before you click on the manipulator to drag.
Or
G-key then shift x/ y/ z

5

if i understand what you are saying: press “N”. next to LocX, LocY, and LocZ there is a little padlock button. clicking that will lock the object to that planes location, or rotation or scale, for that matter.

6

yep,shift click on the manipulator handle perpendicular to the plane you wantto move or scale on… I use this all the time.

7

Well i’m afraid i can only explain what i mean by posting an image of what i mean.

But you can’t attach an image here, why not?

8

I know what you mean! (and my answer is right! ;))

you can’t attach an image here, only link to images hosted elsewhere. (there are plenty of websites that host images for you)

you CAN post an image in the artwork sections of the forum though.

to explain what you do to use the manipulator to constrain…

if you want to move on the xy plane (defined by the red and green axes of the manipulator) then you hold shift and click-drag on the Blue (z) handle

it’s pretty easy and comfortable when you know how… (and of course this respects any transform orientation (global, local, normal, or custom)

9

ah, yes, now i see how it works, it looks wiered though.

And thanks alot :))

But is there a reason why there are no pics allowed here?

10

I guess that all storage space on blender artists costs money… so restricting image attachments to the gallery makes sense (as it’s gallery pictures that go a long way to popularising blender…)

11

Just wanted to clarify - in case it isn’t already:
You don’t have to keep pressing Shift+x, say; just type it once, to restrict movement to that plane.
And, of course, you can use any of the options listed above.
You can also type x20 <ENTER> y10 to move it 20 units along X and 10 units along Y.
And you can also type N to bring up the Numerical Window, and type the new coordinates figures OR type +20, say, at the end of the line.

And that’s jus the options I know. And I am not expert :smiley:

12

Hey thanks, i appreciate all the infos :).

Very nice.