Stage Object

The Stage object behaves like a movie director. It determines when a camera, an environment, a background and so on are used within an animation.

For example, you can create many different cameras in your scene and use the Stage object to decide when to cut to a particular camera.

You can also use the Stage object to switch between Sky, Foreground, Background, and Environment objects.

To assign an object to the Stage object, drag and drop a Camera, Sky, Foreground, Background or Environment object from the Object manager into the appropriate box.

You can animate the Stage object to change which objects are used over time. This is especially useful for switching cameras during an animation. For example, you can switch from one camera to another as follows.

Move the time slider to the start of the animation. Drag and the first camera’s name from the Object manager into the Stage object’s Camera box (Attribute manager).
In the Attribute manager, Ctrl-click the circle next to the name ‘Camera’ to create a key that assigns the first camera to the Stage object at the start of the animation.
Move the time slider to the frame at which you want to switch to the second camera. Drag and drop the second camera’s name from the Object manager into the Stage object’s Camera box (Attribute manager).
In the Attribute manager, Ctrl-click the circle next to the name ‘Camera’ to create a key that assigns the second camera to the Stage object at the current frame.
If you now play the animation, the animation starts with the first camera and switches to the second camera at the second key.