Navigate a scene view

You can navigate a scene view (a 3D map):

Built-in navigation

The scene view has a number of built-in interactions that allow you to navigate a scene (3D) using the mouse or the keyboard. Using the left mouse button you can pan around the scene, and using the mouse scroll wheel you can zoom in or out. Pressing the right mouse button allows you to adjust the camera pitch and heading.

Basic navigation with the keyboard

Basic navigation for scene views is the same as navigation for map views:

NavigationKeyboard
RoamingArrow keys
Zoom in / out                                                                        - and + keys                                                                        
RotateA: move counterclockwise
D: move clockwise
N: point true north

Advanced navigation with the keyboard

Scene views have additional navigation not found in map views:

NavigationKeyboard
Camera pitch                                                                        W: tilt up
S: tilt down                                                                        
P: perpendicular to surface
Camera elevationU: move up
J: move down

Programmatically change camera position

Your applications can programmatically navigate a 3D scene by creating a new camera and setting it to the scene view. A camera defines the location from which you are viewing the scene.

Camera position for a scene view

The camera is shown in this image for illustration purposes; when you set camera settings (location, pitch), think of the camera class a real-life camera you're adjusting the position of.

Set the camera

For example, to point the camera to toward the Snowdon mountainside, as shown in the following code snippet and image, use these values:

  • For 3D location, use 53.06 latitude, -4.04 longitude, 1289 meters above sea level
  • For heading, use 295 degrees
  • For pitch, use 71 degrees
  • For roll, use 0 degrees
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// add a camera and initial camera position (Snowdonia National Park)
Camera camera = new Camera(53.06, -4.04, 1289.0, 295.0, 71.0, 0.0);
Surface elevation applied to a scene

Now you have a new camera you can apply to your scene view. You can apply it immediately using setViewpointCameraAndWait as shown in the code below, or the camera can be animated to the new position using one of the asynchronous methods.

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sceneView.setViewpointCamera(camera);

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