Positioning the Camera

In this lesson you'll use the Director's View to view objects. In this view, you can see all the objects in the scene including the camera.

There are four controls you can use to position the camera: the Camera axes controls, the Trackball, the Preset Views and the Camera and 2D Project dialog. Most of these tools are located on the Control Palette.

When you reposition the camera, you're changing the view of the scene, not the position of the objects.

To open the camera lesson file:

1. Choose File > Open.
2. Locate the file Manual Tutorial: Camerascene in the Content/Tutorials/Manual Tutorial Files, and click Open.

To reposition the camera using the Camera axes controls:

3. On the XZ control, drag the Z arrow up to move the scene away from you. When you move over the tip of an arrow in the Camera control, the cursor changes to an axis indicator.
   
   
4. On the XY control, drag the tip of the Y arrow up to move the scene up. Your scene should look like this when you've finished using the Camera controls.
   
   The sphere and the torus objects should now be easier to see, but you can adjust the camera again to get a better view of the hidden cylindrical objects.
   
   

To reposition the camera using the Trackball, click the center of the Trackball and drag to the right. The scene appears to rotate to the left. The camera is now in an almost perfect position to view the scene. You can place the camera in a precise position by moving it numerically.

To reposition the camera numerically:

1. Double-click the Trackball. The Camera & 2D Projection dialog appears.
2. Enter Position X=104, Position Y=32, Position Z=-100, Rotate X=0, Rotate Y=-46, Rotate Z=0.
3. Leave the remaining values at their defaults.
4. Click the OK icon to apply the changes to the camera.
5. 

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