Provides access to tools for creating cameras.
Cameras present a scene from a particular point of view. Cameras in 3DStudio MAX are objects that simulate still-image, motion picture, or video cameras in the real world.
With a camera viewport you can adjust the camera as if you were looking through its lens. Camera viewports can be useful for editing geometry as well as setting up a scene for rendering. Multiple cameras can give different views of the same scene.
If you want to animate the point of view itself—for example, to fly over a landscape or walk through a building—then you create a camera and animate its position. You can animate other camera parameters as well. For example, you can animate the camera’s field of view to give the effect of zooming in on a scene.
The Display panel’s Hide by Category rollout has a toggle that lets you turn the display of camera objects on and off.
There are two kinds of cameras in 3DS MAX:
After you have created a camera, you can change viewports to display the camera’s point of view. While a camera viewport is active, the navigation buttons change to camera navigation buttons. You can use the Modify panel in conjunction with a camera viewport to change the camera’s settings.
While you use the navigation controls for a camera viewport, you can constrain Pan and Orbit to be vertical or horizontal only.
3DS MAX lets you move a selected camera so its view matches that of a perspective, spotlight, or other camera view.
Most of the camera controls are common to both kinds of cameras.
Lens: Sets the camera's focal length in millimeters. Use the Lens spinner to give the focal length a value other than the preset, "stock" values on the buttons.
FOV: Determines how wide an area the camera views (field of view). The FOV parameter directly sets the arc of the camera's horizon, measured in degrees. You can also adjust the field of view interactively in a camera viewport using the FOV button.
FOV Direction: This is the flyout to the left of the FOV spinner. It lets you change how the FOV angle is displayedhorizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as indicated by the arrows on the flyout buttons. Changing the flyout alters only the value displayed in the FOV spinnerit does not change the view of the camera. Regardless of the flyout setting, 3DS MAX calculates the FOV internally using the horizontal FOV.
When you change the Aperture Width value in the Render Scene dialog, you also change the value in the Lens spinner field. This doesn’t change the view through the camera, but it does change the relationship between the Lens value and the FOV value, as well as the aspect ratio of the camera’s cone.
Orthographic Projection: When this toggle is set, the camera view looks just like a User view. When it is cleared, the camera view is the standard perspective-like view. While Orthographic Projection is in effect, the viewport navigation buttons behave as they ordinarily do, except for Perspective. Perspective function still moves the camera and changes the FOV, but the Orthographic Projection cancels the two out, so you don’t see any change until you turn off Orthographic Projection.
Show Horizon is disabled while Orthographic Projection is in effect.
These buttons set the camera's focal length in millimeters.
Show Cone: Displays the cone (actually a pyramid) defined by a camera's field of view. The cone appears in the other viewports but does not appear in a camera viewport.
Show Horizon: Displays the horizon line. A dark gray line appears at the level of the horizon in the camera's viewport.
Determine the near and far range limits for the atmospheric effects set in the Environment dialog. Objects between the two limits fade between the Far % and Near % values.
Show: Displays yellow rectangles within the camera’s cone to show the Near and Far range settings.
Sets options to define clipping planes. In viewports, clipping planes are displayed as red rectangles (with diagonals) within the camera’s cone.
Clip Manually: Set to define clipping planes.
Near/Far: Sets near and far planes. Objects closer than the near clipping plane or farther than the far clipping plane are invisible to the camera. The limit of the Far Clip value is 10 to the power of 32.
Caution: Extremely large Far Clip values can produce floating-point error, which can cause Z-buffer problems in the viewport, such as objects appearing in front of where they should.
Cameras appear in viewports if Cameras is unchecked; if Cameras is checked, they don't appear.
When camera icons are displayed, the Zoom Extents commands include them in views. When camera icons are not displayed, the Zoom Extents commands ignore them.
The Viewport Properties menu appears.
The name of each camera appears at the top of the View list.
The viewport now shows the camera's point of view.
The default keyboard shortcut for camera viewports is: C
Making a camera viewport active does not automatically select the camera. To adjust a camera by using its viewport and the Modify panel at the same time, select the camera and then make the camera viewport active.
As in other viewports, in camera viewports you can see a display of safe frame areas to help you compose a scene for final rendered output.
Now you can adjust the camera using the Modify panel as well as the navigation buttons.
The initial direction of the drag sets the constraint. If you drag vertically at first, the pan or orbit is constrained to be vertical; if you drag horizontally at first, the constraint is horizontal.
The Zoom Extents All flyout and the Min/Max toggles remain visible. These controls aren't specific to camera views. Clicking Zoom Extents All affects other kinds of viewports but does not affect camera viewports.
In a camera viewport, the FOV button lets you adjust the field of view interactively.
The camera viewport Perspective button also changes the FOV in conjunction with dollying the camera.
Note: Only the FOV value is saved with the camera. The focal length value is merely an alternative way to express and select the FOV.
If you want to maintain the same lens, avoid using the FOV or Perspective controls among the navigation icon buttons.
The camera's field-of-view cone appears outlined in light blue.
Note: A camera's cone is always visible while the camera object is selected, regardless of the Show Cone setting.
A dark gray line appears at the level of the horizon in the camera's viewport.
The horizon line might not be visible if the horizon is beyond the camera's field of view or if the camera is tilted very high or low.
By default, the Near Range = 0.0 and the Far Range equals the Far clipping plane value.
Environment ranges determine the near and far range limits for atmospheric effects you set in the Environment dialog.
3D Studio MAX displays the environment range as a wireframe sphere, similar to the attenuation display for lights.
When Clip Manually is unchecked, the camera ignores the location of the Near and Far clipping planes, and their controls are grayed out. The camera renders all geometry within its field of view.
Objects closer to the camera than the Near distance are not visible to the camera and aren't rendered.
Objects farther from the camera than the Far distance are not visible to the camera and aren't rendered.
You can set the Near clipping plane close to the camera so that it doesn't exclude any geometry, and still use the Far plane to exclude objects. Similarly, you can set the Far clipping plane far enough from the camera that it doesn't exclude any geometry, and still use the Near plane to exclude objects.
The Near value is constrained to be less than the Far value.
If the clipping plane intersects an object, it cuts through that object, creating a cutaway view.