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I'm a change over from AutoCAD. One of the CAD like features that I am really ingrained with is what is called orthographic mode.

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In orthographic mode I would be able to move the selected vertexes by clicking parallel to the Y or X grid lines some clicked distance (or snapped distance). Is there an equivalent in Blender?

Thank You!

Eae
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  • ralated: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2834/cursor-is-set-to-move-by-increments-how-to-reset-to-normal –  Mar 20 '15 at 17:55

2 Answers2

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You can use snapping with the increment option. The transformations will snap to the grid. By using the manipulators you can select the axis for the transformation.

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The snapping is determined by the size of the grid.

By zooming in or out on orthographic view you can determine the precision of the transformation.

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Alternatively you can is change the scale for the grid.

Press N and go to Display. In the scale section you can change the size of the grid and the snapping precision will be changed along with it.

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On top of that you can determine the transformations numerically for example: if you want to move sometning 2.5 units on the X axis you'd type G X 2 . 5

  • I would have also suggested that, but from their screenshot, it looks like they already have that enabled. – Ray Mairlot Mar 20 '15 at 15:15
  • I like this answer however it moves only in grid increments. What about grid sub increments? In other words sometimes I want to eyeball it not move an exact orthographic grid increment. Thank You. – Eae Mar 20 '15 at 15:15
  • see edited answer –  Mar 20 '15 at 15:16
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    you also can limit on 1 axis when grabing. use G then X or Y or Z, same as using the gizmo. Or use Shift+X, Shift+Y or Shift+Z to limit on all but X, Y or or Z (limit on the 2 other axis, a plane) – Bithur Mar 20 '15 at 15:18
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    OK. Yes that will accomplish the goal. Thank you for posting this. It's a bit tough sometimes to translate the blender manual into actual real modeling situations without this kind of help. – Eae Mar 20 '15 at 15:18
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Yes, you hit 5 on the Number Pad, and then you are in orthographic view. You can then use 7 for top,3 for side, and 1 for front. using Ctrl with the numbers will give you bottom, left and back views respectively.
If you wan't, you can aslo change these using the view menu at the bottom of the 3d view.

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Now as for moving them a set distance, you can use the G command followed by an axis X,Y, or Z. Finally you can type a distance out in blender units. Eg the move two vertices 2.25 units forwards you'd type GY2.25

GiantCowFilms
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