Blender Camera Object Needs Major Updating

Coding Beginning Blender Code and Development
1

I believe that the blender camera object needs major updating. It doesn’t even look like a camera. It would be nice to have a camera clearly representing a camera, especially when in more complex scenes. Every other 3D application this is so (Please see image). It would be nice if this simple thing were true for blender as well. Is there a possibility of getting this changed or at least making it an option?

blender_camera.jpg1024×1024 176 KB

Thanks,
M. Lightning

2

you could parent it with an empty, and the empty has several options for display of the empty now.
use one of those … or use the ‘image’ option and attach a ready made one or make one in your favorite paint editor Gimp.

I used a camera lens icon and attached it to the front of the camera to overcome the parallax error
in the default Blender camera. (there are times it is hard to discern which direction it is pointing)
and to dress it up i painted on a green LED next to lens to indicate it is ‘on’

This worked so well that even with camera in far distance the lens icon is very visible and my problem went away… though somehow a camera lens pointed at you with a visible LED is
more inttrusive than just a lens:eyebrowlift2:

BTW: the object Blender uses represents the view frustum and it changes proportional to lens, near, far and other settings in camera properties … this is more appropriate behavior IMO

3

I think that blender would have few different camera- and lamp objects that can be changed in the user preferences.

something like this:P
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5904620/Blend/camera.jpg

4

I agree arman. That would be nice.

5

Sure, quite possible.

You’ll probably have to do all the hard work yourself though…

6

I believe that the blender camera object needs major updating.

7

Though it might be time to move on from the soon-to-be-nostalgic-film-reels-on-the-camera look :wink:

8

think this mail is off topic, did you try code this?

9

I agree. Coming from Maya I immediately recognized the camera as Blenders biggest flaw… No, sorry, I’m lying. :smiley:

Blender not asking/warning to save open files before closing, that is pure insanity though. And that’s not even a joke. :eek:

10

blenders camera isn’t meant to look like a camera - why not have light bulbs for lights etc? - ok, cameras are less common in a scene - its not SUCH a silly idea.

Even so, the camera is very functional (you can tell which direction is UP, if its active or nor and the cone accurately shows the FOV with shift, aspect etc).

Please lets stop Bike Shedding - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_Law_of_Triviality