Resetting the camera?

callumlulz

I'm having an issue with my perspective view where it seems to be panning around an object in the scene, I'm not sure what the object is, but I don't want it to do this.

How do I make it so the camera pans around itself, as if I am moving in a first-person view, so I can rotate and see everything around me, not pan around a random object?

Richard Haseltine

You can reset to the default using the hollow arrow in a white circle icon at the bottom of the view controls, top-right of the viewport by default.

callumlulz

Richard Haseltine said:

You can reset to the default using the hollow arrow in a white circle icon at the bottom of the view controls, top-right of the viewport by default.

I've tried that, it still seems to rotate around something, rather than being as if it was in first-person

gederix

Maybe right click on the view rotation icon instead of left click.

3delinquent

All the view control icons can be right and left clicked for different effect. For example left click and drag on rotaion will orbit the camera around your scene, right click will leave the camera stationary and rotate it on its own axis to point in a different direction. The icon with the small + sign with a 'broken' box around it is indespensable. Left click will snap your active view or camera to any object you have selected and frame it in the viewport. Right click will leave your camera where it is but will rotate it on its own axis to point at whatever you have selected in the scene. In either case with this tool once activated the camera will then orbit in relation to the selected object. Remeber that selection of an object in the scene is so often a requirement before anything else can be done or will work as you expected. I recommend you play with all those view controls and work out what they can and can't do. Be aware there are keyboard shortcuts as well.... 

Kitsumo

So what you want is a camera that you can pan around like a first person shooter.  To get this, go to the camera menu, select whichever camera you are using, and look for Focal Distance.  This is that imaginary point that the camera keeps rotating around.  Set focal distance to something small like .1 (setting it to zero causes problems).  Then click the lock icon for that control to keep it from changing.  That should achieve what you want.  Respond or message me if you need more details.

Caution: the Focal Distance is also used to calculate depth of field, so if you want to use DOF it's going to make everything blurry because it's trying to focus too close (like .1 units in front of the camera).  So I guess you can't have it both ways (as far as I know)

Ken OBanion

One more thing to mention (which is something that has burned me a few times, when I forgot):

You mentioned the Perspective View -- you should keep in mind that this isn't really a camera; it's just a 'view' into the scene that, in a number of respects, acts like a camera (i.e., you can move it around and render through it).  However, when you exit DS and re-open the scene, the Perspective View will always return to its default position and orientation; it isn't saved as part of the scene because, well, it isn't part of the scene.

Best practice is to create a 'default' (or 'scene') camera, that you use to set up your scene frame.  That camera's position and orientation will be saved as part of the scene; it's a scene asset, just like figures, props, lights, and all that.

The good news is that you can tell DAZ Studio to always do this for you -- in case you forget, which I invariably do.  Just select Edit->Preferences... from the menu.  On the Preferences dialog, select the Scene tab.  Check the box 'Create a "Default Camera" and click "Accept".  From that point forward, every time you start a new scene, DS will add a Default Camera to it.  Just remember to use it.