Centering the view in ArcCatalog's 3D preview window

You can center the view direction inside the ArcScene 3D View preview window in ArcCatalog to look at specific locations inside your 3D data.

By default, the center of the view is the center of the data. The Navigation tool Navigate, the Zoom In Zoom In and Zoom Out Zoom Out tools, and the Field Of View tool all change the view of the data relative to the current center of the view. If you want to zoom in to see a particular area, centering on it first will prevent it from zooming out of your field of view. Centering on a point also allows you to rotate the view around it.

Follow the steps to center the view direction inside the ArcScene 3D View preview window in ArcCatalog.

Be sure that you already have the 3D Analyst extension is enabled and the 3D View Tools toolbar added to the display. The 3D View Tools toolbar can be added by clicking Customize > Toolbars > 3D View Tools.

Steps:
  1. In ArcCatalog, select the data source in the navigation tree.
  2. Click the Preview tab.
  3. Click the Preview drop-down arrow and click 3D View.
  4. Click the Center On Target button Center On Target.
  5. Click the part of the data that you want to occupy the center of the view.
TipTip:
  • You can optionally select Globe View from the Preview drop-down menu to view the data in the embedded ArcGlobe 3D preview.
  • You can open ArcScene from the 3D View Tool toolbar inside ArcCatalog by clicking Launch ArcScene ArcScene.

6/11/2012