Here is one of the quirky things that AutoCAD does that might throw you for a loop. It involves “Tracking” whether it is “Object Snap Tracking” or “Polar Tracking” they seem to behave differently when Dynamic Input is turned onn or off. This is especially true for Object Snap Tracking. I have heard it said and taught, that these functions DO NOT work when Dynamic Input (DYN) is turned off. I am here to show you that they do.
When Dynamic Input is toggled on (as shown below) when you establish the reference point which has the green “glyph”, you pull away and see the dashed line and enter your tracking distance and you are just fine.
DYN Mode turned on OSNAP Tracking
The trouble seems to be when Dynamic Input is turned off and you establish the same reference point. You see the green “glyph” and dashed line as you pull away, but when you enter the distance at the command line, the dashed line goes away making you think that you are unable to use Object Snap Tracking without DYN turned on.
The think that is happening is that the “focus” goes from the drawing area and then on to the command line. And don’t worry, it isn’t broke – all that you have to do is enter your distance AND PAUSE. Then re-establish the focus in the drawing area where you were by simply lining your cursor back into line where it was until you see the dashed line AND THEN HIT ENTER (shown below).
Object Snap Tracking Working without DYN turned on
The same can be said of using Polar Tracking. But it is easier to see that it works as opposed to using Object Snap Tracking. See if you can notice the difference below.
DYN turned on with Polar Tracking:
DYN turned OFF with Polar Tracking:
