Arc Rotate, Arc Rotate Selected, Arc Rotate Sub-Object

Activate a Perspective or Orthographic viewport. > Viewport Navigation controls > Arc Rotate flyout

Keyboard > ALT+Middle mouse button

The Arc Rotate buttons, on the Arc Rotate flyout, spin the viewpoint freely around a center.

Three Arc Rotate variants are available: Arc Rotate, Arc Rotate Selected, and Arc Rotate Sub-Object.

Arc Rotate is modal: it remains active until you right-click or choose another command.

Arc Rotate respects Angle Snap. If you turn on Angle Snap, the Arc Rotate mouse pointer displays a magnet, and the rotation snaps by the angle increment set in Preferences > Viewports > Move/Rotate Transforms group > Viewport Arc Rotate Snap Angle.

Procedures

To use Arc Rotate:

Activate a Perspective or Orthographic viewport.
Click any of the three Arc Rotate buttons.
A view rotation “trackball” is displayed as a yellow circle with handles placed at the quadrant points.
Drag the mouse on and around the trackball to produce different types of view rotations. The cursor changes to indicate what type of rotation you are about to perform.
- Drag the handles to keep the rotation either horizontal or vertical.
- Drag inside the trackball to rotate the view freely within the viewport. When the cursor crosses outside the trackball during dragging, spinning rotation occurs. When the cursor crosses back into the trackball, free rotation is again in effect.
- Drag outside the trackball to rotate the view about the depth axis that is perpendicular to the screen.
Press ESC or right-click to end Arc Rotate.

To constrain rotation to a single axis:

Hold down the SHIFT key as you rotate.
The rotation is constrained to the first axis you use.

To rotate a view with arrow keys:

Activate Arc Rotate mode.
Press the following keys to rotate the view.
- LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW rotate the view horizontally.
- UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW rotate the view vertically.
- SHIFT+LEFT ARROW and SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW roll the view.

To rotate with keyboard and mouse:

Hold down the SHIFT key as you rotate.
The rotation is constrained to the first axis you use.

Interface

Arc Rotate—Uses the view center as the center of rotation. If objects are near the edges of the viewport, they may rotate out of view.

Arc Rotate Selected—Uses the center of the current selection as the center of rotation. The selected object remains at the same position in the viewport while the view rotates around their center.

Arc Rotate SubObject—Uses the center of the current subobject selection as the center of rotation. The selection remains at the same position in the viewport while the view rotates around its center.

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