3d editor axis
Peter, I've only used 3ds a short time but have been annoyed by the same
problem. I'm a little surprised that others haven't been bugged by it, too. I
frequently get a blank screen when I change views as you describe, or rotate
the User View (via the arrow keys)–blank because 3ds' center of rotation is
not where I would wish it to be, and the rotation has swung my mesh out of the
range of my "tiny" view window (tiny–meaning it's highly zoomed into).