Blender/C2/Camera-View-Settings/English

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Title of script: Navigation - Camera View

Author: Chirag Raman, Monisha Banerjee

Keywords: camera view, roll, pan, dolly, track

Reviewers: Namita Lobo, Leena Mulye


Click here for slides


Script Update according to review on 29/11/2011


Visual Cue Narration
Slide 1 Welcome to the series of Blender tutorials.

This tutorial is about Navigation – Camera view.

We shall learn how to navigate the camera in Blender 2.59.

This script has been contributed by Chirag Raman and edited by Monisha Banerjee.

Slide 2 After watching this tutorial,

we shall learn how to change the location of the camera to get a new camera view;

how to roll, pan, dolly and track the camera view;

and how to select a new camera view using the fly mode.

Slide 3 I assume that you already know how to install Blender on your system.

If not please refer to our earlier tutorials on Installing Blender.

Blender workspace open. Hover on User Perspective at top left corner of 3d view. By default, when Blender opens, the 3D view is in the User Perspective view.

Now, lets switch to the camera view.

Go to View, and select Camera. Go to view tab in the bottom left corner of the 3D panel.
Left click camera from the menu.

For keyboard shortcut, press numpad 0.

If you are using a laptop, you need to emulate your number keys as numpad. To learn how to emulate numpad, see the tutorial on User Preferences.

Hover around the dotted box This is the Camera View.

The dotted box is the field of view of the active camera.

All objects inside this dotted box will be rendered.

Render settings shall be covered in a later tutorial.

Blender allows you to position and orient the active camera to match your current view point.

Lets see how to do this.

Press Numpad 0 Press Numpad zero to go back to the perspective view.

You see, the shortcut numpad zero is a toggle to switch-to and from the camera view.

Hold the mouse wheel and move the mouse. Hold the mouse wheel or the MMB and move the mouse to rotate the view to a location where you wish to place your camera.

I have selected this location.

Press Ctrl & Alt & Numpad 0. Press Control, Alt & Num Pad zero.

The camera moves to the new location.

The 3D view switches to the camera view at the same time.


Blender also allows you to perform a few navigational actions on the camera, such as rolling, panning, tracking etc.

We shall now look at these.

Right click on dotted box to select the camera. Right clicking on the dotted box to select the camera.


From here on, you can manipulate the camera like you would manipulate any other object.
Do remember that to perform these actions you need to be in camera view. 

The first action we shall see is to roll the camera view.

Press R. Press R on your keyboard to enter the object rotation mode.
Move your mouse left and right, back and forth. Now move your mouse left to right and up and down.

By default this rotates the camera in its local z-axis, i.e. around the axis that goes into or comes out of the camera view.

Right click Right click or Press Esc on the keyboard to cancel the action.

This will take you back to your previous camera view.

Hover left to right and up and down Now, the next action we shall see is panning the camera view.

Panning is in 2 directions – left to right or up and down.

Press R. Then press x twice. Press R to enter the object rotation mode. Press X twice.

The first X locks the rotation to the global X axis.

The second X locks the rotation to the local X axis.

We will discuss about global and local transform axis in detail in subsequent tutorials.

Now move the mouse up and down Now move the mouse up and down.

The Camera view pans up and down

Press Y twice. Now, Press Y twice.

The first y locks the rotation to the global y axis.

The second y locks the rotation to the local y axis.

Now move the mouse. Now move the mouse left to right.

The Camera view pans left to right and vice versa

Right click to to go back to camera view. Right click to to go back to camera view.
Next we shall dolly the camera. There are two ways to do this
Press G. Hold the MMB or Press the Mouse Wheel and move the mouse up and down. First, press G.

Hold the MMB or the Mouse Wheel and move the mouse up and down.

Press G. Then press Z twice. Now move the mouse. Second way, you can move the camera along its local z axis.

Press G.

Then press Z twice to lock the camera to the local z axis.

Now moving the mouse gives the same effect.

Right click to to go back to camera view. Right click to to go back to camera view.
Hover left to right and up and down Tracking the camera left to right or up and down involves moving it along the local X or Y axes.
Press G. Then Press X twice. Now move the mouse. Press G. Now press X twice and move the mouse left to right.

The Camera view tracks left to right and vice versa

Press Y twice. Now move the mouse. Now press Y twice and move the mouse up and down.

The Camera view tracks up and down

Right click to to go back to camera view. Right click to to go back to camera view.
Blender also provides a fly mode for the camera.
Press Shift F. Press Shift F to enter the fly mode.

Now you can move the camera view in three ways.

First is using the shortcut keys on the keyboard.

Press W Press W on the keyboard to zoom in.
Press S Press S to zoom out
Press A Press A to move to the left.
Press D Press D to move to the right.
Right click to to go back to camera view. Right click to to go back to camera view.
Second method is using the mouse wheel or scroll in fly mode to zoom in and out of the camera view.
Press Shift F. Press Shift F to enter the fly mode.
Scroll the mouse wheel up Scroll the mouse wheel upwards to zoom in.

For shortcut, press numpad +

Scroll the mouse wheel down Scroll the mouse wheel downwards to zoom out.

For shortcut, press numpad -

Right click to to go back to camera view. Right click to to go back to camera view.
Last method is using the mouse wheel or scroll in fly mode

to move the camera view left to right and vice versa.

Press Shift F to enter the fly mode Press Shift F to enter the fly mode
Press D and scroll the mouse wheel up and down Press D and scroll the mouse wheel up and down.

The Camera view moves left to right and vice versa.

Left click to lock the camera view Left click to lock the camera view.

Now, this is your new camera view.

Slide 4 So this wraps up our tutorial on Navigation - Camera View.

Now in a new file,

change the location of the camera and the camera view, roll, pan, dolly and track your camera

and use the fly mode to select a new camera view.

Slide 5 This Tutorial is created by Project Oscar and supported by the National Mission on Education through ICT.

More information on the same is available at the following links oscar.iitb.ac.in, and spoken-tutorial.org/NMEICT-Intro.

The Spoken Tutorial Project

conducts workshops using spoken tutorials

also gives certificates to those who pass an online test.

For more details, please contact sptutemail@gmail.com


Thanks for joining us

Slide 6 and this is Monisha from IIT Bombay signing off.

Contributors and Content Editors

Chandrika