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3D Scene Editor

The "Scene Editor" is the main panel of the application in which scenes and animations are displayed ("render view"). It is the only panel that cannot be closed.

Five types of interactions are possible with the render view:

  • Camera Manipulation 
  • Camera Sequence Editor 
  • Context Resource Pool 
  • Camera Group 
  • Camera Gizmos 
  • Light Gizmos 
  • Picking and Transforming Items 
  • Navigation Panel 


See Also
3D Editing Helpers 

 

 

 

Camera Manipulation 

Camera Manipulation

The Camera combo box provides following camera views for a 3D scene:

  • "Perspective" camera: It offers an approximate representation of the image as it is seen by the eye. A default light is used when the scene doesn't contain any object of type light.
  • "Orthogonal" cameras with the subcategories Front, Rear, Top, Bottom, Left and Right: Orthogonal projection is a means of representing a three-dimensional object in two dimensions.
  • Scene cameras: Further, each camera part of the scene is listed in the combo box. If a scene camera is selected, the scene is displayed from that camera's perspective. Scene cameras are created by dragging an item of type "Camera" from the Toolbox panel and dropping it into the Scene Tree or Scene Editor panel.
Note:
The scene has to contain an object of type Light to ensure proper lighting in the scene.
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"Camera Manipulation" Toolbar Items
Note:
In scene camera view, the camera properties can only be edited in the "Properties" panel.
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Perspective Camera View
Orthogonal Top View


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Scene Camera View

The Aspect Ratio and the Aspect Autofit properties are available for Camera 3D. If the Aspect Autofit property is set to true (when the checkbox available for Aspect Ratio property is checked), the aspect of the camera will be calculated based on the width and height of the render target. Otherwise, if the checkbox available for Aspect Ratio is left unchecked, the aspect of the camera will be calculated based on the resolution of the display.

Note:
Both properties are available under the name of the first property - Aspect Ratio.
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"Aspect Ratio" Property and its Tooltip

Camera Panning and Zooming

The scene content displayed in the Scene Editor can be modified like this:

  • Panning: Move the mouse while holding the middle mouse button down
  • Zooming: Rotate the mouse wheel forward for zooming in and backward for zooming out

Enable panning and zooming also for scene cameras with a preference option:

  • Tick "Enable scene camera manipulation" in the "Editor Preferences" dialog opened from File-Preferences menu option.

Orient Camera to Selected Object

Sometimes it is quite difficult to locate in a 3D scene a new added object. This feature provides new control to active camera: orienting it to a selected object.

Note:
This feature is available only for "Perspective" camera.

First select the object in the Scene Tree. After this the "Perspective" camera will be oriented towards the selected object, by pressing the "O" key. The position of the camera remains unchanged; the only thing that changes is its orientation. The reference of the orientation is the geometric center (or "centroid") of the selected object.

Rotate Perspective Camera around Selected Object

The object can be seen from different angles by rotating the Perspective Camera around a selected object. After the desired object is selected in the Scene Tree, the camera can rotate around it by holding down the Ctrl key and using Rotate camera.

Note:
On the Perspective Camera Scope menu, the "Selection" option should be chosen.
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Perspective Camera Scope Menu

Camera Look-At Node

When this property is set the camera is automatically oriented towards the look-at-node. Up direction and look-at direction are not shown anymore in property grid. Look-at direction is discarded.

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Camera "Look-At Node" Property




Camera Preview Thumbnail

Even though the current selected camera is the Perspective camera, it is possible to see the content displayed by other camera in the thumbnail available in property grid. If the camera is not associated to a render target, the preview will be done on a fixed size virtual render target surface:

  • 100x100px for 3D cameras

If the camera is associated to a render target, the preview will be generated:

  • on a surface of the same aspect ratio as the render target, and then reduced to a thumbnail image - for 3D cameras
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Camera Preview Thumbnail in the Property Grid

The camera preview thumbnail will be displayed in the property grid by selecting the camera whose perspective should be viewed in the Scene Tree.

Note:
The "Alpha Blend Factor" and the "Alpha Destination Blend Factor" in the Default Render Mode Configuration should be set properly. For instance, the former value could be InverseSourceAlpha and the latter value could be DestColor.

Reset Camera

Use the "Reset Camera" button left to the Camera combo box to reset the selected view to the default location and orientation.

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Reset Camera Button


Camera Sequence Editor 

 


Context Resource Pool 

 


Camera Group 

 


Camera Gizmos 

 


Light Gizmos 

 


Picking and Transforming Items 

 


Navigation Panel 

 

 

 

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