Rotation centre in Solid Edge ST7

[jonathan.holvey]

Hi,

I'm using a SpaceMouse Pro with Solid Edge ST7, however I can't get the rotation centre to behave as I'd like it. According to this thread viewtopic.php?t=7822& and this 3Dconnexion web page http://www.3dconnexion.eu/supported-sof ... dedge.html, it should be possible to set the rotation centre for my SpaceMouse using the middle mouse button, however this only affects rotations brought about with the mouse.

I've tried enabling and disabling the 'Auto' rotation centre option in the 3Dconnexion advanced settings, however nothing seems to help. The rotation centre stayes fixed at the origin (or the centre of the model - I'm not sure which). I'd ideally like the rotation centre to be placed at the geometry that is currently in the centre of the screen, as per the discussion in this thread https://www.3dconnexion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2402.

Does anyone know how to get these options working?

Cheers,
Jon

[ngomes]

Hi jonathan.holvey,

See if you can use the "Select Rotation Point" command ("3Dconnexion Properties" panel for button programing, "Solid Edge" > "3Dcontrol" category). When activate the command allows users to "pick" a point in activated part.

[jonathan.holvey]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Using the option in the 3DConnexion menu does indeed allow me to set the rotation point. It's a shame it doesn't work with the built-in middle click selection, as I've had to dedicate a precious button on my SpaceMouse Pro to the rotation point selection.

Cheers,
Jon

[[Cerberus]]

This thread helped, the same function works for Solid Edge ST8 as well as ST7.

I did want to add, I use a Logitech G700s mouse and it has a lot of functions that you can map commands to instead of just using the 3D space Pilot. I primarily use Catia and it is a must have to program short cut buttons.

[UtaSH]

And if you have our CadMouse you can even map all commands from Solid Edge or Catia without creating a shortcut for them.

[jonathan.holvey]

After more than a year I'm still not satisfied with this as a solution. I just installed the latest 3Dconnexion drivers (v10.3) hoping there would have been an improvement in this area, but it seems for Solid Edge nothing has changed.

The behaviour of the bundled 3Dconnexion viewer is exactly what I'm looking for, where the rotation centre is updated each time the view changes, and is placed on the part of the model that is at the centre of the display. It feels very natural and means that you don't have to fight to keep the model centred when working away from the origin. I just wish this behaviour could be replicated for Solid Edge in a future driver update. Given how long this problem has been going on for (I've read similar threads dating back to 2008) I have little hope for this happening any time soon.

I plan to contact technical support and see if I can get anywhere there.

Cheers,
Jon

[jonathan.holvey]

This is what I said:

Hi,

I find that the fixed rotation centre when using my SpaceMouse Pro with Solid Edge to be a severe limitation. I'm aware that I can manually specify a rotation centre by mapping a button to the Solid Edge function, however this is far from satisfactory.

I used to use Unigraphics NX at my previous job, and the rotation centre would automatically update to the geometry at the centre of the screen. This worked really well and made it easy to use 3Dconnection devices when working with awkward models.

The bundled 3Dconnection Viewer has this behaviour, and it's a delight to use, although its application is fairly limited.

I and the rest of my team would really appreciate it if you could look at improving this feature of the Solid Edge support for the next 3DxWare release.

Kind regards,
Jon

[Ramon Ruiz]

We bought 6 Spacemouse units and with Solid Edge the behaviour rotating parts is not satisfactory. The driver must be updated to behave like Solid Works does or something similar. Solid Edge ST9 is out and the mouse behaves like V20 did. Some versions ago Solid Edge is able to set a rotation centre with the middle mouse button, using vertex, axis or points, and it´s not needed to activate parts to set this center, this center of rotation is not used by the Spacemouse driver, instead it has its own rotation center but with this rotation centre you have to activate parts to set it so it´s really annoying to use rotation with solid edge. The perfect behaviour is like Solid Works does, using autorotation.

If the problem is still Solid Edge please let me now to contact my distributor.

[UtaSH]

Hello Ramon Ruiz,

you can assign the function "Select Rotation Point" and "Select Rotation Axis" to one of the buttons of your device or to a Radial menu.

[Ramon Ruiz]

I know I can assign a rotation point, that´s what I´m doing, but this function is not satisfactory as I tried to explain. To assign the rotation point or axis you have to previously activate the part, so If you wanna change the rotation point you have to activate the part first and then set the rotation centre (2 steps). Solid Edge has a native rotation point, axis, face that the driver is not using, you assign that rotation point pressing the mouse middle button (1 step) and you don´t need to activate parts .I guess 3dSpacemouse driver could take advantage of this implementation as Solid Edge previuos versions didn´t have this feature.

As I also explained the best behaviour is like Solid Works does setting the rotation point automatic to the center of the screen.

Best regards

[ajostler]

This is what I said:

Hi,

I find that the fixed rotation centre when using my SpaceMouse Pro with Solid Edge to be a severe limitation. I'm aware that I can manually specify a rotation centre by mapping a button to the Solid Edge function, however this is far from satisfactory.

I used to use Unigraphics NX at my previous job, and the rotation centre would automatically update to the geometry at the centre of the screen. This worked really well and made it easy to use 3Dconnection devices when working with awkward models.

The bundled 3Dconnection Viewer has this behaviour, and it's a delight to use, although its application is fairly limited.

I and the rest of my team would really appreciate it if you could look at improving this feature of the Solid Edge support for the next 3DxWare release.

Kind regards,
Jon

Add me to the list requesting this feature. It's been driving me crazy trying to figure this out, so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one facing this. To me it's unacceptable to have to select a new rotation point every time you zoom in on an object, it should update based on the current view. From what I've read it seems like this is how it works in Solidworks, not sure why we can't have the same functionality.

jonathan, did you ever get a response from 3dconnexion regarding this issue?

[squiddie]

I'm on ST9 and the advanced setting 'Rotation Center -> Auto' does not seem to change anything. I expected the same behaviour as in Solidworks 2016 and was very disappointed.

Cheers, Rob

[Mike70]

Hello

I came here to ask about this peculiar behaviour I get in Solidworks 2014. Seems I am not alone.

It is actually infuriating - I spend a lot of time having to "zoom all" (mapped to 3D mouse button) in order to get the rotation center right again. Then the rotation center thing seems to work for a while, but after twisting and turning a little it just veers off. It feels a lot like trying to balance a pint of beer at the end of a plank.

I don't find it at all acceptable that the solution should be to click and reset the rotation center manually all the time. That sort of defeats the purpose of a 3D mouse.

Gripes aside, it is a device I cherish dearly.

[UtaSH]

Hi Mike70,

Solid Edge and SOLIDWORKS behave a little different. Please open the Advanced Settings in the driver and verify what settings you have for the Rotation Center. Is "Auto" on or off? Can you see the little blue icon in SOLIDWORKS that indicates the rotation center?

[Mike70]

Oh. Ah.

This thread was about Solid Edge, not Solidworks.
I partly blame Google, it sent me here when I searched for my problem.
I also partly blame my supraclavicular insufficience.

That said - yes, Auto and blue rotation center marker.

/M