Camera Objects

A camera is always needed to be able to define the perspective and view of the objects in the scene. Therefore, a new, still empty scene already contains a default camera.

Cameras, however, do not only determine the viewing direction, but also, through their Focal Length, how realistically or optically distorted shapes are displayed. Small Focal Lengths increase the Field of View and can therefore display a larger part of the space at the same time. However, this also increases the likelihood that shapes will be optically distorted, especially if they are closer to the edge of the viewport.

Larger Focal Length values prevent such distortions and result in a technically correct image, but can then only display a small section of space (smaller Field of View). In addition, the Depth of Field can also be set via the camera. Surfaces that lie in front or behind the focal plane can then be displayed more blurred and out of focus. This can additionally increase the realism.

As you can have more than just one camera in your project, this also allows to quickly switch between different perspectives.

Table of content


Transform Settings

Just like mesh objects, cameras also provide Transform settings that can be used to precisely describe the position and direction of a camera in 3D space. However, since the viewing direction of a camera can also be controlled directly in the viewport by gesture control, these numerical values are only required if, for example, technical views are to be defined.

Base Settings

Here you can choose the type of Projection and activate the camera, in case you have more than just one camera object in your scene.

  • Projection: Choose between Perspective and Orthographic. Perspective simulates a normal film or still camera, providing a Focal Length and a Field of View value to adjust the camera's angle of view. Orthographic enables a more technical perspective that minimizes perspective distortion of shapes.

  • Look Through: Tap here to active this camera. The viewport will show what this camera sees. This is only needed whenever you have several cameras in the Objects List and want to switch between them.
    Alternatively, you can drag the entry of this camera directly from the Objects List into the viewport to activate the camera. You can find out more about using the Objects List here.

Demonstrating the effect of different Focal Length values. From left to right the values 10, 50 and 100 have been used.
  • Width: This value is only accessible with Projection Orthographic and sets the optcal size of the objects in the viewport (see also next image). The effect is the same as using the pinch gesture to adjust the zoom directly in the viewport.

Demonstrating the effect of different Width values in Projection Orthographic mode. Note that the representation of the cube shape remains identical, only its size in the viewport changes.

Depth of Field

These settings can be used to override the global Depth of Field settings, that are available in the Display FX Settings described here. This can be especially handy if you are using multiple cameras in the project and therefore all cameras need customized Depth of Field settings. In general, this effect ensures that you can focus specifically on a certain position, and surfaces that are closer to or further away from the camera can be displayed out of focus. In any case, to display this effect, the calculation of Display FX and Depth of Field must be activated in the Display settings. There you can also find additional effects, such as Ambient Occlusion or Bloom to customize the display quality of your scene in the viewport.

  • Override Global: Activate this option to configure the Depth of Field options directly at the camera instead of the global Display Settings.

  • Near/Far: These values control the intensity of blur at close range of the camera (Near) and behind the distance given by the Target Type setting (Far). For example, blurring should only occur in the rear area. reduce the Near value to zero. The area between the camera and the chosen focus distance then remains completely sharp.

Navigation

The active camera can be moved directly in the viewport with gestures (see also Gestures and Apple Pencil):