Enable viewport navigation via middle mouse button while modeling/selection tools are active
When using the Knife tool in Blender, you can still tumble around your viewport via the middle mouse button. This is the desirable behaviour.
Many other tools in Blender don't allow you to keep navigating the viewport while the tool is active though, making for a less fluent and artist-friendly workflow.
Examples where viewport navigation is impossible while a tool is active:
- Bevel (B)
- Inset (I)
- Circular region select (C)
There may be more but these are the ones I've encountered so far where the lack of viewport movement becomes particularly unpleasant.
Now I understand that in some cases, mouse/stylus movement used for viewport rotation would collide with the functionality of the tool itself but maybe a modifier key could be used to override it?
I.e. in the Inset tool, the ALT key doesn't do anything. So while the Inset tool is active, holding down ALT could prevent the tool from registering mouse movement and instead allow ALT+MMB to rotate the viewport.
Not sure if that's the most elegant solution but it's a possibility I can think of right now.
MODO for example allows the user to continue navigating the viewport while modelling and selection tools are active, making for a more fluent, artistic and less segmented workflow experience:
12 Comments
I completely agree with that, at least circle select and box selection should be able to allow navigation while in the tool.
As a complete noob, I have to say the current implementation (especially in regards to Circle Select) is one of my biggest annoyances with Blender so far.
yeah it's like punch in the face that something this natural is completely missing while paint selecting....like wtf xD
This is my first post here.
Yes. Continuous model navigation should be possible when working with any modeling tool. Any implementation is better than none.
Continuous model navigation whithin an active tool is standard in every single modeler I've tried. Except for Blender.
The lack of this is what surprised me the most when starting using Blender.
If only Blender's 3D connexion space mouse support would get less awkward, too. It is all but obvious that none of the core developers use a 3D mouse. But that is a separate idea.
must have, someone do something already
As a sidenote, for people who prefer different button setup, I hope this will not be hardcoded behavior and can be customized to fit your personal setup. Because Maya style viewport navigation uses alt modifier, it breaks many of the assumptions you have when using default Blender setup.
with lasso you can select something and turn around the object.
for modeling tools you can do your operation, that turn around freely, the only thing is that you have to press f6 to edit the operation. so no widget anymore.
Another one Loop Cut and Slide
circular region selection, you have said it all?
++++++!!!!
Completely agree ! Coming from Softimage and frustrated with Maya I thought I'd give Blender a shot. The first thing I ran into was not being able to rotate the view while tweaking some vertices. I thought it must be a bug, but googling around I found out this is actually by design ?! So Blender users have been dropping and pickup up their tools again every time they need to rotate the viewport a bit all this time ?
Edit: In case other newbie runs into this, there's a "Click Anywhere" option in the top left corner that can be disabled and solves the problem in the 2.8 Alpha 2. Seems to work great so far :-)
2.8 looks promising !!
Without question, while using MOVE / DUPLICATE / ROTATE / SCALE tools, also. Upvoted.