Setting a Camera View in Renderworks

The Renderworks product contains a method of setting a camera view with the Renderworks Camera tool. This tool allows you to activate a particular camera, which makes it easy to modify the view. Specific attributes, such as camera focal length, field of view, height, and aspect ratio can be set, as can Renderworks camera effects such as depth of field, exposure, bloom, vignetting, and chromatic aberration when rendering in Final Quality Renderworks or Custom Renderworks render modes.

Several preset Renderworks camera resources, with settings for effects such as daylight or interior low light, are available from the Package Manager. Download the cameras as part of the Renderworks library package (see Vectorworks Libraries) and insert them from the Resource Browser.

You can create your own preset camera resources for later use by converting a camera to a symbol with Convert to Group selected in the Create Symbol dialog box (see Creating New Symbols). On insertion, the symbol is ungrouped and inserted as a Renderworks camera object that can be modified if needed.

Parameter	Description
Camera Height	Sets the camera height. If a Z value is also specified for the camera object, the total camera height is the sum of the Z height and the Camera Height.
Look To Height	Sets the height of the camera look-to point. If a Z value is also specified for the camera object, the total look-to height is the sum of the Z height and the Look To Height.
Top/Plan View	Switches to a Top/Plan view of the camera
Activate Camera (appears when no camera is activated)	Changes the document view to the camera view and displays the active camera viewfinder indicator, links the camera to the current document view so that viewing tools (such as the Flyover and Walkthrough tools) affect the camera, and enables the Renderworks camera effects when rendering in Final Quality Renderworks or Custom Renderworks render modes. The camera can also be activated by double-clicking it with the Selection tool and from the Visualization palette; see Managing Lights and Cameras with the Visualization Palette.
Deactivate Camera (appears when a camera is activated)	Unlinks the camera from the current view so that viewing tools do not affect the camera view, removes the active camera viewfinder indicator, and disables the Renderworks camera effects when rendering in Final Quality Renderworks or Custom Renderworks render modes. The camera can also be deactivated by changing the view so the camera is no longer active (for example by switching to Top/Plan view or changing layer visibilities so that the camera’s layer is no longer active) or from the Visualization palette; see Managing Lights and Cameras with the Visualization Palette.
Match Current View	When in a 3D view, repositions a selected but deactivated camera so that the camera’s new view is identical to the current 3D view. The camera’s location and orientation change to match the current view, but other camera parameters remain unchanged. Alternatively, select a deactivated camera from the Visualization palette and right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (Mac) and select Match Current View from the context menu.
Click To Aim Camera	Click to aim the selected camera at a selected point on the drawing; the cursor changes to indicate the operation is active. Click on the drawing to aim the camera.
Fine Tune Camera View	Opens the Perspective View Controls dialog box, for making fine adjustments to the camera view controls (see Adjusting the Camera View)
Projection	Select Perspective or Orthogonal projection for the camera view; Perspective creates a cropped or uncropped perspective view of the model from the camera view, while Orthogonal is useful for an elevation view (for example, a skewed elevation view of a building which is not in a standard view). Available parameters depend on the selected projection.
Render Mode	Select a render mode for the 3D camera view
Aspect Ratio	Sets the aspect ratio of the perspective clipping window; the clipping window can also be set to the page size or to a custom aspect ratio
Custom Aspect	When a custom Aspect Ratio is selected, enter the custom ratio
For Film Size of	Specifies the camera film size, and determines the focal length of the camera (has no effect on the camera view)
Focal Length is	Displays the camera focal length, based on film size
Field of View	Specifies the view angle. Use the control point to set the view angle on the 2D camera with the mouse.
For DPI of	Calculates the pixel size when exporting the camera view (has no effect on the camera view)
Pixel Size is	Displays the pixel size based on the DPI setting
Crop Frame Scale %	Scales the size of the clipping window frame, when in a cropped perspective projection, and also scales the perspective distance. As a result, both the crop frame and the drawing appear scaled.
Left/Right Tilt Angle	Tilts the camera to the left or right, for more accurate perspective matching
Camera Name	Specifies a name for the camera, which can be displayed or hidden in 2D view; move the camera name text control point to adjust the position of the name
Camera Display	Select a camera display mode; the camera name only displays in 2D ● None: Hides the camera in 2D and 3D views, and hides the camera name ● 2D: Displays the camera in 2D view, but hides the camera name, and hides the camera in a 3D view ● 3D: Displays the camera’s perspective clipping window bounding box in 2D view, displays the camera in 3D view, and hides the camera name ● 2D + 3D: Shows the camera in 2D and 3D views, but hides the camera name ● 2D + Name: Shows the camera and camera name in 2D view, but hides the camera in 3D views ● 3D + Name: Shows the camera in 3D view, shows the camera name in 2D view, but hides the camera in 2D view (displays a locus instead) ● 2D + 3D + Name: Shows the camera and camera name in 2D view, and shows the camera in 3D views The 3D camera view displays the bounding box of the camera view, the view line, and the look-to end point. Displaying a camera in a 3D view allows it to be easily selected during design development, and it can be hidden later for final presentation
Auto Update 3D View	When selected, automatically updates the 3D camera view with every parameter change; for complex models, deselect when making several parameter changes, and then either re-select Auto Update 3D View or click Display Camera View to update the camera view with any parameter changes
Auto Center 3D View	Automatically centers the view when Activate Camera is clicked, or the camera is double-clicked
Renderworks Camera Effects	The specified Renderworks camera effects are always shown in Final Quality Renderworks render mode and are user-controlled for Custom Renderworks render mode (see Custom Renderworks Options) and for Renderworks styles (see Creating Renderworks Styles). The effects are camera-dependent; activate the camera to see the effects in the rendering.
Depth of Field	Select to use the depth of field options. Depth of field is the area in which objects appear relatively sharp, while the rest are blurry.
F-Stop	Select a value, or select Custom F-Stop. F-stop determines how blurry out of focus objects are relative to the focus distance. The larger the F-stop number, the deeper the depth of field, and as a result the less blurry objects appear.
Custom (f/#)	If F-Stop is set to Custom F-Stop, enter a custom value equal to or greater than 0.01
Focus Distance	Specify the focus distance numerically or click Click to Set Focus Distance to define the focus distance based on objects in the drawing. Focus distance is the point at which objects appear sharpest in front of the camera.
Click to Set Focus Distance	Click to define the focus distance based on objects in the drawing; the cursor changes to indicate the operation is active. Click in the drawing to set the distance.
Iris Shape	Select the iris shape. Bright objects that are out of focus and far from the lens appear blurred and take the shape of the iris diaphragm.
Exposure	Select to use the exposure options. Exposure is the amount of light that reaches the film or sensor.
ISO Film Speed	Select an ISO film speed. ISO is the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. Higher values create brighter results.
Shutter Speed	Select the shutter speed, or select Custom Shutter Speed. Shutter speed specifies the amount of time the shutter is open. The shorter the shutter time, the less light reaches the sensor or film.
Custom Speed (s)	If Shutter Speed is set to Custom Shutter Speed, enter a custom value
Bloom (%)	Enter a bloom percentage; values greater than 100% are accepted. The bloom effect adds a glowing halo around the brightest areas of the image, increasing the sense that the light sources are bright.
Vignetting Intensity (%)	Enter a vignetting intensity percentage; values greater than 100% are accepted. Vignetting creates a circular darkening of the image to its edge.
Vignetting Offset (%)	Enter a vignetting offset percentage
Chromatic Aberration (%)	Enter a chromatic aberration percentage; values greater than 100% are accepted. Chromatic aberration is the effect of different light colors being refracted by the lens at different angles. It takes place mostly in blurred regions.

Setting a Camera View in Renderworks

Parameter

Description