In Houdini, the Volatile View function is used for navigation actions, such as rotating the camera or framing an object. For example, holding the spacebar and pressing F frames the object. Refer to the Houdini documentation for more detailed information.
In Modeler, there's a similar tool called View, also activated by the spacebar by default. The key difference is that if you quickly press and release the spacebar, the viewport camera automatically aligns to the nearest global plane. This makes viewing the model more intuitive and eliminates the need to use the space+1, 2, 3, 4 combinations to switch between Persp, Front, Right, and other views.
The LookAt tool aligns the vierwport camera perpendicular to selected face and automatically activates orthographic view mode.
In addition to face, you can also align the camera relative to the Construction Plane, which can be quickly adjusted by pressing / and clicking at the desired location.
This provides flexible control over the camera orientation, making it easier to work with model.
Although the Swap Objects tool is designed to activate objects, it can also be considered a navigation tool. It allows for quickly switching between objects and editing levels, significantly speeding up the workflow and enhancing convenience when navigating complex scenes.
When you need to modify input nodes, you should always return to the display node afterward. There’s a quick way to do this using the Select Display tool (Ctrl+F1). This hotkey works in both the viewer and the node editor.
To simplify navigation in the node editor, there's the Activate Node tool (F1). It activates the node closest to the mouse cursor. The first press selects the node, and the second press sets the display flag.