What is a Camera List Table? #
Having discussed what tables are in the previous section and the two tables which can be found in The View Keeper, we’ll now focus on the Camera List Table. As mentioned in the Welcome section, The View Keeper helps save and manage the cameras in your 3D scene. To achieve this, the camera data in your scene must be stored somewhere. This is where the Camera List Table comes in.
The Camera List Table is specifically designed to hold and track cameras in your 3D scene. It lets you apply unique settings to individual cameras. Once installed, it automatically analyzes your scene for any existing cameras. If you have a fresh Blender scene with no cameras, you’ll see a “No Camera in scene” message, which prompts you to add one. This occurs because the Camera List Table has scanned your scene and found no cameras available.
However, when you add a camera to your 3D scene, that message disappears. To add a camera, simply go to the top-left of your viewport, click Add, and select Camera. The View Keeper also provides an easier way to add cameras in its Settings section, but for now, our focus remains on the Camera List Table.
With the camera added, you’ll notice two key changes in addition to the error message disappearing:
- The new camera isn’t automatically added to the Camera List Table.
- New buttons appear in The View Keeper interface.
The Camera isn’t automatically added because The View Keeper lets you decide which cameras you want it to manage, and which ones you prefer to leave untouched.
As previously mentioned, The View Keeper uses a minimalistic design, showing only what you need at any given moment. By adding a new camera, you now have additional actions available, which is why you see new buttons appear. One of these newly revealed buttons is the Add Camera button, located at the top-right corner of the Camera List Table. This button is just one of several elements that make up the Camera List Table. These elements are:
- Add Camera Button
- Remove Camera Button
- Delete Camera
- Number of Camera Records
- Camera List Records
- Activate/Deactivate Updates
- View Count
- Refresh Record
- Record Name
Add Camera Button #
The role of the Add Camera button is pretty straightforward. it adds the currently selected camera to the table. I use the term “selected camera” because the button is only visible when a camera is selected or active. If there’s a camera in your scene but it isn’t selected or active, The View Keeper will hide the Add Camera button.
With the camera selected, click the Add Camera button to include it in the Camera List Table. Keep it in mind that each camera can only be added once. When you add a camera to the table, The View Keeper records and saves a specific set of settings for that camera, similar to taking a screenshot on your phone or creating a game backup that you can return to if needed. These saved settings become unique to that camera.
To find out exactly which settings are saved by The View Keeper when you add a camera to the Camera List Table, please refer to the Preview section of this documentation.
If the camera is added successfully, you’ll see a new item in the Camera List Table. This item is called a Camera List record (or camera record for short). We’ll explore this concept more in the rest of this section.
This is just one of several methods for adding cameras to the Camera List Table. We’ll explore additional ways to do this in the Settings section of this documentation, ensuring plenty of flexibility for different project needs.
Remove Camera Button #
The Remove Camera button is located just below the Add Camera button. As its name implies, it removes the selected Camera Record from the Camera List. This means that if you have no records in the list, the Remove Camera button will stay hidden.
By itself, this button only removes the record from the table, leaving the actual camera in your 3D scene intact. If you want to remove both the record and the camera with one click, you’ll need to combine it with another button called Delete Camera, which we’ll discuss next.
Delete Camera #
The Delete Camera button is located at the bottom-right of the Camera List Table and is only visible when there’s at least one record in the list. It acts more like a switch than a regular button. This means it can be turned on or off. By default, it’s turned off.
When the Delete Camera is switched on, this gives The View Keeper the audacity to remove the actual camera from your 3D scene whenever you delete its record from the list. If you don’t want to delete the camera itself, make sure Delete Camera is turned off before removing a record.
Number of Camera Records #
The Number of Camera Records is displayed at the top-right of the Camera List Table under the label “Camera No:”. This feature is especially helpful for artists who appreciate analytics, are working on large scenes, or plan to render multiple shots. It lets you easily track how many cameras are being managed by The View Keeper.
Only the cameras that have a record in the table are counted. If you add a camera to your scene without creating a record for it, it won’t be part of the Camera Record count.
Camera List Records #
We’ve already introduced Camera List Records (or Camera Records) in the Add Camera section, but here’s a bit more detail:
Camera Records are simply recorded settings tied to a specific camera, stored as an item in the Camera List Table. The exact settings captured when a record is created are shown in the Preview section. Each time you add a new camera to the table, a corresponding record is created. These records are named after the camera they’re linked to, making them easy to identify. Think of them as save points or backups that can be restored using the Activate/Deactivate Updates button.
Activate/Deactivate Updates #
The Activate/Deactivate Updates button is a small switch on the right side of the Camera List Table. When turned on, it tells The View Keeper to apply the saved settings in each camera record and while automatically making that camera the active one in your Blender 3D scene.
For example, if you have three cameras focused on different subjects, with different resolutions saved as separate camera records. You can quickly switch between them by turning on the Activate/Deactivate Updates then selecting the desired camera record.
View Count #
The View Count appears on the right side of each camera record. It tracks the number of view records saved for that specific camera record. Just as the Number of Camera Records tracks all cameras managed by The View Keeper, the view count tracks how many views are saved per camera record. You can learn more about Views and View lists in the View List Table section of this documentation.
Refresh Record #
The Refresh Record button is located right next to the View Count. Its purpose is to recapture and override the settings of the selected Camera Record. For example, if you have a saved camera record but want to change a saved setting for example, the resolution:
- With Activate/Deactivate Updates turned on, select the camera record you want to modify. This restores its saved settings to your Blender scene.
- Adjust the resolution (or any other settings) as needed.
- Click the Refresh Record button to recapture these new settings, effectively overriding the old ones.
A confirmation popup will appear before overriding the existing records to ensure you don’t accidentally overwrite your camera settings.
Record Name #
The Record Name is a box at the bottom of the Camera List Table that displays the name of each Camera Record. When you select a record, the box updates accordingly, allowing you to rename it for easier identification. However, keep in mind that the camera record name is directly tied to the camera itself. Renaming a record also renames the camera in your scene.
