Establishing the Camera Shot

Set up the scene:

• Continue from your previous scene, or go to the \designviz\vizwalkthrough folder and open the file wt_wall.max.

Create the target camera:

1. Go to the Create panel.

2. Click the Camera button to turn it on.

3. Click Target to turn it on.

   

   Now you can create a target camera.

4. In a viewport, click and drag to create a camera with a target. Release the mouse, then right-click to finish camera creation.

   The position of the camera and the target don't matter, as you will change these later.

   

5. On the Name And Color rollout, change the camera's name to CameraDen.

   The walkthrough shows part of the den of the house, not the entire house: which would take considerable time to generate.

Zoom in to the area you will edit:

1. Right-click the viewport label, then choose Views > Top (or press T).

   The viewport changes to a top view, but it appears empty.

2. Click Zoom Extents.

   Now you should see the floor plan and the camera.

   Press F3 to switch to Wireframe display mode, if necessary.

   

3. Click Zoom Region, and in the viewport, drag a rectangle to zoom in closer on the area where the hall approaches the den (the den is the room at the upper left of the house).

   

   Now you are ready to create the path.

Create the path:

1. Go to the Create panel.

2. Click the Shapes button to turn it on.

3. Click the Line button to turn it on.

   Now you are ready to create a polyline.

4. In the Creation Method rollout, change the Initial Type from Corner to Smooth.

5. In the viewport, click to begin creating a polyline, move to the left, and click as you move to set additional vertices. After the fourth vertex, right-click to complete the line. It should appear something like the following illustration.

   

   Once you have created the curve, you can edit it by selecting it, going to the Modify panel, and then clicking Vertex to go to the Vertex sub-object level. Move individual vertices until the line appears the way you want it, then turn off Vertex.

6. While the line is still selected, use the Name And Color rollout to change its name to CameraPath.

   If you deselected the line, select it again, go to the Modify panel, and then use the name field at the top of the panel to rename the line.

Elevate the path:

The path was created at a height (Y-axis) of zero. If you moved the camera along it, the camera would be moving at ground level! You need to move the path upward.

1. Right-click the viewport label and choose Views > Left (or press L).

2. Click Zoom Extents.

3. Press H to display a Select Objects dialog, and then select the CameraPath object.

4. Right-click the viewport, and choose Move from the quad menu.

5. Drag the path upward along the Y axis until it's a little over five feet high (watch the Y coordinate display on the status bar while you're dragging the path).

   

6. Click an empty part of the viewport to deselect the path.

Attach the camera to the path:

1. Right-click the viewport label and choose Views > Top (or press T).

2. Click Zoom Extents.

3. Click the camera object to select it.

4. Choose Animation > Constraints > Path Constraint.

   A rubber band line appears, leading from the camera to the cursor location.

5. Click the CameraPath spline.

   Autodesk VIZ repositions the camera so it is located on the path.

   

6. Click Play Animation to view the animation generated by the Path constraint.

   The camera moves along the path. However, the target, which is stationary, is not in the proper location. You will fix this in the following steps.

7. Click Stop to stop playback.

Orient the camera:

1. In viewports, the camera's target is represented as a small cube. Click this cube to select it, then move it to a position inside the den.

   As you move the target, the camera rotates to remain aimed in the target's direction.

2. Right-click the viewport label and choose Views > Left (or press L).

3. If the walls and camera aren't visible, click Zoom Extents.

   The target is still at Y=0, so the camera is aimed at the floor.

4. Move the target upward along its Y axis until it is about the same height as the path.

   

   Now both the camera and its target (point of view) are at approximately human height.

Preview the animation:

1. Right-click the viewport label and choose Views > CameraDen (or press C).

   This view corresponds to what the camera sees.

2. Click Play Animation to preview the walkthrough.

   As the animation plays, the camera moves into the room.

3. Click Stop to stop playback.

Set the camera's field of view:

The room is fairly small. Increasing the camera's field of view (FOV) enables the walkthrough to show more of the room.

1. Press H to display a Select Objects dialog, then choose the CameraDen object.

2. Go to the Modify panel. On the Parameters rollout, set the FOV value to 90 degrees.

   

   Now the camera viewport shows more of the house.

   Tip: FOV values greater than 90 degrees tend to give a distorted view of objects.

Save your work:

• Choose File > Save As, and save the file as wt_camera.max.

  If you want to do additional editing of the camera position, move the path to which it is attached, or the vertices of that path. You can't move the camera itself, because it is constrained to this path. You can move the camera’s target, if you want to.