8
1216 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras
Target Camera
Create panel > Cameras > Target
Create menu > Cameras > Target Cam era
A target camera “views” the area around the target
icon that you place when you create the camera. A
target camera is easier to aim than a free camera
because you simply position the target object at
the center of interest.
You can animate both the target camera and its
target to create interesting effects. To animate both
thetargetandcameraalongapath,itisbestto
link them both to a dummy object, then animate
the dummy.
Note: When you add a target camera, 3ds Max
automatically assigns a
Look At controller (page
2–329)
to it, with the camera’s target object
assigned as the Look At t arget. You can use the
controller settings on the Motion panel to assign
any other object in the scene as the Look At t arget.
Target cameras always face th eir target.
Procedure
To create a target camera:
1.
Do one of the following:
• Click Cameras on the Create panel, then
click Target in the Object Type rollout.
• Choose Create menu > Camer as > Target
Camera.
2. Drag in a Top or Perspective viewport. The
initial point of the drag is the location of the
camera,andthepointwhereyoureleasethe
mouse is the location of the target.
Thecameraisnowpartofthescene.Itisaimed
at the target, which is a separate object.
3. Set the creation parameters.
Interfa ce
See
Common Camera Parameters (page 2–1218)
for a description of the common camera
parameters.
Thedistancefromthecameratothetargetis
displayed at the bottom of the Parameters rollout.
You can animate this parameter, or directly
animate the target object’s location.
When you rename a target camera, the target
is automatically renamed to match. For
example, r enaming
Camera01
to
Rolli
causes
Camera01.Target
to become
Rolli.Target
.The
target’s name must have the extension
.Target
.
Renaming the target object does not rename the
camera object.
Clicking the line that connects the camer a and
its target selects both objects. However, region
selection doesn’t recognize the link line.
If a t arget camera is already selected, you add its
target to the selection by right-clicking the camera,
and then choosing Select Target from t he quad
menu > Tools1 quadrant. Or you can hold down
theCTRLkeyandclickthetargettoaddittothe
selection set.