I'm sure this has come up before, but I just wanted to see if there was a solution to this problem.
When I select any vertex or face or an edge, my Space Navigator does not rotate around those selected faces or edges, instead it rotates around the entire object.
Is there some button I forgot to check someplace? I have heard of people modifying the mel file, but I am really not prepared to do that.
Any solution to this?
Autodesk Maya 2012 center of rotation
Moderator: Moderators
I have been reading numerous topics about this same subject, and it seems as if this issue with Maya still isn't fixed?
I have seen threads that are almost a year old about this problem. How can an issue that has been there for over a year still not be addressed?
Is it a software limitation?
Someone in the forums made a special MEL file that solves the problem, but the company that made the hardware is unable to solve it? I'd just like to know when there will be an official fix for this.
The problem isn't there in Max, but is there in Maya. That coupled with the fact that the altered MEL file solves the issue tells me that 3DConnexion can fix the problem.
I have seen threads that are almost a year old about this problem. How can an issue that has been there for over a year still not be addressed?
Is it a software limitation?
Someone in the forums made a special MEL file that solves the problem, but the company that made the hardware is unable to solve it? I'd just like to know when there will be an official fix for this.
The problem isn't there in Max, but is there in Maya. That coupled with the fact that the altered MEL file solves the issue tells me that 3DConnexion can fix the problem.
Unfortunately, you can't explicitly get the pivot to stay at the center of an object after you have unselected that object.
What you can do though is to get it to stay where maya puts it i.e. turn the camera into a target camera. This you achieve by unchecking the
Fly Mode
This toggle is applicable only in 3D / perspective views. When the box is checked, any action on the 3D Mouse will support pan, zoom and rotate operations in Maya. When the box is unchecked, the object that is “fit” in the view will always stay in the center. You can zoom and rotate, but no panning will be possible until Fly Mode is enabled. Disabling Fly Mode is ideal for users needing to focus on a certain object or sub-object and by disabling Fly Mode, that object or sub-object will always stay in the center.
Alternatively, you could keep the pivot at the same distance in front of the camera by switching the center of rotation to Focal Point
What you can do though is to get it to stay where maya puts it i.e. turn the camera into a target camera. This you achieve by unchecking the
Fly Mode
This toggle is applicable only in 3D / perspective views. When the box is checked, any action on the 3D Mouse will support pan, zoom and rotate operations in Maya. When the box is unchecked, the object that is “fit” in the view will always stay in the center. You can zoom and rotate, but no panning will be possible until Fly Mode is enabled. Disabling Fly Mode is ideal for users needing to focus on a certain object or sub-object and by disabling Fly Mode, that object or sub-object will always stay in the center.
Alternatively, you could keep the pivot at the same distance in front of the camera by switching the center of rotation to Focal Point
Is this a limitation with the Maya program itself?
And you said:
This is not what I am after. I mentioned above that I want to rotate around a specific vertex, edge, or face when they are selected, not the object itself. I'm not trying to rotate around the entire object once a specific vertex, edge, or face is selected.
Perhaps you misunderstood? Forgive me, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this. The modified MEL file suggests that this is possible. However, I don't know if the MEL file is specific to the 3D Connexion software.
It's named MagellanStartup.MEL. Another file that has been modified is C3DxMapping.mel.
They are both posted on the forums somewhere and work, although there are bugs associated with them. This still suggests that the developers could actually make this work. Perhaps they just don't feel it's important enough?
And you said:
Unfortunately, you can't explicitly get the pivot to stay at the center of an object after you have unselected that object.
This is not what I am after. I mentioned above that I want to rotate around a specific vertex, edge, or face when they are selected, not the object itself. I'm not trying to rotate around the entire object once a specific vertex, edge, or face is selected.
Perhaps you misunderstood? Forgive me, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this. The modified MEL file suggests that this is possible. However, I don't know if the MEL file is specific to the 3D Connexion software.
It's named MagellanStartup.MEL. Another file that has been modified is C3DxMapping.mel.
They are both posted on the forums somewhere and work, although there are bugs associated with them. This still suggests that the developers could actually make this work. Perhaps they just don't feel it's important enough?
Hi Semus,
We released a new major update to our Maya plug-in a few days ago (it is included in 3DxSoftware v. 3.14.0). The new plug-in has new algorithms to automatically calculate the rotation centre position. You can configure the plug-in in the "popup menu" (press the "Menu" or "Panel" button of your 3D mouse in Maya).
We released a new major update to our Maya plug-in a few days ago (it is included in 3DxSoftware v. 3.14.0). The new plug-in has new algorithms to automatically calculate the rotation centre position. You can configure the plug-in in the "popup menu" (press the "Menu" or "Panel" button of your 3D mouse in Maya).
I downloaded the newest driver and now my panning is borked. I installed the driver, but apparently it cannot find one of your maya plugins from the server.ngomes wrote:Hi Semus,
We released a new major update to our Maya plug-in a few days ago (it is included in 3DxSoftware v. 3.14.0). The new plug-in has new algorithms to automatically calculate the rotation centre position. You can configure the plug-in in the "popup menu" (press the "Menu" or "Panel" button of your 3D mouse in Maya).
Here is an image of the error I am getting.
By mojozin at 2011-08-10
I forgot to uninstall the older driver, so I apologize for that. That seems to have fixed this error.ngomes wrote:Hi Semus,
At what point do you see this error message? Have you tried re-running the 3.14.0 installer? Select "Repair" when given the option.
However, I still cannot pan left, right, up, or down with this new driver in Maya 2012.
There used to be a menu that would roll out when you clicked on the "3D Control" button up top on the Maya main menu, but now I only get "Customize Buttons" and a link to your website. The options menu has vanished.
When using the pop-up menu in Maya after clicking on the Space Navigator's button, I only get the default pop-up menu and I still cannot pan at all. I seem to be stuck with rotation and zoom only.
I would have edited my above post, but I suppose editing is disabled here.
I figured out why I could not pan in any direction, so that is fixed. Two mistakes in one day, wow. Anyhow...
Where is the old menu that used to pop up when you clicked on the "3D Control" button on the Maya main menu?
It also seems that the center of rotation still does not work as many have requested. You still cannot rotate around a selected vertex, face, or edge. It still rotates only around the entire object itself.
At this point I give up. I have tried explaining the issue too many times and I am just tired of trying at this point. I am going to just assume it's a limitation with Maya and that's that.
Thanks to all who helped me with the other issues.
I figured out why I could not pan in any direction, so that is fixed. Two mistakes in one day, wow. Anyhow...
Where is the old menu that used to pop up when you clicked on the "3D Control" button on the Maya main menu?
It also seems that the center of rotation still does not work as many have requested. You still cannot rotate around a selected vertex, face, or edge. It still rotates only around the entire object itself.
At this point I give up. I have tried explaining the issue too many times and I am just tired of trying at this point. I am going to just assume it's a limitation with Maya and that's that.
Thanks to all who helped me with the other issues.
The settings available on that menu have been replaced by the popup menu (shown by default when you press the "left" SpaceNavigator button or the "Panel"/"Menu" button on other devices).Semus wrote:Where is the old menu that used to pop up when you clicked on the "3D Control" button on the Maya main menu?
If you have the "Rotation Center" options "Auto" and "Use Selected Set" in the popup menu, the plug-in should be picking up a point over the selected set. Try moving the selected set to the middle of the view and see if you now have the behaviour as you expect.Semus wrote:It also seems that the center of rotation still does not work as many have requested. You still cannot rotate around a selected vertex, face, or edge. It still rotates only around the entire object itself.
If you cannot see the plug-in popup menu, leave Maya running and open the 3Dconnexion Control Panel (from the systray icon). Then change the selected configuration to "Maya" (the default).
Last edited by ngomes on Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
<del>Regrettably, no. No more thoughts.Semus wrote:Any other thoughts?
I understand what is being asked (set rotation point to centroid of the selected object) but that specific feature is not available.</del>
The "auto" algorithm will attempt to pick a new rotation point if the selected set intersects the centre of the view but it won't work as requested by you.
Edit: this post is incorrect. Please see below.
Last edited by ngomes on Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
We have released a new build of our Maya plug-in that should address some of the issues with the rotation centre. The installer is available for download here.