3D Projection Settings

Use the View > 3D View Mode > 3D Projection Settings command or the 3D Visualization toolbar’s button

to open this dialog box.

Use the controls in this dialog box to set up 3D views as parallel projections.

Click this pop-up button to select from 12 preset Projection Types, including predefined axonometrics, side, top and bottom views, and your own custom-defined axonometry.

For each Projection type, the edit boxes at the top of the dialog box show the defining angles and scaling ratios of the X, Y and Z coordinate axes.

Projection Preview: This preview window shows the position of the coordinate axes for the current projection type, with any additional settings you may have made. Click or drag to reposition.

You can create your own customized axonometry by entering values for the angles and ratios of the three coordinate axes:

•	X: Enter projection axis angle values for the preview's horizontal axis and projection scale value in X direction.

•	Y: Enter projection axis angle values for the preview's horizontal and projection scale value in Y direction.

•	Z: Enter projection axis angle values for the preview's horizontal axis and projection scale value in Z direction.

Another way to create a customized axonometry is to manipulate the house icon in the preview area:

•	To rescale and rotate an axis, click within the circle at its endpoint and drag it to the desired position. Use the Shift key to lock the angle while dragging. (If you only want to rescale, it is easier to enter a value in the edit box.)

The adjustments you make here are continuously reflected both by the values displayed in the edit boxes, and by the distortion of the house icon itself.

You can set the direction of your view and the position of the sun with the controls and edit boxes to the right of the preview area.

This dial shows Camera and Sun Azimuth with respect to the target. Simply click the Sun or Camera icon and drag it to the desired location. The effect of your changes is shown by the rotation of the house in the preview area and by the values in the edit boxes to the right of the control.

•	To move the camera or the sun in 45¡ increments, click once near the desired direction on either of the gray circles.

The Azimuth of the camera and the Sun Azimuth can be set either graphically or numerically, but the sun Altitude angle can only be set numerically:

•	Sun Azimuth: Enter a value here to specify Sun Azimuth used in shaded or rendered images.

•	Sun Altitude: Enter a value here to specify Sun Altitude used in shaded or rendered images.

Just as for perspective projections, the distance of the sun from the target is considered to be infinite, and for parallel projections the viewpoint distance is infinite as well.

Hint: Unless you are an experienced ArchiCAD user, it is generally best to begin with a predefined projection from the palette, then rotate the view with the camera angle control, and finally make minor adjustments with the rescaling features.

Pre-Sets: Button: Opens a dialog where you can specify options for and insert frames in Fly-Through Paths.

More Sun Button: Opens a dialog to specify Sun options.

Perspective Settings: Click here to open a dialog where you can define perspective views.

This dialog box lets you store and retrieve projection settings. You can also use this sequence of axonometric views for a future animation. Animations based on axonometric views are not fly-throughs in the same sense as perspectives, even though they are created with the same command. Using in-between frames, you will get an animated metamorphosis from one projection to the other.

•	The Add Current Projection button places the current view on the list. The views on the list will be keyframes in the Fly-Through. You can also name each keyframe in the dialog box that appears after pushing this button.

•	If no projection is selected, New will be added to the bottom of the list. If a projection is selected, the new projection will be inserted before the selected one.

•	The Set to Current Projection button changes the highlighted keyframe in the list to the one you set prior to opening the Pre-Sets dialog box.

•	Under Options for Fly-Through in the right section of the dialog box you can also set the number of in-between frames that ArchiCAD will create by interpolating between every parameter (e.g., axis scaling ratio, camera angle, etc.) of consecutive keyframes.

•	The Open and Closed radio buttons control whether the animation will loop continuously from the last defined keyframe back to the first keyframe during the Fly-Through.

Use this dialog box to set all the relevant parameters for perspective 3D views, such as viewpoint location and elevation, target location and elevation, width of the viewing cone, and sun position.

The preview area on the left side of the dialog box shows your Floor Plan as it currently appears in the worksheet. To see another part of the Project, leave the dialog box, choose another detail using the Navigator or zooming and panning operations, then open it again.

The solid line in the preview area represents the line of vision between the viewpoint and the target point. You can click and drag both the target point and the viewpoint independently of one another. Click anywhere in the preview area and the line of vision will be rotated around the target point to your click position.

The angle defining the View Cone is displayed in the preview area and provides reliable information if the line of vision is horizontal. If the line of vision is looking up or down, the angle can be used only for estimating the resulting view.

After zooms, pans, or numeric distance settings, the viewpoint and/or target point may occasionally disappear from the preview area. To retrieve them, simply Shift-click where you want the viewpoint and Alt/Cmd-click where you want the target point to be in the Window. They will immediately move to the points where you clicked.

You can also specify the following values numerically. Effects of these settings will be displayed graphically in the preview area.

•	Camera Z: Enter a value here to specify Camera height from Project Zero. (In this case, the position of the target will remain unchanged.)

•	Distance: Enter a value here to specify the horizontal distance between Camera and Target.

For a one-point perspective, set the viewpoint and target point elevation to the same value. Set the viewpoint Azimuth parallel to the principal axis of the Project.

•	For a two-point perspective, set the viewpoint and target point elevation to the same value. The other settings can have any value.

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To get a top view in perspective, set the viewpoint elevation higher than that of the target point elevation, drag the target to the desired location on the plan, then set the distance to zero by dragging the viewpoint until the numeric field displays a minimal value near zero. (You cannot type zero in the Distance field.)

The elevation of the viewpoint and the target point, as well as the View Cone and Roll Angle of the Camera must be set numerically by using the remaining edit boxes.

View Cone: Enter a value here to specify the opening angle of the Camera View Cone.

Hint: Wider angles (a°=>60°) can fit more objects in the Window, but can also distort the image.

Roll Angle: Enter a value here to specify Camera Roll Angle.

In the projection preview area, the dashed line from the center of the area with a sun icon at its end shows the direction of light for shaded and rendered representations. The sun icon can be dragged around the perimeter of the plan, but it cannot be positioned closer. Its distance is considered to be infinite. Both its Altitude and Azimuth can be set numerically in the edit boxes below the viewpoint and target settings.

Sun Altitude: Enter a value here to specify Sun Altitude used in shaded or rendered images.

Sun Azimuth: Enter a value here to specify Sun Azimuth used in shaded or rendered images.

Note: Cameras placed in the Floor Plan worksheet also define perspective views, but they are configured in the Camera Settings dialog box, not in this dialog box. You can copy a camera’s settings here by selecting a single camera on the Floor Plan and choosing 3D Projection Settings.