Camera Changer Tutorial Here-->

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1

Hi… I made this tutorial for a while ago, but i think it is still usful, so sorry for double post:)

Camera Changer tutorial!

Hi… This is my first tutorial (I think) so don’t expext it to be perfect :wink:

NB. Some of the pictures may not be correct since i fixed the tutorial. So the place where you name the cams, call them “1” and “20” istead of “1.20” and “20,100”

Okay, here we go:

There are many ways to change cameras, I think that there are a lot of plug-ins for blender. But we will only use the blender build in:)

I am going to teach you two methods, The first is the build-in that The Orange
Team made for blender, and the other one is my own way to do it. I haven’t played so much with the build in method (Orange) So maybe there is more to say about it than I explain here.

  1. First we (as allways) start Blender, but we don’t delete the default cube, because we want an object to look at. Select the camera and duplicate it (Shift-D) and place it, so it points at the cube from another place. http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/5861/camarach16qh.th.jpg

Let’s say we want the camera to change at frame 20. Select the first Camera . This camera should start at frame 1 and end in frame 20. so call it “1,20” like it is showed in the picture

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/1423/camarach28qk.th.jpg

Then select the other camera, and call it "21,100
" Beacuse this cam should start at frame 21, and end at frame 100.

When this is done, split the screen in two. In one of the windows, click the http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6482/knap14yk.jpg button and change it so it looks like this: http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7465/knap22pb.jpg
Good! Okay, now press the “Scripts” button, drive the mouse over the “Animation” button, And Then, click “Camera changer”! like here:http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/5330/window0fj.th.jpg
Somthing has happened, but you can’t see it. If blender tell’s you somthing, It can be because you forgot to name one of the cameras. But anyway go to frame 1 Select Camera 1 (the one we named “1,20”) and press numpad0. now you should see it trough the camera. And when you press Alt-A (and you did this tutorial right) the cameras should switch at frame 20.

Nice uh?

Okay. Now it is time for my own method. I use this because it is easier and better(my oppinion :D). press “Erase all” so we have a clean window :slight_smile:

Now, we still want the camera to change at frame 20. so at frame 19, press “i” and select “loc, Rot, Size” as showed in the picture:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/383/subwindow14vc.th.jpg

Go to frame 20, and grab (G) and rotate ® the camera so it is placed where you want it to be and then again press “i” button on your keyboard and select “Loc, Rot, Size”… now you done!! easy huh??
:smiley:

Hope you like it :slight_smile:

2

looks nice but aint there a way to use example the camera at frame 1 then use another camera and then back to camera 1?

3

The way I do it is more simple, I think. This is the metod I used in my Mozart animation.

  • Have a main camera. It will be the real camera. It is not animated, just put the camera properties (angle, clip, etc).- Have some other cameras, those ones animated independently or whatever, those are the real shots. The properties of those cameras (angle, clip, etc) are not used, just the position.- Add a copy location and copy rotation constraint to the main camera for each other camera in the scene. It’s helpful to name each constraint as the name of the shot.- Key all constraints to 0, and set all constraint IPO interpolations to ‘Constant’ (you can set all interpolations at once in the action editor).- Go though the animation, and for each camera change, set the loc/rot constraints to 1 and the other ones to 0, then key them all.

Hints:

  • Press NUM 0 to view the world through the active camera.- Press Shift+NUM 0 to move the active camera to the current 3D view.
  • Press Control+NUM 0 to set the selected object as active camera.
  • Don’t forget to set the main camera as active camera before rendering.
  • Change the size of the main camera to distingish it from the other cameras.

Here’s a screenshot of my animation while changing cameras. Notice the constraints at the bottom (ok, it would be better to put the window vertical).
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1327/mozartcameras1ou9.th.jpg

4

looks nice but aint there a way to use example the camera at frame 1 then use another camera and then back to camera 1?

thanks, but i dunno… sorry

My way of changing cameras
The way I do it is more simple, I think. This is the metod I used in my Mozart animation.

  • Have a main camera. It will be the real camera. It is not animated, just put the camera properties (angle, clip, etc).
  • Have some other cameras, those ones animated independently or whatever, those are the real shots. The properties of those cameras (angle, clip, etc) are not used, just the position.
  • Add a copy location and copy rotation constraint to the main camera for each other camera in the scene. It’s helpful to name each constraint as the name of the shot.
  • Key all constraints to 0, and set all constraint IPO interpolations to ‘Constant’ (you can set all interpolations at once in the action editor).
  • Go though the animation, and for each camera change, set the loc/rot constraints to 1 and the other ones to 0, then key them all.
    Hints:
  • Press NUM 0 to view the world through the active camera.
  • Press Shift+NUM 0 to move the active camera to the current 3D view.
  • Press Control+NUM 0 to set the selected object as active camera.
  • Don’t forget to set the main camera as active camera before rendering.
  • Change the size of the main camera to distingish it from the other cameras.
    Here’s a screenshot of my animation while changing cameras. Notice the constraints at the bottom (ok, it would be better to put the window vertical).
    http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1327/mozartcameras1ou9.th.jpg

Cool! Thank you.

5

it doesn’t have anything to do with the script at the upper screen?

6

(deleted post)

7

No, it doesn’t. It’s a piece of my ‘pyanista’ script, made for moving fingers and piano keys in the animation. Should I re-upload the image without that window and with a better layout?.

8

No no it’s fine it worked thanks :slight_smile:

9

Funny… My tutorial is still on the top of the list :smiley:

10

I, have replied to this post.

11

Can you create the HTML copy for me? It would save me so much trouble!

If you do that, I’ll have it up in no time!!!

12

Oh sure :slight_smile: No prop. I see what I can do… :slight_smile:

13

Kule… I will have up the planet one soon, I hope. A bit busy now, but yeah, I really want to get online!