In
Maya, the camera can be animated. You can set keyframes for the
camera moves the same as for other objects in your scene. In the
next steps, you set keys to do a simple animation of the camera’s
movement.
To animate the camera
- Go to the start of the playback range.
- Dolly, tumble, and track myCamera to
create a view similar to this:
- With myCamera selected, set a key for
the camera’s current view at the first frame. To set a key, select
the Animation menu set, and then select
Animate > Set Key.
(For details on setting keys and animation technique, see
Lesson 1: Keyframes and the Graph Editor.)
TipYou can undo and redo view changes such as dolly,
track, and tumble by selecting either the [ or ] bracket respectively.
You can press these keys repeatedly to undo or return to a particular
view orientation.
- Go to frame 150.
- Dolly myCamera to create a view similar
to this:
- Set another key.
- Play the animation to see the camera
dolly toward the table for the first 150 frames.
At this point, feel free
to experiment with keying changes in the view resulting from tumbling
and tracking the camera. Excessive animation of tumbling and tracking
creates a dizzying effect that is a common mistake of inexperienced
artists. In general, it’s best to keep camera animation simple except
when you are striving for an unusual effect.