Moving a feature in 3D by interactively dragging it

Available with 3D Analyst license.

Rather than using commands, which rely on dialog boxes or menus, you can alternately edit the position, size, and rotation angle of a feature interactively.

Interactive moves can be a more efficient workflow to your editing tasks. You combine the function of the Edit Placement tool inside ArcGlobe and ArcScene with specific mouse button clicks (left, middle, or right) and keyboard keys to easily invoke these interactive tools (Move, Rotate, and Scale).

The interactive move tool can move selected features to the right, left, back, forward, up, or down.

You will want to use this tool as a useful way to interactively move a vertex only in the z plane which you can control with a keyboard key. It is the quickest and most intuitive way to edit a feature's z-value by dragging it in the 3D view.

Move is supported for points, polygons, lines, and multipatches.

1. Select the feature you want to move with the Edit Placement tool.
2. To initiate a move in x and y plane, press and hold the left mouse button to interactively drag the selected feature.
3. To initiate a move only in z, press and hold the left mouse button and Z key together, to interactively drag.

Tip:

• This is a useful way to edit a vertex's z-value quickly as an alternative to using the Edit Sketch Properties window.
• The difference between using an interactive tool and a command is that interactive edits don't rely on any dialog boxes or menus. Commands are not interactive.
• Select multiple features to move using the SHIFT key and clicking additional features, or select features interactively by dragging in the view.