Before we change anything in the model, let us get comfortable with the screen. You don’t need to remember every icon today. Being able to rotate the part, hide a tool and find your way back is enough to start.
Open a practice project. If the part has disappeared because you zoomed somewhere else, click in the 3D view and press F. It should fit the model back into view. Keep that one in mind; it saves a fair amount of scrolling.
Try the mouse controls first
These are the documented default controls:
- Middle mouse button: rotate.
- Ctrl + middle mouse: pan.
- Shift + middle mouse: zoom.
- W: show or hide the mesh edges.
- Z, followed by a dragged rectangle: zoom into that area.
Try them on the same corner of the model. Then press F and come back. You have changed the camera view, not the position of the tools. Actual tool movement will be defined separately.
Why hide the tools?
Well, sometimes they are simply in the way. Use the visibility tree to show only the blank, look at its mesh, then bring the tools back.
Hiding an object does not remove it from the simulation. Also, if a curve or frame is missing from the list, try the All objects filter. The active-stage filter may not show everything you are looking for.
And if you close a panel?
F7 and F8 toggle the left and right panels. F9 hides or restores a larger set of docked controls. If your shortcuts have been customised, they may differ from these defaults.
You can also right-click near the upper toolbars and restore an individual bar. There is usually no need to reset the entire layout because one panel went missing.
That is enough navigation for now. Hover over unfamiliar icons as you go and read their command names. Next, create a project that we can actually work in.
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