The View Keeper’s Settings
Last Updated: December 31, 2024The View Keeper Settings Over the past few sections, weโve mentioned the Settings section several times. Essentially, itโs 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. Thereโs also Alternative Rendering, which lets you render your stored views and cameras in a different way than Blenderโs default method. In the following sections, weโll 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. Itโs 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 cameraโs 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 youโre 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 itโs 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. Hereโs 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.
Animation/Multi-Rendering
Last Updated: January 1, 2025Camera View Animation Having explained the two tables available in The View Keeper and how to use them to capture different camera views, you might wonder, โHow do I render these shots/views?โ or โCan this be rendered as an animation?โ The answer to both questions is yes. However, some context is necessary. Before diving into rendering, let’s discuss how to set up both tables for this. Setting Up the Tables for Rendering Setting up the tables for rendering is straightforward. The View Keeper offers a hidden feature that allows you to keyframe the switch between records and views. This feature is considered hidden because keyframing requires having at least one record in the table. This applies to both the Camera List Table and the View List Table. Hereโs how to set it up: Additional Tips Context – Animating Camera View Switch When animating camera view switches, it’s crucial to plan how and when you want these changes to occur. Proper keyframing ensures that Blender renders your views exactly as intended. Here’s how to achieve smooth transitions between views using The View Keeper: Example Scenario Imagine you have a timeline spanning 6 frames (from frame 1 to frame 6). You want to render the first part of your animation using View 1 and switch to View 5 at frame 4. Simply adding a keyframe for View 1 at frame 1 and View 5 at frame 4 won’t produce the desired result. Instead, Blender would interpolate between all views from 1 to 6 based on the keyframes, which isn’t what you want. Correct Keyframing Steps To render View 1 from frame 1 to frame 4 and switch to View 5 at frame 5, follow these steps: This method ensures that View 1 remains active from frame 1 to frame 4 and smoothly transitions to View 5 at frame 5, achieving the desired animation effect. Rendering Without Sudden Jumps If you prefer to render the entire sequence of views without leaping from one view to the other, you can simplify the keyframing process: Keyframe the First View: Keyframe the Final View: Applying to Both Tables This keyframing technique works seamlessly with both the Camera List Table and the View List Table. However, when using the Camera List Table, additional context is necessary to maintain consistency and accuracy in your animations and renders. Context – Animating Camera Records Camera Records require additional context because the settings stored in these records are scene settings, which by default do not change or get updated during an animation sequence. However, The View Keeper allows you to modify these settings, which is why understanding the context is essential. Example Scenario: Suppose you have two cameras saved as Camera records, each with a different resolution. Due to how Blender is built, Blender doesn’t automatically update the resolution which is a scene setting when rendering each frame during the animation. This can result in incorrect render results. This issue only arises during animations; single renders work correctly without any problems. There is a way to fix this using Alternative Rendering, which will be discussed in the next section, we will delve deeper into Alternative Rendering and how it can be used to overcome the challenges associated with animating camera records with varried scene settings. Important Considerations:
Alternative Rendering
Last Updated: January 1, 2025What is Alternative Rendering? Alternative Rendering is a feature provided by The View Keeper that allows you to render a sequence of views. Ideal for camera records with different saved settings. As mentioned in the previous section, the settings saved by camera records are scene settings, and by default, Blender does not allow you to change these settings during an animation render. This means that the default rendering system in Blender does not update when the scene settings are changed during rendering between frames. However, since The View Keeper enables you to modify system settings, it also offers an Alternative Rendering system that updates Blender with these changes as the animation progresses from frame to frame. Here’s how Alternative Rendering enhances your workflow: Key Features of Alternative Rendering Benefits of Alternative Rendering Important Considerations Example Scenario Of AlterAlternative Rendering Imagine you are creating an animation that needs to be shared on multiple platforms, each requiring different resolutions and formats: With Alternative Rendering, you can set up each camera record with the desired settings and keyframe the timeframe to make the switch. The View Keeper will automatically update Blenderโs settings during rendering, eliminating the need to manually adjust resolutions or formats for each frame.