Slic3r camera adjustment when large object loaded
I've been following the instructions for a project from the prusa blog, about generating 3d prints from terrain maps. It's a really fun project with a great "wow" factor, but I've been having some camera issues I haven't been able to sort out.
The link is here:
https://www.prusaprinters.org/how-to-print-maps-terrains-and-landscapes-on-a-3d-printer/
The workflow as suggested is to generate the terrain in Sketchup, export it to an OBJ, import the file into Slic3r and then scale the object to fit the print bed. [ I could resize the object in sketchup before exporting and not experience the below issues, but I was just following workflow. ]
When I import the object into slic3r, the area is way too large. It needs to be scaled to about 20% to fit the print bed.
After I scale the object back down, I lose all control over the camera in relation to print bed, and my ability to find the object any more.
When there's no object on the bed, the rotational axis for the camera seems to be centered on the print bed axis.
When you load an object in, the camera zooms out and the rotational axis seems to become the center of the object.
But after I shrink the object and rotate it so it's flat on the bed, the rotational axis still remains anchored at the center of my much larger(and unprintable) object. Now rotating the camera feels like I'm swinging around a plate on a 2-meter pole. At this point I can't get control of my print bed any more.
Once I lose sight of the bed, I can use the hotkeys to re-orient myself to the print bed (ctrl-0, ctrl-1, ctrl-2 [fn-0, fn-1, fn-2 on a mac...]) but even then, I can't ever manage to rotate the bed along the bed axis so I can look at my newly resized object. My only solution is to export the .stl, close Slic3r, reopen slic3r, and then open the .stl. Now I've got an object on the bed, and I can rotate it along the appropriate axis.
Is there a key mapping for resetting the camera axis (not just the position) in slic3r?
Re: Slic3r camera adjustment when large object loaded
You need to select a point that isn't the part to do camera moves. Hard to do with a part the size of Manhattan, but after scaling, you should be able to zoom out (mouse wheel) to see a non-part region to click and rotate. If not, just click-move the part until you are off an edge. If not centered on the bed, then right-click and drag the viewport back to center.