When visualizing 3D data it is important to specify the position of the viewer (ie. camera) relative to the 3D scene. The position can be specified numerically (in the Viewpoint Panel) however it is usually most convenient to use the mouse to navigate in the scene. Clicking and dragging with the mouse in the scene changes the view as follows:
- Clicking and dragging the left mouse button results in a rotation. This rotation is about the current "center of rotation" as specified in the viewpoint panel.
- Clicking and dragging with the middle mouse button results in a linear translation of the camera in the direction of the translation. The center of rotation is also translated by the same amount.
- Clicking and dragging up or down with the right mouse button results in a zooming into or out of the scene (getting closer to or further from the rotation center). Only the vertical coordinate of the mouse is used to determine the zoom.
