3D Compositing with Action > Action: Camera > Setting Camera Views >

# Camera and Orthographic Views

You can view the scene from Camera view and three orthographic views. In Camera view, an object becomes smaller as it moves farther away from the camera. In orthographic view, an object remains the same size, regardless of its distance from the camera. Orthographic views are more helpful for aligning objects.

The following figures illustrate the different angles by which the scene can be viewed. The scene in this example contains a grey back clip and the 3D model of an apple.

Front view | Camera view
Side view | Top view

To set camera and orthographic views:

1. From the View box, select Camera or an orthographic view. When in Camera view, use the Camera box that appears to select which camera is used in the image window.

   (a) View box(b) Camera box

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   Camera | View the scene in Camera view. This is the scene as viewed by the camera eye. In other words, your field of vision in world space is equivalent to the viewing frustum of the camera. The size of objects depends on their distance from the camera eye.
   Top | View the scene as if you are positioned on the positive Y-axis. This is an orthographic view; there is no perspective deformation.
   Side | View the scene from the side, as if you are positioned on the positive X-axis. This is an orthographic view; there is no perspective deformation.
   Front | View the scene as if your line of vision is directed into the camera eye. This is an orthographic view; there is no perspective deformation.

2. If you have multiple cameras in the scene, use the Camera box to define which camera is used for the Camera view in the image window. The camera selected in this box is not necessarily the camera used to process the scene.
3. Adjust the view with the Ortho Views controls, if needed.

   When using an orthographic view, you may notice that parts of the object you are viewing are getting cut off. Adjust the near and far ortho views. You gain more space to view the object, but lose some viewing precision.

   In the Display section of the Action Setup menu , adjust the Near and Far fields.

   (a) Ortho Views in Setup menu

   NoteThe Ortho Views parameters in the Action Setup menu are only for viewing objects, and cannot be animated or saved. The Near and Far fields in the Camera menu are used to set clipping planes. See Moving the Clipping Planes.

In addition to Camera and the three orthographic views, you can also select Schematic view, which uses nodes to represent the objects in the scene and arrows to illustrate the relationships between objects.