The Orient option, available in 3D Viewer, allows for the rotating of one 3D item’s face to match that of another.
Shortcuts
Default Keys: None
Default Menu: 3D Design
Command: Orient
Locating this option
Within the 3D Viewer, it is available from: 3D Design menu > Orient option
Using Orient
To use this option, you must have Components and/or Enclosures set as Selectable in the STEP 3D View Settings - Interaction dialog.
Selecting Orient will initiate orient mode, a message in the status bar will instruct you to select the face of the item to be oriented. By default in orient mode, only ‘faces’ of a 3D object will be selectable to make it easier to choose the correct orientation.
Selecting the first face, the one to have its orientation changed, will outline that face in white. You can see this in the left most picture below.
The status bar will then instruct you to select the second face. This is the face that is facing in the direction you want to apply to the first face. You can see this in the middle picture below, where the small left facing face of the SMT component in the lower left corner has been selected.
On selecting the second face, the first item will be rotated around the relevant axis so that the first selected face is looking in the same direction as the second one. The resultant orient process is shown in the third image with the two faces together and rotated by 90 degrees.
Any change in rotation that takes place as a result of orienting will be reflected in the STEP or STL output when the Write STEP File or Write STL File options are used.
If you have the Automatically Synchronise 2D option enabled then the orientation and/or position of the corresponding component on the originating PCB will be updated.
Related Topics
Automatically Synchronise 2D option | 3D Viewer | Write STEP File | Write STL File