CrystalMaker Guide: Rotation

Rotating the Structure

CrystalMaker lets you rotate a structure in one of three ways:-

Mouse-driven, interactive rotation

Click in the graphics window and hold the mouse button down. The cursor changes from an open hand, to a closed hand. Now drag across the screen The screen behaves as a "virtual trackball":

• to rotate the crystal about the screen X axis (which runs from left to right), drag the mouse vertically up (or down) the screen.
• to rotate the crystal about the screen Y axis (which runs from bottom to top), drag the mouse horizontally across the screen;
• to rotate about the screen Z axis (out of the screen), hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard, and drag the mouse in a clockwise, or counter-clockwise sense around the edge of the graphics window.

Rotation Through Specified Angles

Select the Windows > Rotator command to display the Rotator window. Click one of the arrow buttons to rotate the crystal in the direction you want. You can change the magnitude of the rotation by selecting a new angle from the angles palette (indicated by the ">" button). Note: you can also use the numeric keypad, to rotate your structure through the increments specified in the Rotator panel.

Continuous (Auto) Rotation

Either select the Auto Rotation command from the Transform menu, or click the Auto button in the Rotator panel. You can specify the angular rotation steps about each of the screen axes, and then click OK to start auto-rotating. To stop auto-rotation, click and hold down the mouse button in the graphics window-or hold down the COMMAND key and type a full stop (".").

Previous | Main Menu | Next

© 1998 CrystalMaker Software. All rights reserved