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Working with the 3D and 2D Views

Songeya provides both 3D and 2D views to help you interact with your model in a way that feels natural and efficient. If you are familiar with AutoCAD, you will find the workflow very intuitive, as most common drawing commands and interaction patterns are supported.

You can work in either the 3D view or the 2D view as you wish:

  • The 3D view gives a full spatial understanding of your model.
  • The 2D view makes it more convenient to draw. However, after using the software for some time, you will notice that working in 3D is just as convenient, since you can pick a drawing plane even in the 3D window.

Both views are fully interactive and synchronized, meaning changes made in one view are reflected in the other.

Interaction Modes

The software uses a context-aware interaction system.

1. Normal Interaction Mode

This is the primary state for model exploration and management. Normal mode is used for viewing and managing entities. The software uses focal-point logic, where the position of your mouse cursor determines the center of the universe for camera transformations.

  • Rotate: If the application is in Rotation Mode, click and hold the Left Mouse Button and drag. If you are currently in Select Mode, use Shift + Left Mouse Button to rotate without losing your selection state. For the smoothest experience, hover your cursor over a specific entity before rotating; the camera will orbit that exact point.
  • Pan: Press and hold the Third Mouse Button (Mouse Wheel) and drag the mouse.
  • Zoom: Scroll the Mouse Wheel forward to zoom in and backward to zoom out. The zoom is directed toward the cursor's coordinates so that you can quickly dive into a specific detail without manual panning.

2. Selection Mode

While in this mode, clicking the Left Mouse Button on any element will toggle its selection state. You can also select multiple objects by drawing a rectangle over them. If the rectangle is drawn from left to right, only enclosed objects are selected. If drawn from right to left, both enclosed objects and those that intersect the selection rectangle are selected. If you are in this mode, use Shift + Left Mouse Button to rotate without losing your selection state. Double-clicking on empty space unselects everything.

3. Drawing Interaction Mode

This mode is activated during the creation of new geometry. Drawing mode allows you to generate new entities within the 3D space. In this mode, the Left Mouse Button is used for picking points. To rotate the view while actively drawing, you must hold the Shift Key while dragging the Left Mouse Button. Pan and zoom work normally. If you need to inspect the model or adjust a setting mid-draw, right-click anywhere in the viewport. This pauses the drawing state. A floating pop-up window is always associated with the active drawing tool. To resume your work, simply click back onto that specific tool window to re-focus the interaction.

Songeya supports many common AutoCAD-style drawing commands so that you can work efficiently without learning a completely new system. Draw elements by clicking directly in the workspace. While drawing, you can enter the popular line commands and Songeya will try to interpret what you are trying to do. For structural analysis, you are not really drawing very complex shapes other than lines and simple polygons. But if you wish to, the program has enough tools for that. You can even import DXFs as drawing guides.

During drawing, you can enable grid snapping or polar tracking. This is very handy for drawing lines and polygons. Any grid snapping or polar tracking interval can be specified.

4. Picking Interaction Mode

This is used for assigning existing properties to other entities. The Picking Interaction behaves identically to the Drawing Mode in terms of navigation and camera constraints, but is used for picking objects only rather than points.

Visibility and Display Control

Songeya gives you control over how your model is displayed. You can adjust model transparency to improve visibility of internal elements. You can also hide objects to reduce clutter and focus on specific parts of the model. These features make it easier to work with complex models.

Caching

Almost every option you select in Songeya is cached. Even simple things like the active tabs or previously selected options are cached. This way, when you close and open the program, you just continue where you ended.

These small but important features come together to make working in a 3D environment not just effective, but genuinely enjoyable.