Mastering Blender's Pan: Techniques For Animators

Panning in Blender is a way to navigate a three-dimensional space through a two-dimensional screen. To pan in Blender, hold Shift and drag the middle mouse button in the 3D Viewport. If you are using a laptop without a middle mouse button, you can emulate the middle mouse button by pressing Shift+Alt+left-click.

Pan view using Shift + middle mouse button

To pan your view in Blender, hold Shift and press the middle mouse button (MMB). This will allow you to move your view up, down, left, and right without changing the angle that you're viewing from. This is particularly useful when you want to keep your orientation in the world but move your view to see a different part of the scene.

If you are using a laptop or another device without a middle mouse button, you can emulate the middle mouse button by pressing Alt and the left mouse button (LMB). To pan your view while using this emulated middle mouse button, hold Shift and Alt, then press the left mouse button.

Pan view using Ctrl + arrow keys on the number pad

To pan the view in Blender, you can use the middle mouse button (MMB) to move in the 3D view. Holding Shift and clicking the MMB will allow you to pan the view. Alternatively, you can use the number pad on your keyboard to pan the view. Using the Ctrl key along with the arrow keys on the number pad, you can pan the view up, down, left, and right. These are Ctrl + NumPad 8 to pan up, Ctrl + NumPad 2 to pan down, Ctrl + NumPad 4 to pan left, and Ctrl + NumPad 6 to pan right.

If your keyboard does not have a number pad, you can navigate to File -> User Preferences -> Input -> Emulate Numpad to enable the emulation of a number pad.

Pan view using Shift + Alt + left-click

To pan the view in Blender, the default shortcut is to hold Shift and press the middle mouse button (MMB). This shortcut can be changed to Shift + Alt + left-click in the keymap settings. However, it's worth noting that this customisation only works in Object Mode and not in Sculpt Mode.

Here's a step-by-step guide to change the "Pan View" shortcut to Shift + Alt + left-click:

• Open Blender and go to the "Edit" menu.
• Select "Preferences" and then choose "Keymap".
• In the "Keymap" settings, search for "Pan View".
• Change the shortcut for "Pan View" to Shift + Alt + left-click.
• Save the changes and close the "Preferences" window.

Now, when you want to pan the view in Blender, simply hold down the Shift and Alt keys and click the left mouse button. This will allow you to pan the camera view in the 3D Viewport.

It's important to note that the default shortcut for panning in Blender is Shift + MMB, and changing the shortcut may take some time to get used to. Additionally, the middle mouse button is used for multiple functions in Blender, including rotating the view (MMB) and zooming (Ctrl + MMB).

Pan view by clicking middle mouse button once

To pan your view in Blender, hold Shift and click the middle mouse button once. This will allow you to move your view up, down, left, and right without changing the angle from which you are viewing your scene. This is particularly useful when you need to shift your view to see a different part of the scene while maintaining your orientation in the world.

The default Blender controls for navigation in the 3D View are as follows:

• Middle mouse button: Rotate view
• Shift + Middle mouse button: Pan view
• Ctrl + Middle mouse button: Zoom view

If you are using a mouse without a middle mouse button or are working with a pen and tablet interface, you can enable the "Emulate 3 Button Mouse" option in the Input section of User Preferences. With this option enabled, you can emulate the middle mouse button by pressing Alt + left-click. This changes the controls to the following:

• Alt + left-click: Orbit
• Shift + Alt + left-click: Pan
• Ctrl + Alt + left-click: Zoom

Pan view using Ctrl + middle mouse button

To pan the view in Blender, hold down Shift and press the middle mouse button (MMB). Then, drag the mouse in the direction you want to move the view. This will shift the view without changing the angle.

If you are using a laptop or mouse without a middle mouse button, you can emulate the middle mouse button by going to User Preferences > Input and enabling the Emulate 3 Button Mouse checkbox. With this enabled, you can pan the view by holding Shift and Alt and left-clicking (LMB) and dragging.

| Navigation | Three-Button Mouse | Emulated 3-Button Mouse |

|---|---|---|

| Orbit | MMB | Alt+LMB |

| Pan | Shift+MMB | Shift+Alt+LMB |

| Zoom | Ctrl+MMB | Ctrl+Alt+LMB |

Frequently asked questions