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Cameras

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Resize the camera icon

If you add an object, sometimes that camera just is a little too big for the scene, especially when getting in close. Or by the same token, if you've got a really large object, your camera is almost invisible; it's too tiny. So under the Display, with that camera selected, there is the Size. This is the view size; it's not the actual size of your renderer or anything else--it's the size of the camera icon. 

Resize camera icon to relative

So you can change that depending on your scene, and what I've often told people is just set it to 0 and it stays relative to your zoom. So notice the camera pretty much stays the same size, whether you zoom in or out, and that's really kind of nice. So I always know where it is. If I zoom out really far, my objects are hard to see, but because I have this size set to 0, I can always find my camera. So, something to think about when you are building larger scenes.

9.8/104votes
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Focusing your camera using Autofocus and Depth of Field

Description

If you're a photographer, when it comes to setting up your cameras for rendering in modo, you'll no doubt understand aperture sizes, what 'depth of field' is, and what F-stops are. But some of us who don't have a feel for these numbers need to eyeball things in order to get them how we want. In this Lux TV video from some time back, Brad shows how to access the advanced feature in the modo toolpipe allowing you to display extra handles to position the camera when using depth of field. He also shows how you can click on a point anywhere within a scene and have the camera focus there automatically.

Step-by-Step
    Advanced camera handles
    • In the Perspective viewport, select your camera and activate the transform tool (W)
    • Then in the Toolpipe, right-click the '=' sign in the 'V' column and select Advanced
    Activate Tool Handles
    • You'll see some extra handles appear on the camera that will allow you to drag and focus
 
    Autofocus under mouse
    • In the Render viewport, position your mouse on the spot where you want your camera to focus
    • Click Ctrl-F and the camera will fire the 'camera.autofocusUnderMouse' command
Source  You can watch a video that details the process here
Author  Brad Peebler
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Zoom in on Render Preview without moving the camera

Here's a trick for when you need to look at your scene up-close without actually messing things up and moving your render camera

Read more
9.5/102votes
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Constraining Cameras and Lights using Locators

Description When setting up a scene you may need to move the camera and lights around quite a bit until you get it just right, but you don't want to have to continually re-focus them. So by creating a locator that is parented to the subject object, you can keep manually adjusting the camera and it will always stay in focus.
Step-by-Step

    Create Cameras

    • In the Item List, select the Camera, right-click and duplicate
    • Rename the duplicate camera - Hero Camera
    • Rename the other camera - Free Camera
    • Under the Shader Tree, select Render at the top of the list, and then under > Properties > Frame, set the Hero camera as the one you'll be rendering
    • Place the Hero camera roughly in the position where you want your final shot to be.

    Create Locator

    • Create a Locator and rename it Focus
    • Place it where you want to focus the camera and lights
    • Select the Hero camera and then Ctrl-select the Focus Locator - under the Camera View tab under Properties, select Set Target
    • Select each Light, and Ctrl-select the Focus Locator - under the Light's property side-tab, select Set Target
    • Set the camera Projection and Effects properties the way you want
    • The Hero camera and lights will always stay pointed at the Locator no matter where you move them within the scene
    • You can then use the Free camera to move about the scene without messing things up
  Beluga Whale
8.5/102votes
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