The "center" command positions the center of the mged viewing cube at the specified model coordinates. This is accomplished by moving the eye position while not changing the viewing direction. (The lookat command performs a related function by changing the viewing direction, but not moving the eye location.) The coordinates are expected in the current editing units. In case the coordinates are the result of evaluating a formula, they are echoed back. If no coordinates are provided, the current center coordinates (in current editing units, not mm) are printed and can be used in subsequent calculations.
It is often convenient to use the center of the view when visually selecting key locations in the model for construction or animation because of (1) the visible centering dot on the screen, (2) the fact that zoom and rotation are performed with respect to the view center, (3) the default center-mouse behavior is to move the indicated point to the view center, and (4) the angle/distance cursors are centered by default. This command provides the means to set and retrieve those values numerically.
Page Generated by David Loman on: 10/11/2007 at: 12:05:37 PM