diff --git a/modules/gfx/src/entity.cc b/modules/gfx/src/entity.cc
index 87754017859d3ffea6f55642ecad4673a3f885b2..7094c5d579f609a3695b39c62aac1620fd03d1ac 100644
--- a/modules/gfx/src/entity.cc
+++ b/modules/gfx/src/entity.cc
@@ -396,12 +396,17 @@ mol::AtomHandle Entity::PickAtom(const geom::Line3& line, Real line_width)
 {
   mol::AtomHandle picked_atom;
   if (!this->IsVisible())
-    return picked_atom;  
+    return picked_atom;
+  geom::Mat4 it=GetTF().GetInvertedMatrix();
+  geom::Vec3 l1=geom::Vec3(it*geom::Vec4(line.At(0.0)));
+  geom::Vec3 l2=geom::Vec3(it*geom::Vec4(line.At(1.0)));
+  geom::Line3 tf_line(l1,l2);
+
   for (RendererMap::iterator i=renderer_.begin(), 
        e=renderer_.end(); i!=e; ++i) {
     impl::EntityRenderer* r=i->second;
     if (r->HasDataToRender() && r->IsEnabled()) {
-      r->PickAtom(line, line_width, picked_atom);      
+      r->PickAtom(tf_line, line_width, picked_atom);      
     }
   }
   return picked_atom;
diff --git a/modules/gfx/src/gfx_object.cc b/modules/gfx/src/gfx_object.cc
index 052f5c9f2d94298eb0b84e2367383ff9ece45aee..0938781ac087e73e54c7f53b6cd4870c325eef3a 100644
--- a/modules/gfx/src/gfx_object.cc
+++ b/modules/gfx/src/gfx_object.cc
@@ -544,6 +544,11 @@ void GfxObj::OnInput(const InputEvent& e)
       trans+=geom::Vec3(0.0, -fy*e.GetDelta(), 0.0)*rot;
     }
     transform_.SetTrans(trans);
+  } else if (e.GetCommand()==INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSZ) {
+    float currz=transform_.GetTrans()[2];
+    float delta=currz*pow(1.01f,-e.GetDelta())-currz;
+    transform_.ApplyZAxisTranslation(delta);
+    transformed=true;
   }
   if (transformed) {
     GfxObjP obj=dyn_cast<GfxObj>(this->shared_from_this());
diff --git a/modules/gui/src/tools/manipulator.cc b/modules/gui/src/tools/manipulator.cc
index c24691c4463aaf276c11ebac494eca384840b661..ee663099d35393bb0ea9698f87256fbc90056bd0 100644
--- a/modules/gui/src/tools/manipulator.cc
+++ b/modules/gui/src/tools/manipulator.cc
@@ -39,27 +39,44 @@ Manipulator::Manipulator():
 
 void Manipulator::MouseMove(const MouseEvent& event)
 {
-  if (event.GetButtons()==MouseEvent::LeftButton) {
-    if (event.IsShiftPressed()) {
-      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSX,
-                  static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x()));
-      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSY,
-                  static_cast<Real>(-event.GetDelta().y()));
-    } else {
-      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTY,
-                  static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x())); // rotation around y
-      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTX,
-                  static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().y())); // rotation around x
-    }
-  } else if (event.GetButtons()==MouseEvent::MiddleButton) {
+  static bool warn=true;
+  // reference is GLCanvas::HandleMouseMoveEvent
+  if (event.GetButtons() & MouseEvent::LeftButton) {
+    if (event.GetButtons() & MouseEvent::MiddleButton) {
       if (event.IsShiftPressed()) {
-        // rotation around z
+        // slab in view, ignore here
+      } else {
         Real d=static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x()+event.GetDelta().y());
-        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTZ, d);        
+        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTZ, -d);
+      }
+    } else {
+      if (event.IsShiftPressed()) {
+        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSX,
+                    static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x()));
+        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSY,
+                    static_cast<Real>(-event.GetDelta().y()));
       } else {
-        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSZ,
-                    static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().y())); // translate along z
+        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTY,
+                    static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x())); // rotation around y
+        SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTX,
+                    static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().y())); // rotation around x
+      }
+    }
+  } else if (event.GetButtons() & MouseEvent::MiddleButton) {
+    if (event.IsShiftPressed()) {
+      if(warn) {
+        LOG_WARNING("Manipulation Tool: MMB + Shift for z rotation is deprecated; use LMB+MMB instead");
+        warn=false;
       }
+      // rotation around z
+      // WHY? this does not match the scene view transformation, which has a slab tf here
+      // will be removed in a next update...
+      Real d=static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().x()+event.GetDelta().y());
+      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_ROTZ, d);        
+    } else {
+      SendCommand(gfx::INPUT_COMMAND_TRANSZ,
+                  static_cast<Real>(event.GetDelta().y())); // translate along z
+    }
   }  
 }