Zooming in on the thing I’m working on is never easy. I’m always zooming in slowly, then warp drive miles away. Sometimes I end up so far away from my target object, I can’t fathom how I got there.
The zoom to selection command is helpful, but it would be even more helpful if there was a key command. I tried to set one up in Preferences, but couldn’t find Zoom to Selection. I saw a YouTube video where this person was setting up keyboard shortcuts, and the menu looked a whole lot more helpful. I can’t seem to find that menu screen though. And is there a way to adjust the “near clipping” setting? I can’t zoom in close enough, the object I’m trying to work on disappears.
Also, I would like some more options for selecting things, like Expand Selection (by one more polygon), and Select Inverse. I have been working on a model done by someone who didn’t group anything. It’s real frustrating trying to separate the pieces.
I use Zoom window, I believe I have never used Zoom selection.
Usually if you are in parallel mode or you are far from origin you get the clipping issue.
You can make a keyboard shortcut for Zoom Selection. Select something in the model and then open Preferences>Shortcuts and filter for ‘Zoom’. You’ll find it available to set.
That has to be one of the most baffling design choices I’ve ever encountered. Why hide an option until the user stumbles upon the “secret handshake” of selecting something first? This feels less like intuitive software design and more like an elaborate prank.
You can go into the preferences file, and add an entry for a shortcut to a menu item that doesn’t yet exist. Then when the menu item does exist, the shortcut should work.
I know that behind the scenes SketchUp has a list of all of the possible menu items that could occur, and it ought to be possible to give the full list for you to set a shortcut for. Should that list include all possible menu items for the extensions you have installed?
Keeping it down to the menu items that currently exist doesn’t limit you at all, but you would need to be in a state where that menu item could be triggered right now.
It’s amusing when people think they’re making a clever point but completely miss the mark.
I don’t need to have programmed SketchUp to know that something is possible in programming.
In fact, Colin just acknowledged this:
Requiring a selection just to make an option appear in the shortcut menu is an unnecessarily convoluted design choice. The list should simply include all SketchUp actions that can be assigned a shortcut—no extra steps needed.
