Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published December 2011

That Navigation Bar

I will admit that I find that Navigation Bar to be, OK, annoying. But I say that because I can Pan and Zoom Extents and kick in 3D Orbit using my old-timey, wired Microsoft optical mouse. But these days, there's a mouse for every flavor of ice cream, and they don't all have equal abilities and settings. That said, here are some insights into this interesting collection of 'Navbar' settings and navigation tools.

Navigation Bar Visibility

The visibility setting is saved in the registry; i.e. permanent. Whether you use the NAVBAR command and turn it OFF, the NAVBARDISPLAY variable and set it to <0>, or click the teeny, tiny X in the upper right corner, it will stay off until you use the command or the variable to bring it back.

Navigation Bar Menu

In the bottom right corner is a teeny, tiny arrow that displays a shortcut menu. If you turn off the Link to ViewCube setting, you will be able to dock the Navigation Bar elsewhere on your screen.

Navigation Bar Position

If you keep the Link to ViewCube setting, you can choose one of four screen positions. When you disable the Link to ViewCube setting, you can position the Navbar anywhere along the perimeter of the screen by dragging the teeny, tiny bar positioned at the top of the feature.

Navigation Bar Tools

Each tool can be removed from the Navbar by right-clicking on that tool. I'm not sure why, after turning off the visibility of the ViewCube [Options3D Display tab], that the ViewCube tool is still displayed on the Navbar, but I've opted to remove it.

Navigation Wheel

In a future column, I'm going to cover this powerful little tool that has multiple options and see what it has to offer.

Pan tool and Zoom tool (with a menu)

If you can't Pan and Zoom with your wheel mouse, these two tools are the way to go. I see lots of folks with a variety of Logitech mice, and these tools save the day.

3D Orbit (with a menu)

Some folks can push down their wheel like a button, hold down Shift, and launch 3D Orbit. If that's not something you can do, this is your go-to feature.

Show Motion

This last one on the Navbar sounds great…
but that will have to wait for another day.

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