Overhead camaera view...New to Bryce
Kharma
Posts: 3,214
I have just started exploring Bryce and have purchased the Bryce DVD of videos...what I can't figure out is how to move the camera so my view looks down into a cavern..in fact I have lots of issues with moving the camera around...also getting the proper perspective like in the video setting up a simple scene..the video goes so fast and I can't seem to see what is being adjusted....I thought these videos were more toward beginners, but I am getting lost on them.
Is there more in depth videos for beginners about how to adjust the camera?
Also in the video the terrain is made large and moved back in the scene...when I make mine large it seems to disappear from view, then I have a hard time getting it back into view where I want it. How do I stop it from disappearing?
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Most of the video's are pitched at somewhere between beginner and intermediate level, although there are some complex topics touched upon. As it happens - if we are talking about the Bryce mentoring DVD - Horo and I have made quite a few more videos. And more recently the focus has been on doing more stuff for beginners.
http://www.youtube.com/user/davidbrinnen
The reasoning was, that at the time of putting the DVD together, there were very many tutorials out there covering the basics. As time has gone on, some of those have vanished and my friend Chris has started gathering everything together under one roof - as it were - so for every tutorial we could track down to date
http://www.bryce-tutorials.info/bryce-tutorials.html
You will find a mix of written and video tutorials. A lot of our tutorials. And links to content should you so desire.
The other thing is, obviously when I next get the chance, I can make a video covering camera movement and post it up on my channel. I'll pencil that in for the next video if you like?
Edit. Disappearing terrain, might be the underground on/off control - if your terrain has slipped underground it will vanish if you have the horizon turned on. See attached image to show where this little switch is located.
Some tips that might be helpful: When using the overhead camera, you can use the '+' and '-' keys on the keyboard to zoom in and out. They also center the view on the selected item at the same time.
When I switch to overhead view I can't figure out where I am half the time, so I quick press '-' a few times until I can figure out where I am in the scene, then select eh object I want to work with, then press '+' a few times to move the camera and zoom back in at a different spot.
@David- thank u for the links and info, I will follow them and see if I can find some more help on the camera. A video on strictly camera movement and focusing beginner style would be awesome, I look forward to it :) The terrain I made seemed to disappear when I made it larger, I have the horizon line showing, portions of it still showed, other times it would end up way up in the screen almost above the camera view.
I also found when I was making my terrain bigger I was making it huge! Maybe tutorials for beginners could include the measurement of the terrain as to how big to make it instead of just enlarge the terrain. One I made larger was over 12000 when it showed in the video the terrain size was much smaller. I didn't even realize I made it that big! I watched Horo's video on Bryce units but it mostly went over my head at this point.
@Sean - thank u for your input, the view I was trying to get to was through the main camera looking down onto terrain as if in an airplane, but I can't seem to get my camera up and then looking down, kinda like flying over a canyon and viewing from the window of the aircraft
If you enlarge a terrain (or any object), it will always be centred vertically how it came into Bryce and it gets buried below the ground plane. If the object (or terrain) is selected, there is an arrow pointing up (if its lower part is below the ground plane) or down (if it is above).
Adjusting the camera is sometimes a bit tricky until you've got the hang of it. You can also open the camera attributes and control it numerically. I find that much easier, but most won't agree. You've got to find what works best for you. There is usually more than one possibility to control things in Bryce.
horo the camera movement is a lot tricky!! :) I was trying to pull the camera back and then rotate it down to look at the terrain..pretty soon my terrain ended up turned around and sideways and not at all what I wanted. I got so frustrated I just quit for the day :(
By clever use of the 'Camera to Director' and 'Director to Camera' settings, moving around your scene can be a lot easier.
If you're in perspective camera view, click 'Director to Camera' and then switch to director view mode. The view you see will be exactly the same, but in Director view, you can select any object on your scene and then when you move the rotation ball to alter your view, the view will rotate around and selected object (though you have to set this option which you will find in the little downward pointing triangle button and the bottom right of the large rotation ball).
When you have your view as you want it, click "Camera to Director" and then you can switch back to Perspective Camera mode and your camera is set. If you then need to make fine adjustments, set your camera to Tripod (in the same little downward triangle bottom right of the rotation ball) and the camera will act like it's anchored to a tripod but will still rotate around it's own axis.
Also if when you are switching between Camera and Director mode you get in a muddle and loose your scene, as long as you've clicked Camera to Director and are using Director mode, you can switch back to camera mode and start over.
Camera position memory dots can also be very helpful if you are re-using several different viewpoints and again are good to have in place incase you lose your scene and end up pointing to the sky at nothing.
Hope this helps.
@Kharma - Perhaps the picture below helps.
1: Save camera position by clicking on a white knob, it gets green. Restore position by clicking on a green dot. Hold [Alt] key and click on a green knob to delete position.
2: Toggles between Directors and Perspective camera. Directors camera is represented by a chair, the hand represents the Perspective camera.
3: Click on the down arrow to open the camera selection drop down menu.
4: Click here to open the dialog shown at right (5).
5: In this dialog, you can control the camera with numerical values. If the Rotate angles are set to all 0, the camera looks north. X rotate makes the camera look up/down. Camera looks at the sky if set -90°. Y rotates the camera left/right. Z banks the camera, just if you would rotate a real camera from landscape to portrait orientation.
Position X moves camera left/right, Y up down and Z forward and back. But only if all rotate angles are 0.
A: Up/down arrows move camera up/down (Y), left/right moves camera forward/backwards (Z). If you grab an arrow, only this direction is controlled. If you grab the green knob, you can move both directions.
B: As A, but left/right moves camera left/right (X).
C: As B, but up/down moves camera forward/backward (Z).
D: Banks camera (Z only).
E: Makes field of view (FOV) larger/smaller.
F: Rotates camera left/right (X) and up/down (Y); complements D (Z).
Hope it helps. Bryce is fun, it shouldn't frustrate.
Great thing about Bryce is you can save the Camera position thru the Camera Dots...I always save a default scene with all camera angles covered in the save Camera Position Dots...Its a time saver...
Thanks Dave and Horo I found the information very helpful, I also have problems with the camera from time to time. Viewing and attempting David's tutorials helped me a lot.
@Kharma - Don't let frustration stop you from learning Bryce. David's video tutorials are great. View them once just viewing like you would any video and view it a second time following the cursor only and then try to do the tutorial. That's the method I follow to do his tutorials, and I have learned lots of tricks along the way.
thanks for alll the tips, links,and pictures...I will keep playing with the camera and seeif I can get the look I want. It will happen eventually :)
@mermaid...that is how I follow the videos too and once I start the project I still stop and replay as I go along. thanks for your input :)
OK, try this out Bryce Basics - Camera control an overview for beginners - by David Brinnen
David thank you so much for that video it helped immensely and I am sure I will refer to it a few more times as I learn how to manipulate the camera in \Bryce :)
@David: That's a real nice video. Well done.