Simple question no doubt asked many times before. In fact, I found the solution long ago but can not find the preferences selection now. In my copy of MacRhino at work, I remember checking a selection box allowing me to rotate my view around any selected object(s). I just updated my home version of MacRhino, and now it rotates the World around some arbitrary axis (probably 0,0,0). But search as I might, now I can’t find the preference checkbox to default to rotating around a selected object. Can someone direct me to the global setting please? This same topic appears in a Google Search without an answer so clearly this is something others have sought to do. (Shouldn’t all the file preferences settings be in the “Preferences” window, or am I just being a spoiled MacHead who expects default settings to be in logical place?) Thanks.
Try Zoom Selected. That will change the view target point to the center of the selected object view.
Thank you John, I’ll try your suggestion. Am I mistaken about a previous default option to rotate about a selected object? I remember being very glad when I found it. Although I can’t find the selection box in my current work version of Mac Rhino, the option is still in effect and works great. Has it been removed for some reason? Thank you.
From the menu: View > Set Camera > Place target
or:
Thanks Max. I’ll give it a try, but was wondering how to keep the window you displayed open at all times. I leave all my tools open (see attached) to cut down on menu hunting. I couldn’t seem to find a “Set View” window in my pallet options. Thanks! (Also, I was wondering if the Box Edit window position could be saved in the preferences file. The other tools open in the correct place in a new or saved file. But the Box Edit doesn’t remember it’s position. Just a suggestion 
The name of the palette is “Set View”, you don’t have that one checked as active. Click on it, and click on “show active tool palettes”. That should bring it up.
Ha! Silly me - it’s right there. Thanks Max, I appreciate your input. 
(But I still remember a setting to make “rotate around selected object” a default. I can only guess McNeel removed it for some reason…)
In Options > Modeling Aids > Gumball (I think is what you’re talking about).
The option is to check the second box “Rotate view around Gumball”.
YESSSSSS!!! Thank you WingNut! I knew I hadn’t lost my mind - that’s the input I found previously and was referring to! (Why doesn’t McNeel just say that explicitly? It’s the precise answer to the question “How do I rotate the view around the selected object?” Even in Google searches where people have the exact same question, no one has ever supplied that simple answer. Very curious…) Now don’t everyone flame me for this, but even looking at the excellent online documentation (love the animated examples), it took me an HOUR to find this Gumball input even after WingNut told me it existed. And that’s something McNeel really needs to know. (My toolbars are off to clean up the 4-view modeling windows, and the documentation refers to a gear widget (see attachment) which I can’t find anywhere and clicking on the Properties, Standard or Tools doesn’t help. From a Mac perspective, the “Menu-Tools-Options” shown doesn’t work either. There is no “Tools-Options” in the Menu bar at the top of the interface. All that’s needed is a graphic of the Gumball and an explanation that the “white circle on the stick” will bring up the Gumball Settings Options. But that brings me to my following suggestion.
I’m seriously addicted to MacRhino and the MATH is truly amazing. But the interface really lets the product down, even though it is (apparently) miles better than the PC version (from what PC users themselves have written). The inconsistencies are very frustrating. The settings are scattered all over the place and impossible to find. The “layer” organization is outdated going back to the early days of 2D design programs and makes sense for old vellum overlay drawings (yes, I’m that old). But for organizing hundreds or thousands of 3D objects, it’s very inadequate. I spend ages moving, copying, and shifting objects from layer to layer to layer. It’s outdated and awkward to have a layer system where you can’t see what’s in each layer on an item by item basis. But I digress.
Can McNeel please consider placing ALL the settings in the Preferences Window in a logical manner? I don’t think it would be a major modification to just add some more tabs and checkboxes for the necessary inputs. I suppose I know the response, but after wasting hours looking for settings scattered throughout the software I had to bring it up. Regardless, I love the product but just wish the interface was more consistent. Thanks again WingNut. I’m sure I will now forever remember where the Gumball setting is located.
Hehe…glad I could help! McNeel, if you’re listening, I’d love to move to Seattle. 
thanks wingnut
Kind of the same question, the rotating around selection works with the suggestions above, using gumball or zoom selected… but previously this worked without an extra step… any hints on how I can re activate this?
The command is MoveTargetToObjects, so maybe you could store that as an alias or keyboard shortcut.
Then pick the object and enter.
Max.
Hey All, I know this is an older thread…but I struggled with this for so long. I jump between Rhino 6, Mastercam 2021, and a couple other CAD programs that not being able to really rotate about a single object was really frustrating and this last response did the trick for me…thank you!!!
Hi Mrdaver911-
Funny how this thread keeps coming back year after year. It shows me that this is a feature many people seek (myself included ages ago) and for some reason the solution isn’t initially obvious, but it’s even easier than maxz’s solution. If you hit the “bunny tail” (white circle) on the Gumball gnome after selecting an object, and drop down to “settings”, there is a checkbox that says “Rotate view around Gumball”. Done! Now the camera will rotate around any object you select. It’s truly simple…, yet it took me far too long to find it. I would prefer to see the checkbox in the “Rhino Preferences View” panel (or wherever McNeel thinks its more appropriate in the main Preferences panel). I believe that’s where most users would look for such an option. Happy modeling!
That’s a great option as well!
I set MoveTargetToObjects up as my F3 Keyboard command for times when I don’t want to look at the gumball on a part.
But I agree, rotating about a point/object/line/etc should be more available in Rhino. This is my one and only grievance with this software.
Thanks again for the power user info!
I’m with you - this software is truly awesome. I run the Mac version and the Mac-like interface is the best conversion from the PC I’ve ever seen. There are some things I wish they would reconsider, like being able to enter X,Y & Z values (something we all do endlessly) in a single window, and then double click in null space to accept the values (or hit an “Enter” button in the window). It takes seconds and saves precious time instead of typing the X value, hit Enter, type the Y value, hit Enter, type the Z value, hit Enter. Saving every mouse click helps when you consider who many times we enter values by the time we finish the model. But as I first said, MacRhino is an amazing product and is my only modeler now. Thanks McNeel! (But if they want to consider my above suggestion, I would PAY for just that upgrade! 
Enable gumball, then go to gumball settings and select Orbit around Gumball axis. Then anytime you select an object you will orbit that, rather than world axis.
MoveTargetToObjects allows you to set your view rotation to whatever you’ve got selected. Since Rhino seems to have chronic problems moving the camera when one has zoomed out from the center of rotation, I’ve made this a shortcut and use it constantly to enable me to work on different parts of my model without having to do the dance of rotating, panning with shift-drag, rotating, etc over and over to get an angle change on a nearby object far from the center of rotation.