Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides allows a user to place a point on a model surface that is used as a focus point for tool operations. The focus point is a geometry sphere that shows orientation and relative position of the view in the scene.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides safe navigation features including tool clustering, orientation indicators in the scene, slider indicating scene position, motion warning graphics and other features that help in navigating the scene.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system locks a cursor to a model point in a scene during panning and controls panning speed relative to a bounding box size of the scene.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system allows a user to designate a point on a model and the system moves the view toward that point. A perspective scale is provided that shows the user the relative position of the current view from the starting point of the view to the surface point.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides a zoom tool that allows a user to designate a target point in a scene and zoom relative to that target point.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides a focus point that can be positioned on a model surface and with respect to which the tools of the system operate. The point is a geometry sphere that can have axial rings that show the orientation of the scene and the relative position of the view in the scene based on sphere size.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides a set of GUI tracking menus for different navigation tasks where each navigation tool has action tools associated with the navigation task. The action tools are arranged in rings with the most used tools on an outside.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides scale GUIs that are positioned in the view and show the view position in the scene.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system provides a rewind function where view waypoints are stored as navigation occurs and the user can move the view back to one of the rewind points.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system allows a user to walk the view along a horizontal plane in the view where a dead zone is provided in which no motion occurs when the cursor is in the zone and motion direction and speed is controlled by the relative position of the cursor with respect to the zone.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system allows a user to designate a point on a model in a scene and the point is moved to the center of the view.

Abstract: A navigation system for navigating a three-dimensional (3D) scene that includes a model or object with which a user can interact. The system accommodates and helps both novice and advanced users. To do this, the system allows a user to move up and down within a scene relative to an up axis of the scene without the user being displaced horizontally. A scale is provided that shows the user the relative position of the current view in the vertical bounding box of the scene.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture provide the ability to control a three-dimensional scene view. A three-dimensional (3D) scene having one or more three-dimensional objects is displayed. A 3D representation of a coordinate system of the scene is displayed. The 3D representation contains a current viewpoint, one or more faces, one or more edges, and one or more corners with each face, edge, and corner representing a corresponding viewpoint of the scene. The 3D representation is manipulated. A new current viewpoint of the 3D representation is displayed based on the manipulation. The scene is then reoriented corresponding to the new current viewpoint based on the manipulation of the 3D representation.