Camera tools

In the lessons so far, when you looked at an object from the top, front, or side views you have been viewing the scene through an orthographic view. Orthographic views appear two-dimensional because the object is displayed using parallel projections of only two axes at a time. (Scooter images courtesy of The Art of Maya)

When you view the scene through the perspective view, you are viewing the scene in a three-dimensional manner. The perspective view simulates what your scene would look like from a camera’s point of view.

In Maya, you view the scene through a set of virtual cameras. These cameras are either orthographic or perspective in nature. You can adjust how these cameras view the scene using the Camera Tools.

The three primary methods for manipulating the camera view are dolly, tumble, and track.

Dolly Tool

The Dolly Tool gets its name from filmmaking where a camera, mounted on a wheeled tripod, is moved towards or away from the scene. In Maya, dollying allows you to view the items in your scene either close up or from further back.

To dolly the perspective view

1. Enlarge the scene view to a single perspective view.
2. Do one of the following:
   • (Windows & Linux) Press the Alt key and drag the mouse to the right while holding down the right button on your mouse.
   • (Mac OS X) Press the Option key and drag the mouse to the right while holding down the right button on your mouse.
     
3. To dolly the camera outwards from the subject in the scene you can perform the same key and mouse combinations as described above but drag the mouse to the left.

   Dolly works in both the perspective and orthographic views.

   TipIf you make an error when adjusting your camera view of the scene, you can reset the camera to its default home setting.

   To reset the camera view for a particular orthographic or perspective view:

   From the panel menu, select View > Default View.

Tumble Tool

The Tumble Tool allows you to tumble or rotate the camera’s view around a particular center of interest to achieve either a higher or lower vantage point, or a different side angle.

To tumble the perspective view

1. Press the Alt key (Windows & Linux) or the Option key (Mac OS X) and drag the mouse either left or right, or up or down, while holding down the left button on your mouse.

   Tumbling the view revolves the camera around the center of the scene view, in whichever direction you drag (left, right, up or down). The Tumble Tool does not work in the orthographic views.

   

Track Tool

The Track Tool allows you to move the camera up, down, or sideways in relation to the scene.

To track the perspective view

1. Press the Alt key (Windows & Linux) or the Option key (Mac OS X) and drag the mouse in any direction, while holding down the middle button on your mouse.

   The Track Tool works for both orthographic and perspective views.

   
   Note

   Even though the objects appear to move across the screen when operating any of these camera tools, it is the viewing camera that is actually moved in relation to the scene, not the objects.

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