Welcome!
Last Updated: December 27, 2024The View Keeper Documentaion The View Keeper is a plugin that makes managing different camera views in Blender simple and easy. It lets you save different camera settings and return to them seamlessly later. With one camera, you can store multiple angles and quickly switch between them. The View Keeper also allows you to save different render settings for each camera. This means you can render with various settings without needing to adjust them every time. You can even render all your saved views at once, even if they use different camera settings. This removes the hassle of rendering one by one and reconfiguring settings for every new render. If you’ve ever struggled to decide which shot works best or found yourself overwhelmed by duplicated cameras cluttering your scene, this plugin is for you. Whether you’re a freelancer meeting client demands for multiple angles and settings, an animator switching camera settings during an animation, or a 3D artist creating renders for different social media platforms, The View Keeper simplifies everything. It lets you focus on what truly matters—your creative vision. With The View Keeper, you can store multiple camera views and settings, enabling effortless switching. There’s no need to duplicate cameras, clutter your scene, or reset settings for each shot. With The View Keeper, you set it up once, and your vision is captured perfectly. Let’s dive into this documentation to explore the settings you can store and learn how to unlock the full potential of The View Keeper. By the end, you’ll be able to speed up your workflow and take your 3D projects to new heights. Content
System Requirements
Last Updated: December 27, 2024“If it is good enough for Blender, It is good enough for The View Keeper“ The View Keeper is a light weight Blender plugin that is 100% dependant on blender. If you are able to install blender and run it successfully then the view keeper would run as well. Blender is cross-platform, it runs on every major operating system The View Keeper currently requires Blender version 4.2 to function. While this is the current requirement, rest assured that updates and releases for future versions of Blender (4.2 and newer) will be provided in the future at no extra cost to ensure compatibility. Here are the system requirements for Blender as outlined by the Blender developement team Windows Minimum Requirements Minimum Recommended OS Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Windows 10 or Windows 11 CPU 4 cores with SSE4.2 support 8 cores RAM 8 GB 32 GB GPU 2 GB VRAM with OpenGL 4.3 (see below) 8 GB VRAM NVIDIA: GeForce 400 and newer, Quadro Tesla GPU architecture and newer, including RTX-based cards, with NVIDIA drivers. AMD: GCN 1st gen and newer. Intel: Broadwell architecture and newer. Always make sure to install the latest drivers from the graphics card manufacturer website. macOS Minimum Recommended OS macOS 11.2 (Big Sur) macOS 14 (Sonoma) CPU Apple Silicon or Intel Apple Silicon RAM 8 GB 32 GB GPU GPU with Metal 2.2 (see below) AMD, Apple Silicon, or Intel (Skylake and newer). Linux Minimum Recommended OS Distribution with glibc 2.28 or newer (64-bit) CPU 4 cores with SSE4.2 support 8 cores RAM 8 GB 32 GB GPU 2 GB VRAM with OpenGL 4.3 (see below) 8 GB VRAM NVIDIA: GeForce 400 and newer, Quadro Tesla GPU architecture and newer, including RTX-based cards, with NVIDIA drivers. AMD: GCN 1st gen and newer. Intel: Broadwell architecture and newer. Always make sure to install the latest drivers from the graphics card manufacturer website.
Installation
Last Updated: December 26, 2024After your purchase, you will receive a download link for the plugin file. The file will be provided in a ZIP format. Simply download it and move on to the next steps. Important! Do not unzip the downloaded files. Mac OS: The Safari browser may unzip files automatically, in that case either re-zip the files after downloading, or adjust the Safari settings. Step 1 – Open Blender Step 2 – Import Plugin/addon file The addon should be correctly installed. To verify this, return to the Get Extensions section and use the search bar to look for “The View Keeper.” If the installation was successful, it will appear in the list without any error messages. Alternatively, you can check the installation by going to the 3D Viewport (close the pop up window). Press the “N” key on your keyboard to reveal the N-panel. If the addon is properly installed, you will find The View Keeper listed at the bottom of the available panels.
Addon Overview
Last Updated: December 27, 2024First Look – The View Keeper Addon The View Keeper was made to be simple and easy to use in Blender. This means you only see the settings you need at any given time. We designed it this way to keep things clear and avoid overwhelming you with too much information at once. As you use the plugin/addon and learn more, additional details will be revealed naturally. The layout of The View Keeper has three main sections: Right after installation, not all sections are fully visible. You’ll see a panel like the one in the image above. It will display a single table called Camera List. Below that, you’ll also find the Settings and Preview sections. In the next pages of this documentation, we’ll explain each section in detail. You’ll learn about the parts which parts are hidden, what each section does, and how to use them.
Introduction to Tables
Last Updated: December 27, 2024What Are Tables? In this section, you will learn about tables, which are the first and one of the main sections of The View Keeper addon. To keep things clear, let’s start by answering the question: What are tables? Tables, in this context, are boxes in the 3D viewport that hold a list of items. You can select these items and find out more information or make changes as needed. If you’re familiar with books, this works similarly to a table of contents. A table of contents lists items, and when you select one, you get more information about it. Like The View Keeper, tables are also used in other parts of Blender. For example, the particle system has a table which you can see from the image below, and they function in a similar way. However, in this documentation, we’ll focus only on the tables in The View Keeper. The Two Tables in The View Keeper By default, only the Camera List table is visible when you first install the addon. This is because the View List table depends on the content of the Camera List table. Think of it this way: the Camera List table is a list of items, and each item in this list can have its own list. This secondary list is the View List table. When you first install The View Keeper, the Camera List table is empty. This is why the View List table does not appear right away. Once you add an item to the Camera List table, you can then access and use the View List table. In the next section, you will learn about the different parts of these tables, how to add items to them, and how to use the items you’ve added.
Camera List Table
Last Updated: December 29, 2024What 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 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 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...
View List Table
Last Updated: December 30, 2024What is View List Table? The View List Table is very similar to the Camera List Table, with many of the same features and buttons. If you’re familiar with the Camera List Table, you’ll find most of this really easy to grasp. The main difference is that the Camera List Table manages cameras, letting you switch between multiple cameras. While The View List Table manages views (what a single camera sees). This means you can save multiple view angles using just one camera, keeping your scene clean and organized. However, to use the View List Table, that camera must first be added to the Camera List Table. Think of the View List Table as a subset of the Camera List Table. Each camera record in the Camera List has its own View List which can store multiple views and angles. This way, you don’t have to clutter your scene with extra cameras just to capture different views. Just like the Camera List Table there are different elements which make up the view list table. These elements are: Add View Button Just like the Add Camera button in the Camera List Table, the Add View button works in a similar way. However instead adding cameras records to the table, it creates new view records. A view record is an item in the View List Table that stores not only the camera’s position but also various camera settings. For more details on what settings are saved by the View List table, refer to the Preview section of this documentation. Using the Add View button is straightforward: This captures a snapshot of your current view and saves it. You can then move the camera anywhere else, secure in the knowledge that you can always return to the saved view. You can create as many views per camera as you like. Simply just reposition and click Add View again to store each new view. Remove View Button The Remove View button deletes a stored view record. This action is irreversible, which is why a confirmation pop-up appears before the view is removed. To use it, simply select the view record you want to delete, click the Remove View button, and confirm the deletion. Unlike the Remove Camera button in the Camera List Table, the Remove View button cannot delete the camera itself or when combined with the Delete Camera button. it’s strictly for removing views only. Number of View Records The Number of View Records is a counter located at the top-right of the View List Table, labeled “View No”. It displays how many view records you currently have, which can be especially useful for large scenes or when rendering multiple camera angles. Think of it as a quick way to see how many different views are being managed at any particular time. Activate/Deactivate Updates The Activate/Deactivate Updates button works just like it does in the Camera List Table. It’s essentially a switch that, when turned on, applies the saved settings from any clicked view record to your camera and 3D scene. When it’s off, you can click around without changing your current view. This is handy if you want to make adjustments without switching views or quickly see what each saved record looks like. Refresh Record The Refresh Record button appears on the right side of each view record, functioning similarly to its counterpart in the Camera List Table. However, instead of recapturing and overriding a camera record, it does so for view records. This feature is particularly useful when you want to make small or large adjustments to an existing view record. Simply: This approach saves you from having to delete and recreate a view when only minor adjustments are needed. Because Refresh Record overrides your existing view record, you would recieve a confirmation pop-up which helps prevent accidental overwrites. Record Name The Record Name box is located at the bottom of the View List Table and displays the name of the currently selected view record. When a record is selected, its name appears in this box, allowing you to rename it for easier identification and a more personalized workflow. Unlike the Record Name in the Camera List Table, this name is not tied to the camera itself or any other element. It only renames the view record, so you can update it freely without affecting anything else in your scene. Clear View List The Clear View List button is hidden in the View List Table. You can find it in the dropdown menu below the Remove View button. It removes all your saved views at once. When you use Remove View, you must confirm when removing each view one by one. This can take a long time if you have many views. Clear View List only needs one confirmation. Then, it deletes all your views at once.
The View Keeper’s Settings
Last Updated: December 31, 2024The View Keeper Settings Over the past few sections, we’ve mentioned the Settings section several times. Essentially, it’s an area in The View Keeper that offers extra features beyond the basics which are found in the tables. These include different methods for adding cameras to both your Blender 3D scene and the Camera List Table, giving you more flexibility for various project needs. There’s also Alternative Rendering, which lets you render your stored views and cameras in a different way than Blender’s default method. In the following sections, we’ll dive deeper into these additional features.
Find Camera
Last Updated: December 31, 2024What does the find camera do? The Find Camera button is the first feature in The View Keeper settings. It’s also one of the ways to automatically add cameras to the Camera List Table. When clicked, it scans your Blender scene for any visible cameras and creates a record for each one. For example, if you have eight cameras in your scene, Find Camera will find all eight and create eight camera records at once. Since all cameras are registered together, they initially share the same saved settings. You can always update each camera’s settings individually using the Refresh Record button in the Camera List Table. Note: A camera must be visible in the 3D scene for Find Camera to detect it.
Add New Camera
Last Updated: December 31, 2024What is the difference between the Add New Camera and Add Camera buttons? Add New Camera in the Settings section works much like Add Camera in the Camera List Table, but with extra convenience. Here are the main differences: Add Camera (Camera List Table) Add New Camera (Settings Section) This can really speed things up if you’re starting fresh. Keep in mind that the camera record still takes a snapshot of your current settings, so if you want specific configurations, set them up in Blender before clicking Add New Camera. The Add new camera has two other additonal functionalities. there are there to help provide a more striaght to the point way of adding a camera. these can be found right beside the add camera button. Camera From View Camera from View works like a switch. When it’s turned on and you press Add New Camera, a new camera is added to your 3D scene and positioned at the current view of the viewport. This is handy if you want to focus on a certain part of your scene without having to reposition the camera after adding it to your scene. Simply move your viewport to the desired spot, enable Camera from View, and click Add New Camera. As before, this process captures a snapshot of your current settings and creates a camera record. Camera To Selected Camera to Selected is another feature tied to the Add New Camera button. Like Camera From View, it functions as a switch. However, instead of aligning the camera to your current viewport view, it aligns the new camera to the selected object. Here’s how it works: A new camera will be added, automatically positoned to focus on the selected object, and a camera record will be created for it. This feature is particularly useful for quickly setting up cameras centered on specific objects in your scene.