bracket keys, drop region handles, view cameras, and other headaches

Started by shadowphile, October 18, 2009, 07:28:27 PM

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shadowphile

1) why are the crop region handle sizes tied to the camera distance?  Too small and there's nothing to grab!
2) how can I tell what the actual distance is?  I seem to mostly be guessing.
3) I don't trust the built-in view cameras any more.  They don't react the same as a user-supplied camera.  I've already documented problems elsewhere, but now I'm finding that they don't make sense in other ways as well. The bracket keys behave strangely, dont' seem to think the camera is where it really is. (i'm thinking they are fixed orthographic, which would explain the some of these issues.  still...)

Henry Blewer

In the render tab, click the crop region. There are sliders which can be used to define the area you wish to be cropped.

Goto the View Menu and select 3D Preview Location. This will give you slopes, coordinates, and camera distances.

If you move the preview window around, then want to return to the render camera view. Click on the second icon from the left at the bottom of the preview. Select Current Render Camera (Render Camera). If a different camera is the one you want, Select that camera from the menu which pops up.
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jo

Hi,

Quote from: shadowphile on October 18, 2009, 07:28:27 PM
1) why are the crop region handle sizes tied to the camera distance?  Too small and there's nothing to grab!

The fact the grab handles don't stay a consistent size does irk me too and I will improve it at some point. Might even be today :-).

Quote2) how can I tell what the actual distance is?  I seem to mostly be guessing.

What do you mean by distance?

Quote
3) I don't trust the built-in view cameras any more.  They don't react the same as a user-supplied camera.  I've already documented problems elsewhere, but now I'm finding that they don't make sense in other ways as well. The bracket keys behave strangely, dont' seem to think the camera is where it really is. (i'm thinking they are fixed orthographic, which would explain the some of these issues.  still...)

I hadn't noticed that problem with adjusting the clip planes and the orthographic view cameras. Do you find you have to adjust them often?

I think you'd find the orthographic view cameras work the same as a user cameras if the user camera was set up to be orthographic. They are just normal cameras but set up specifically for their views, in other words they are preset cameras. There is a little bit of special treatment but not much. They're not fixed in their respective orientations, you are free to move them if you like. We decided to do it that way for extra flexibility, and you can always undo if you move it accidentally.

Because the preset views are orthographic there are sometimes certain movements which don't make sense. Let's say you're using the top view. Moving up and down doesn't do anything because the camera is orthographic. Instead to see more you need to zoom, which actually changes the orthographic width setting of the camera. Again, if you set up a regular camera like this you'll get the same behaviour.

There is actually a problem in the above example. It seems if you move the camera down in the top view sufficiently then it will start to clip stuff away. We'll have to look at that.

What problems are you having? The more information you can give us the better we are able to assess the situation.

BTW I've addressed the problem with the shader previews messing up user cameras that you mentioned.

Regards,

Jo

shadowphile

thanks Jo, hearing that something I pointed out is already fixed is a real morale booster!

By 'distance' I mean the nearest and farthest points of the camera range as it is moved by the bracket keys.  It would be nice to know what the ranges actually are, set them, or read them as I'm hitting the bracket keys.

The problem I ran into with the Top view is that I angled it somewhat, copied it to the render.  When I tried to adjust the camera range, the selected polygons made no sense and I couldn't bracket it properly.

BTW, I tried 'centre on origin', which will move the Top camera but not flatten its rotation.  Is there a way to totally reset the left/top/etc cams to the default positions?  I'm finding it very hard to re-flatten my Top cam once I've tilted it.

jo

Hi,

Quote from: shadowphile on October 18, 2009, 11:17:27 PM
thanks Jo, hearing that something I pointed out is already fixed is a real morale booster!

Generally speaking if there is an issue that is reproducible and isn't something majorly involved we try and get on to it pretty quick. Specifics and steps to reproduce are a big help.

QuoteBy 'distance' I mean the nearest and farthest points of the camera range as it is moved by the bracket keys.  It would be nice to know what the ranges actually are, set them, or read them as I'm hitting the bracket keys.

What is the reason you're adjusting the clipping plane though? It might not be doing what you think it is. You should only very rarely need to do it. It only applies to the 3D OpenGL preview, not to actual rendering. It adjusts the distance of the near clipping plane of the OpenGL camera. That controls the precision of the depth buffer and you should only need to adjust if you're starting to see problems with missing polygons in the 3D Preview ( i.e. rendering has finished and there are still parts missing ). I'm not sure I've ever needed to adjust it. I guess you might if you were zoomed in very, very close or a long, long way away from a planet.

QuoteBTW, I tried 'centre on origin', which will move the Top camera but not flatten its rotation.  Is there a way to totally reset the left/top/etc cams to the default positions?  I'm finding it very hard to re-flatten my Top cam once I've tilted it.

There isn't a way to reset them but there should be. I'll add it to the list.

Regards,

Jo