Click on headings below to open/close them. Press F5 to reset the page.
The astroid™ spaceball is a spatial mouse with a ball sensor
that detects a light fingertip 3D push and 3D twist. It is typically used with
the fingers of the left hand to pan, zoom and spin the view. A set of
programmable buttons can clone keyboard keys or fire Rhinoceros®
(www.rhino3d.com)
commands.
The astroid on Rhino 8 plug-in integrates the
astroid spaceball into Rhino 8.
The astroid dramatically improves how quickly and easily you work with computer aided design
(CAD) programs by shifting view control to your (typically) left hand. View control with the
ball is intuitive, leaving both your mind and your right hand free to focus on designing,
picking geometry and picking menus. Consider how, in the real world, we all work by holding
an object in our (typically) left hand and using a tool, be it a pen, knife, screwdriver,
etc. in our right hand. Our attention is focused on doing something with the tool. Moving
the object around is almost subconscious as our natural spatial ability has us reorient the
object without really thinking about it. There is no other device that communicates our
natural spatial ability to a computer like a spaceball.
The plug-in adds four new modes of view control, four new commands, a toolbar, an
astroid options page
and this help file. Although the plug-in adds extensive functionality Rhino users
are often satisfied with
just the basics
.
To find out more visit
www.spatialfreedom.com
Getting Started
To be productive with the astroid only requires understanding this section.
In summary,
-
Use the default at-view-target control mode (see below).
-
Spin is automatically disabled in the Top, Front and Right views.
-
Default buttons:
- A1 - clones the keyboard’s Esc key.
- A2 - resets the view (Zoom Extents).
- A4 - press this button then use the mouse to place the spin center.
-
A8 - brings up the astroid options page.
-
Program astroid buttons.
-
Reset defaults if needed.
-
Open this help file.
The astroid on Rhino 8 plug-in provides three main modes of
operation based on the spin center’s placement:
at-view-target, on-model and
at-eyepoint. The at-view-target
mode is the most productive for CAD work. The on-model mode
is the best for demonstrating the astroid to non-CAD people
who just want to try it, and the at-eyepoint mode is
for the die-hards who wish to fly-through their models and will spend the time
needed to learn this advanced mode of control.
There is a fourth no-spin mode for orthographic views, such as Top, Front and Right, where
spin is disabled, of course.
The key to using the astroid is mastering control of the spin center’s location since the
model rotates about this point.
While learning to use the ball remember the nearest left-hand button will reset the
view.
If something seems odd, press A8 to bring up the astroid options page and click Restore Defaults
at-view-target
In this
mode the spin center is at Rhino’s view target, the point the camera is looking
at. A small blue sprite appears right in the center of the view over the view
target whenever the ball is pushed or twisted. The distance of the view target from
the camera’s eyepoint is shown in the astroid plug-in status at top left of the active view.
Pull/push up/down through the center of the ball to pan up and down. Push left/right to
pan left and right and pull in or push away to zoom in and out. Notice how the
view target distance moves in and out with zoom. Twist the ball about
left/right, up/down or in/out axes, or about any axis to spin the model
correspondingly.
It takes a little practice to familiarize yourself with this type of interaction which
surprises some people.
no-spin
This mode operates in the standard orthographic views and is essentially
at-view-target without spin. The spin center sprite is not shown.
Control Modes
The astroid options page Control Mode box:
The astroid on Rhino 8 plug-in provides three main modes of
operation based on the spin center’s placement plus a
no-spin mode:
-
at-view-target
- The most productive mode for CAD work.
-
on-model
-
For zooming right in close to examine small or internal detail by placing
the spin center on the detail to be examined.
-
Also, the best mode for demonstrating the astroid to non-CAD people who
just want to try it.
-
at-eyepoint
-
For the die-hards who wish to fly-through their models and will spend the
time needed to learn this advanced mode of control.
-
no-spin
-
For orthographic views such as Top, Front and Right, where spin is
disabled, of course.
The key to using the astroid is mastering control of the spin center’s location since
the model rotates about this point. While learning to use the ball remember the A4 button
(nearest left-hand) will reset the view. If something seems odd, ensure the “normal“
settings are reset by using the A8 button to bring up the astroid options page and click
Restore Defaults
Astroid Plug-in Status
-
The astroid plug-in status is shown under the view’s name in the top left of the active view.
-
The first letter indicates the current control mode:
at-view-Target on-Model
at-Eyepoint no-spin (PanZoom)
-
Next is the view angle which is 0° for parallel views.
-
In perspective views the view target distance is also displayed along with
two lines showing the view angle, if enabled.
|
at-view-target
-
The spin center is at Rhino’s view target, the point the camera is looking at.
-
A small blue sprite appears right in the center of the active view over the view target whenever the ball
is pushed or twisted.
-
The distance of the view target from the camera’s eyepoint is shown in
the astroid plug-in status at top left of the active view.
The view target can be placed by using the nearest left-hand button to invoke the command
AstroidSpinCenter Pick, then pick a point on the model.
Pull/push up/down through the center of the ball to pan up and down. Push left/right to pan
left and right and pull in or push away to zoom in and out. Notice how the view target
distance moves in and out with zoom. Twist the ball about left/right, up/down or in/out
axes, or about any axis to spin the model correspondingly.
It takes a little practice to familiarize yourself with this type of interaction which
surprises some people. Rotate the model back and forth a little when zooming in to help
push the view target over the area of interest. The view target can also be positioned
by zooming well out, panning the model to position the desired area over the view target
then rotating 90° and panning to the final position.
With some practice it is possible to fly through the model by locking the view target
distance. A Lock View Distance option can be enabled or
the left-mouse button or keyboard Ctrl key held pressed to
briefly invert the Lock View Distance option. The
perspective view angle is shown in the astroid plug-in status at the top left of the active view.
A view angle of 40° to 50° is recommended - use the command
Astroid SetViewAngle45. In Rhino the view angle can
be adjusted by holding down Ctrl
-Alt-Shift on the keyboard,
right-clicking the mouse and dragging up and down.
on-model
-
The spin center is positioned on the model or somewhere in model space and moves with the model.
-
A small green sprite appears over the spin center whenever the ball is pushed or twisted.
-
Always try and keep the spin center on-screen at all times.
This is the best mode to demo the astroid and the easiest mode to learn but it does require
constant repositioning of the spin center for CAD work. To quickly demo the astroid use the
command Astroid SetDemoSettings (or program this command under a button).
The on-model mode is also useful when spending time examining
a small detail in a large model.
If the spin center is way off-screen a small spin can cause the model to disappear off-screen
therefore it is important to always keep the spin center in view. Turn on a fence option using
AstroidSpinCenter Fence=True to prevent the spin center from
panning off screen.
When the left-mouse button (or the keyboard Ctrl key) is held
pressed the ball will pan the spin center to allow it to be manually positioned anywhere
in model space. To ignore the initial left-mouse press, place the cursor over an ignored
area such as in the title bar of Rhino’s window.
at-eyepoint
-
The spin center is at the camera’s eyepoint. No sprite is shown.
This mode takes a while to master but does make for fantastic demonstrations.
It’s like holding your head in your hand as you push and spin the camera around the view as
in a first-person shooter game but with the full 6 degrees of freedom.
Twisting left or right (yaw) about a vertical axis turns the camera left and right.
Likewise pitch and roll or any combination spins the camera accordingly. Pushing in any
direction moves the camera accordingly.
A key aspect is understanding how the view target distance determines motion responsiveness.
The view target distance can be set by pressing the nearest left-hand button then picking a point
on the model. Note how the astroid plug-in status shows the updated distance. A closer point provides
finer control, a more distant point provides faster control.
When zooming in our out the view target distance can either be maintained (locked) or allowed
to shrink or grow (unlocked) as the eyepoint moves forwards or backwards. It’s preferable
to unlock the view target when observing a part of the model and vice versa when flying through
a model.
The Lock View Target option can be set for the desired mode then,
to invert the mode, press and hold the left-mouse button or the keyboard
Ctrl key.
With some practice you will be able to fly inside and around models with ease.
A Reverse Motion option inverts the pan, zoom and spin directions which some people prefer
- it’s as though the model is being pushed and twisted about the eyepoint rather than the
camera being pushed and twisted about its eyepoint.
Note: This was the mode used with the
SpaceOrb 360
game controller in
Descent® that gained a tremendous following.
no-spin
Also called pan-zoom-only the no-spin mode is used for aligned orthographic views such as
Top, Front and Right. Spin is disabled to maintain the view’s alignment.
This mode can override the three main modes by selecting the
PanZoom option in the
astroid options page.
The Astroid Options Page
-
Press the A8 button or use the command OptionsPage Astroid
to open the astroid options page.
Options
PanZoom <> PanZoomSpin
-
PanZoom is an override that disables spin and uses
at-view-target pan/zoom motion.
Show (At View Target, On Model)
-
When enabled a blue or green sprite is displayed during astroid motion.
-
The blue sprite is for the at-view-target
control mode and the green sprite for the
on-model control mode.
Fence (On Model)
-
When enabled the spin center, shown by the green sprite, cannot be panned past the view edges.
Lock View Distance (Persp)
-
When enabled the view distance will not change as the model is zoomed in and out.
-
This is only valid for perspective views.
Reverse Motion (At Eyepoint)
-
When enabled Reverse Motion inverts the pan, zoom and spin directions which some people prefer
- it’s as though the model is being pushed and twisted about the eyepoint rather than
the camera being pushed and twisted about its eyepoint.
-
Only affects the at-eyepoint control mode.
Dominant Axis
-
When enabled only the largest of the six push/twist motions acts, the other axes
being ignored providing precise XYZ movement.
Show View Angle
-
When enabled the view angle is displayed using two lines in the astroid plug-in status.
- >
Notes:
-
Note: To adjust the view angle in Rhino, hold down Ctrl-
Alt-Shift on the keyboard,
right-click the mouse and drag up and down.
-
Orthographic views have a view angle of 0°.
Viewing maps a volume in model space to the screen. The view angle is the smallest
of the horizontal or vertical angles of the mapped volume. Parallel views map a
rectangular box and so have a 0° view angle while perspective views map a truncated pyramid.
Keep Upright
-
Locks out the roll axis to prevent the camera from tilting to one side.
-
Maintains the selected axis in a vertical plane viewed edge on.
-
This option is helpful for flythroughs to avoid tilting the camera to the side.
-
Note how the selected axis of the World Icon shown in the lower left corner of a view
remains in the vertical plane. Also, the astroid plug-in status view angle lines rotate up and
down as the pitch changes.
-
Avoid a fully up or down pitch as this causes gimbal lock.
When we look around, we turn our heads left/right (yaw) and up/down (pitch) but rarely tilt
to one side (roll). The up/down axis of our head remains in a vertical plane. Likewise, a
model is considered upright, having no tilt, when its up/down axis lies in a vertical plane
viewed edge on.
Dominant Axis
-
A Dominant Axis option causes all but the largest push or twist axis to be zeroed,
only allowing motion along or about one axis at a time.
Buttons
-
To program astroid button type in either a Rhino command or a keyboard mapping. Examples
of keyboard mappings are
Esc and Shift or even
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+F2 or Ctrl+s.
-
Any string that is not a valid keyboard mapping string is treated as a Rhino script.
There are four astroid toolbars.
Astroid Toolbar
Astroid button
-
Left-click - then pick a point on the model. Control mode:
-
at-view-target - sets Rhino’s view target so the camera will point at it.
-
on-model - sets the astroid's green on-model spin center.
Note: To pan the green spin center hold either the left-mouse button or the keyboard
Ctrl key down and pan it using the ball.
-
at-eyepoint - moves Rhino’s view target to be the same distance as the picked point.
-
Right-click - restores some settings to match this help documentation.
At View Target button
-
Left-click - selects the at-view-target control mode. The astroid plug-in status shows ’T’.
-
Left-click and hold - opens the At View Target toolbar.
On Model button
-
Left-click - selects the on-model control mode. The astroid plug-in status shows ’M’.
-
Left-click and hold - opens the On Model toolbar.
At Eyepoint button
-
Left-click - selects the at-eyepoint control mode. The astroid plug-in status shows ’E’.
-
Left-click and hold - opens the At Eyepoint toolbar.
Straighten View button
-
Left-click - Rotates the view to the closest orthogonal or isometric view.
Set View Angle 45° button
-
Left-click - For perspective views. Sets the camera lens for a 45° view angle.
The astroid plug-in status shows the view angle.
Keep Upright button
-
Left-click - Prevents camera tilt (roll). Maintains the selected axis
(see astroid options) in a vertical plane viewed
edge on to the camera.
-
Right-click - Allows the camera to tilt (roll).
Dominant Mode button
-
Left-click - Enable dominant motion where only the major pan/zoom/spin direction is used.
-
Right-click - Disable dominant motion allowing the full six degrees of simultaneous motion.
Astroid Options button
-
Left-click - Opens the astroid options page.
Astroid Help button
-
Left-click - Opens this help file.
At View Target Toolbar
Click and hold the At View Target button to open this cascaded menu.
Show/Hide Blue Spin Center button
-
Left-click - during at-view-target motion the blue spin center sprite is displayed in
the center of the view.
-
Right-click - hide the blue spin center sprite.
On Model Toolbar
Click and hold the On Model button to open this cascaded menu.
Show/Hide Green Spin Center button
-
Left-click - during on-model motion the green spin center sprite is displayed in the
center of the view.
-
Right-click - hide the blue spin center sprite.
Fence Spin Center button
-
Left-click - prevent the spin center from moving past the edges of the view.
-
Right-click - all the spin center to move past the edges of the view.
Center Spin Center button
-
Left-click - place the on-model spin center at the origin.
-
Right-click - place the spin center in the center of the model.
At Eyepoint Toolbar
Click and hold the At Eyepoint button to open this cascaded menu.
Faster/Slower button
-
Left-click - in perspective views the view target is moved further away to increase motion
sensitivity.
-
Right-click - in perspective views the view target is moved in closer to decrease motion
sensitivity.
Lock View Target Distance button
-
Left-click - auto-adjusts the view target distance when zooming in/out.
-
Right-click - locks the view target distance.
-
Note: Holding the left-mouse button or the
Ctrl key down inverts this flag.
Reverse Directions button
-
Left-click - motion acts like pushing the camera around the model.
-
Right-click - motion acts like pushing the model around the camera’s eyepoint.
Most Astroid SUI options can be set using commands or using the astroid options page.
Astroid
OptionsPage Astroid
This command opens the astroid options page. See the astroid options page for more information.
Astroid PanZoom=True,False
Turns the Pan/Zoom control mode override on and off. See
Control Modes
for more information.
Astroid SetViewAngle45
Sets the perspective view angle to 45° which is appropriate for viewing inside a model. Rhino’s
default view angle is narrow. A perspective view maps a model space volume the shape of a
pyramid to the screen. The smallest of the horizontal and vertical pyramid angles is the view angle.
NOTE
Rhino’s view angle can be changed at any time by holding down the Ctrl
-Alt-Shift keys and the
right-mouse button then moving the mouse up and down.
See Control Modes
for more information.
Astroid StraightenView
Aligns the view to the closest orthogonal or isometric direction. For instance, to look at a front
view upside-down use the ball to position and orient the view close to an upside down front view
then click Straighten View. The model will instantly spin about the spin center to align the X,
Y or Z axes so one normal to the screen and the other two are horizontal and vertical. There happen
to be 24 possible orthogonal and 24 possible isometric aligned view combinations. The one closest
to the current view will be chosen.
Astroid DemoSettings
This command resets various settings suitable for demonstrating the astroid.
Astroid Dominant=True,False
Toggles the dominant axis mode on and off. Dominant axis mode zeroes all but the largest of the
six push and twist axes to provide pure X, Y, Z pan, zoom or spin motion at any one time.
Astroid ShowStatus=True,False
Toggles the astroid plug-in status that is shown under the view’s name in the top left of the active view.
Astroid Help
This command brings up this astroid on Rhino help documentation.
Astroid Properties
This command brings up this Astroid Properties window that is
a component of the astroid On Windows software.
Astroid StandardSettings
This command restores some flags and button programming for A1, A4 and A8 to match this
help documentation.
AstroidEyepoint
AstroidEyepoint Faster
Doubles the perspective control distance to speed up motion. See
Control Modes for more information.
AstroidEyepoint Slower
Halves the perspective control distance to slow down motion.
See
Control Modes
for more information.
AstroidEyepoint Reverse=True,False
Reverse
Turns the Reverse Directions option on and off. The Reverse Directions option applies to the
at-eyepoint control mode and causes motion to operate as though the astroid ball were pushing
and spinning the virtual camera, like the way joysticks function in games. Some people like
this type of control but typically a lot of practice is needed to master it.
The Reverse Directions option can be set in the astroid
options page.
See
Control Modes
for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter
AstroidSpinCenter Attach=Model,Target,Eyepoint
Selects the control mode. See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter Pick
-
Left-click - then pick a point on the model. Control mode:
-
at-view-target - sets Rhino’s view target so the camera will point at it.
-
on-model - sets the astroid's green on-model spin center.
Note: To pan the green spin center hold either the left-mouse button or the keyboard
Ctrl key down and pan it using the ball.
-
at-eyepoint - moves Rhino’s view target to be the same distance as the picked point.
See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter Show=True,False
Hides/shows the spin center that is used as the spin and zoom center for the on-model and at-view-target
control modes. See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter Fence=True,False
Fences the spin center in the on-model control mode to the view’s edges to prevent it moving off screen.
Very useful for novice users to prevent the model getting lost. See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter LockTarget=True,False
Locks the view target distance from the camera’s eyepoint to allow
flythrough operation in at-view-target control mode. Depress and hold the Ctrl key or the left-mouse
button to temporarily invert this option. Move the mouse over the view or toolbar background so the
mouse click won’t do anything before clicking the left-mouse button.
See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter Reset
Resets the spin center in the on-model control mode to Rhino’s grid origin. See
Control Modes for more information.
AstroidSpinCenter Center
In the on-model control mode this command moves the spin center to the center of view. See
Control Modes for more information.
OptionsPage Astroid
OptionsPage Astroid
Opens the astroid options page. See
The Astroid Options Page
for more information.
AstroidUpright
AstroidUpright KeepUpright=True,False
Turns KeepUpright on and off. The
KeepUpright option prevents the view from tilting.
An Up Axis specifies the axis to maintain in the view’s Y-Z plane - a vertical plane normal
to the screen.
The KeepUpright option and the
Up Axis settings are in the astroid options page.
In perspective views the pitch angle is used to rotate the two view angle lines.
See Control Modes for more information.
AstroidUpright UpAxis=X,Y,Z
There is no toolbar for this command. The easiest way to set the Up Axis is in the
astroid options page.
Aligns the view to the closest orthogonal or isometric direction. For instance, to look at
a front view upside-down use the ball to position and orient the view close to an upside
down front view then click Straighten View. The model will instantly spin about the spin
center to align the X, Y or Z axes so one normal to the screen and the other two are
horizontal and vertical.
There happen to be 24 possible orthogonal and 24 possible
isometric aligned view combinations. The one closest to the current view will be chosen.
Refer to the following symptoms and fixes.
The model flies off the screen as soon as the astroid is touched.
This can occur in two situations. If the spin center is way off screen,
then a small rotation will make the model move a long way. Or, if spin center fencing
is on and the spin center is way off the model any movement will snap the spin center
into view pushing the model out of view.
To fix this use the command Astroid DemoSettings to bring the model and the spin
center on-screen. Another solution is to click AstroidSpinCenter Pick then click on
somewhere on the model to place it there.
Touching the ball produces no movement.
-
Check the astroid plug-in is installed by running the Rhino command
OptionsPage Astroid to bring up the astroid options page.
If it is not installed see
Installation
to install the astroid plugin.
-
Check the astroid On Windows software is installed by
running the Rhino command
Astroid Properties which should open the
Astroid Properties window.
If the Astroid Properties window does not open
see Installation
to install astroid On Windows.
-
Another way to run Astroid Properties is to press
the Windows keyboard key then type AstroidProperties and
press Enter.
-
Check the astroid is working by moving the ball to produce motion in the
Astroid Properties window.
-
A top view of the astroid is shown. When the ball is touched a yellow
circle should show around the ball.
-
Similarly for the scroll-hat.
-
Touching the ball
or scroll-hat should cause movement in the 3D and 2D windows.
-
If there is no movement try unplugging and plugging the astroid back in.
-
Pressing an astroid button will also produce a yellow ring around the
corresponding button.
-
Check the Pan, Zoom, Spin and Scroll-hat speeds are set appropriately. Click Defaults
to set the default settings.
-
If touching the ball produces movement in the
Astroid Properties window but not in Rhino try
restarting Rhino.
-
If restarting Rhino did not fix the issue, try rebooting the computer.
The Astroid toolbar doesn’t show.
The mouse and keyboard don’t work properly after a Rhino crash.
-
It is possible, although extremely unlikely, that an astroid button configured to
emulate a mouse button or a mode key such as Ctrl,
Shift or Alt, is held pressed when
Rhino, for whatever reason, crashes. In this rare situation Windows will continue to
behave as though the mouse button or mode key is still pressed.
-
Press and release all the mouse buttons and keyboard’s mode keys to reset them.
For further assistance email helpdesk@spatialfreedom.com.
See Control Modes for details on many of the terms below.
At-Eyepoint Control Mode
-
One of the three main control modes where the spin center is located at the
perspective eyepoint.
At-View-Target Control Mode
-
One of three main control modes where the spin center is located at Rhino’s
view target point.
Control Mode
-
The type of 3D or spatial interaction - either On Model, At View Target,
At Eyepoint or Pan/Zoom.
Dominant
-
A mode that zeros out all but the largest of the Astroid ball’s six
push/twist motion values so only one motion is active at any one time.
On-Model Control Mode
-
One of the three main control modes where the spin center is fixed
in model space.
PanZoom (or No Spin) Control Mode
-
A control mode that overrides the other three control modes.
- Functions just like the at-view-target control mode but without any spin.
- Automatically activated for aligned orthographic views such as Top, Front and Right.
- Can be enabled for other views.
Parallel View
-
A view where a model space view volume the shape of a rectangular
prism is mapped to the screen.
Perspective Control Distance
-
The distance from the camera’s eyepoint to the view target.
-
The speed of translation for a moderate push on the ball.
-
Displayed in the astroid plug-in status (when enabled) at the top left of the view.
Perspective View
-
A view where a view volume the shape of a truncated pyramid
is mapped to the screen.
Spin Center
-
The center of spin and zoom for interactive motion.
-
Attached to either the view target, a point in model space or the
camera’s eyepoint corresponding to the at-view-target,
on-model or at-eyepoint control modes.
Up Direction
-
Specifies which of the X, Y or Z axes is “up“ for the Keep Upright
option.
View Target
-
Rhino’s camera “looks“ at this point therefore it is
always right in the center of the view.