Rendering How do I Animate an image plane > Masking an image plane

Add and edit image planes

Learn how to work with image planes.

Add or delete an image plane

You can add any number of image planes to a camera.

You use image planes as visual references while building a model or as a means of compositing background or foreground images during rendering.

To add an image plane to a camera using Import Image Plane

Select the modeling window of the camera you want to add an image plane to.
Select File > Import > Image plane to open the File Requestor.
Use the File Requestor to select the image file you want to use as an image plane, and click Load Image.

The image plane appears in the modeling window.

You cannot load image planes that have alphabetic characters in their numeric extension (for example, an animated sequence having numeric extensions). Make sure the extension only contains numbers. If the image sequence consists of fields, use the filace utility to first interlace the fields into frames.

To add an image plane to a camera using the Camera Editor

Select Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the camera you want to add an image plane to.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, click the Add button to open the File Requestor.
Use the File Requestor to select the image file you want to use as an image plane, and click Load Image.

The image plane appears in the modeling window, and an image plane swatch appears in the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor.

To delete one image plane from a camera

Select Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the camera you want to delete an image plane from.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to delete, and click the Delete button.

The image plane is deleted from the camera's window, and from the image plane swatch list in the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor.

To delete all image planes from a camera

Select the modeling window of the camera you want to delete all image planes from.
Select Delete > Delete image planes to open the Delete Image Plane Options box.
In the Delete Image Plane Options box, set Delete Type to Current Window, and click Go.

All image planes are deleted from the active window.

To delete all image planes from all cameras

Choose Delete > Delete image planes   to open the Delete Image Plane Options box.
Set Delete Type to All Windows.
Click Go.

All image planes are deleted.

Name an image plane

Change the name of an image plane.

To rename an image plane

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to name.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to rename.
In the Image Plane Parameters section of the Camera Editor, set Name to the name you want to use for the image plane.

Hide or show an image plane

Make an image plane visible, invisible, or show only an outline.

To hide or show an image plane

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to hide/show.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to hide/show.
In the Image Plane Parameters section of the Camera Editor, do one of the following:
To hide the image plane, set Display Mode to Off.
To show the image plane, set Display Mode to Rgb.
To show only an outline of the extent of the image plane, set Display Mode to Outline.

Adjust image plane brightness, contrast, and color

Dim, brighten, or color-correct an image plane.

If you are using na image plane as a reference for modeling, you may want to reduce the brightness or contrast of the image plane to make it easier to see 3D objects. You can also adjust the overall colors of an image plane.

To dim all image planes

Choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Image Planes to open the Toggle Image Planes Options box.
Set Display Toggle Type to Dim/Undim.
Set the RGB Mult and RGB Offset values that you want dimmed image planes to be displayed with. The default values are 0.55.
Click Go.

This is the same as setting the image plane RGB Mult and RGB Offset values in the Camera Editor for all image planes (see below).

To undim all image planes, choose WindowDisplay > Toggles > Image Planes .

To adjust image plane brightness, contrast, or color

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to adjust.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to adjust.
In the Image Plane Parameters section of the Camera Editor, do any of the following:
To adjust the brightness of the image plane, set the RGB Mult value.
To adjust the contrast of the image plane, set the RGB Offset value.
To multiply all colors in the image plane, click the RGB Mult to open the Color Editor and select a color.
To offset all colors in the image plane, click the RGB Offset to open the Color Editor and select a color.

Move or scale an image plane

Move an image plane horizontally, vertically, or in front of or behind 3D objects, or scale it.

You can move an image plane to change its position relative to its view. You can also scale an image plane to change its size relative to its view. Moving or scaling an image plane in this way changes the actual image plane, (that is, it changes the number of pixels per inch [ppi]), but it does not change the absolute size of the image plane (measured in pixels). This enables you to make the image plane a "real world scale" -- for example, you can create an automobile-sized image plane, with a defined resolution in pixels.

If you only want to change your view of an image plane, do not move or scale it. Track or dolly into the view instead (using with the or ).

You can also move an image plane so that it appears behind (background) or in front of (foreground) the grid and 3D objects.

To move or scale an image plane interactively (using the Move or Scale tools)

Choose Pick > Object types > Image plane .
Choose Transform > Move or Transform > Scale .
Click on the image plane in the view.

A manipulator appears on the image plane.





The manipulator will not appear if objects other than image planes are selected (for example, surfaces).

Drag a manipulator handle to move or scale the image plane, or click a manipulator handle to select it (the handle will become white) and either:
drag anywhere in the view
press the arrow keys
type the horizontal and vertical values you want to move or scale the image plane by and press .

Choose Edit > Undo while the manipulator is still active to undo the image plane transformation.

If you transform an image plane, the transformation will be applied as you drag the manipulator.

The manipulator is centered on the image plane's pivot point. To adjust the position of the pivot point, use the Transform > Local > Set pivot tool. To position the pivot point in the center of the image plane, use the Transform > Local > Center pivot tool.

To move an image plane horizontally or vertically (using the Camera Editor)

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to move.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to move.
In the Image Plane Parameters ; Image Placement section of the Camera Editor, set the following parameters:
Bottom Left-The location of the bottom left corner of the image plane (in the main linear unit). If you set the Bottom Left X (or Y) value, the Top Right X (or Y) value automatically updates.
See Set up AliasStudio for sketching
Top Right-The location of the top right corner of the image plane (in the main linear unit). If you set the Top Right X (or Y) value, the Bottom Left X (or Y) value automatically updates.

To scale an image plane (using the Camera Editor)

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editors
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to scale.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to scale.
In the Image Plane Parameters : Image Placement section of the Camera Editor, set the horizontal or vertical Size value (measured in the main linear unit) for the image plane.

If you set Image XY Ratio Lock to ON, the image plane is scaled proportionally when you set one of the Size values; that is, when you set the X value, the Y value automatically updates (and vice versa).

See Set up AliasStudio for sketching

To move an image plane behind or in front of the grid and 3D objects

Choose Windows > Editors > Cameras to open the Camera Editor window.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to move.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to move.
In the Image Plane Parameters : Image Placement section of the Camera Editor:
Set the Depth parameter to Priority (ensuring that the Priority value is a positive number) to move the image plane in front of the grid and 3D objects.
Set the Depth parameter to Off, or set the Priority value to zero or a negative number, to move the image plane behind the grid and 3D objects.

The priority value that you assign to different image planes also determines the order in which the image planes will appear in the view. The plane with the largest priority value will be in front of all others, and so on.

See Windows > Editors > Cameras for more details.

Crop or extend an image plane

Resize an image plane by cropping or extending.

To crop or extend an image plane

Open the Windows > Editors > Cameras option window.
At the top of the Camera Editor, set Camera to the view that contains the image plane you want to crop/extend.
In the Image Planes section of the Camera Editor, select the swatch of the image plane you want to crop/extend.
In the Image Plane Parameters section of the Camera Editor, double-click one of the Pixels values.

The left value is the width of the image plane; the right value is the height.

Type a new value and press .

The image plane is cropped or extended horizontally from the right or vertically from the top (or both).

The Pixels parameter represents the horizontal and vertical size of the image plane in pixels. When you set the Pixels values, the image plane is extended or cropped (and the Size values are automatically updated).

Animate an image plane

You can animate an image plane using a variety of different methods:

Animate an image plane parameter setting in the Camera Editor by Shift-clicking the name of the parameter, and then clicking the Key button in the title bar of the Camera Editor. This is similar to the procedure for animating parameter settings in the Control Window (see Animate parameters).
Use a series of images as an animated image plane by setting the Frame Type parameter in the Image section of the Camera Editor (see Frame Type in Windows > Editors > Cameras ).
Use Animation > Keyframe > Set keyframe .

Sizing and positioning an image plane

By default, an image plane fills the camera view with the entire image. You can size and position an image plane so that only a portion of the image appears or so the image appears in a specific region of the camera view.

Use the Image Placement parameters in the Camera Editor to size and position an image plane (see Image Placement in Windows > Editors > Cameras ), or pick the image plane (Pick > Object types > Image plane ) and use the Transform tools to transform it.

Masking an image plane

You can mask an image plane so that only portions of the image are visible. Use the Mask parameters in the Camera Editor to mask an image plane (see Mask in Windows > Editors > Cameras ).