Camera Manager

The Camera Manager enables you to view and set the properties of Camera objects and Camera Paths in a convenient way. The Camera Manager window opens in CAD, DESIGN and LIVE mode, and shows the following:

• The editable settings for New Camera Defaults showing Layer, Field Angle and Aspect Ratio.
• The option to Override all Cameras’ Aspect Ratio checkbox.
• The editable settings for Dynamic Camera Control showing Universe and Address.
• The table with the list of Camera objects inserted in the plot and their settings: Camera Name, Lock, Hotkey, Field Angle, Aspect Ratio and DMX Value.
• The table with the list of Camera Paths created in the plot and their settings: Camera Path Name, Show Path, Node Number, Aspect Ratio and DMX Patch.
• The option to Enable DMX Control of Cameras/Camera Paths checkbox.

To access the camera manager

1. From the Managers menu, choose Camera Manager.

Result: The Camera Manager window appears.

To edit camera and camera path properties in camera manager

1. In the Camera Manager window, you can change any of the following properties:

New Camera Defaults

This section shows the default properties set for a new Camera object that will be inserted in the drawing.

• Layer: You can specify the default layer of the new Camera objects.
• Field Angle: You can specify the default Field Angle (degrees) of the new Camera objects.
• Aspect Ratio: You can specify the default fixed Aspect Ratio of the new Camera objects.

Override Aspect Ratio

This section shows the option to change the Aspect Ratios for all Cameras.

• Override all Cameras’ Aspect Ratio - Display at: Select this checkbox to override the Aspect Ratios for all Cameras and click a temporary Aspect Ratio from the drop-down list to view all Cameras in your drawing.

Note: All previously set Aspect Ratios are preserved in the table, and can be used after this option is disabled.

Dynamic Camera Switching

Use the Universe drop-down list and the Address box to set the DMX channel that will control switching between Standard Cameras. Sending a DMX value of 0 (zero) on this channel switches to the World Camera. All other values, from 1 to 255, switches to the Standard Camera assigned to that value in the DMX Value column in the Camera table below it.

• Universe: From this drop-down list, select the patch Universe for Dynamic Camera Switching. Click on the ellipsis button [...] to create a new universe.
• Address: Type the DMX address (DMX channel) for the Universe above, which controls Dynamic Camera Switching.

Camera

This section shows the list of Camera objects inserted in the plot with their corresponding properties.

• Camera Name: Click the Camera name cell to edit the Camera’s name.
• Lock: Select this checkbox to Lock the selected Camera in the Shaded view.
• Hotkey: From this drop-down list, assign a new numbered Hotkey for the selected Camera.
• Field Angle: Click the Field Angle cell and write the new Field Angle (degrees) for the selected Camera.
• Aspect Ratio: From the drop-down list, select a new fixed Aspect Ratio for the selected Camera. This option is disabled when Override all Cameras’ Aspect Ratio is checked.
• DMX Value: This column displays the DMX value that was set in Camera Properties. You can select the value from this column drop-down list if it was not previously set in the Camera Properties.

Camera Path

This section displays the list of Camera Paths created in the plot.

• Camera Path Name: Click the Camera Path Name cell to edit the Camera Path’s name.
• Show Path: Select this checkbox to show the selected Camera Path.
• Node: Select this checkbox to show the Nodes created along the selected Camera Path.
• Node Num: Select this checkbox to show the Numbers assigned to each of the Nodes along the selected Camera Path.
• Aspect Ratio: From this drop-down list, select a new fixed Aspect Ratio for the selected Camera Path. This option is disabled when Override all Cameras’ Aspect Ratio is checked
• DMX Patch: If the Camera Path is patched, click the DMX Patch box and enter the DMX value of the selected Camera Path.
• Enable DMX Control of Cameras/Camera Paths: Select this checkbox to enable Dynamic Camera Switching and DMX control of Camera Paths’ playback. When selected, the drop-down list on the Camera toolbar is disabled, and the only way to switch between cameras is by assigning the corresponding DMX values (i.e. those defined in the Camera table) from the connected console, on the DMX universe/address that were set in Dynamic Camera Switching section above.

Notes:            

• Selecting the Enable DMX Control of Cameras/Camera Paths checkbox has the same effect as selecting the Use DMX for Cameras button on the Camera toolbar and the two are always in sync.
• In LIVE mode, the Current Camera drop-down list on the Camera toolbar, the Camera Hotkeys and the Camera Path drop-down list and playback controls on the Timeline tool are disabled when the Use DMX for Cameras button is enabled. These checkbox and button do not affect DESIGN mode (even when using WYSIWYG Perform).
• The disabled Current Camera drop-down list will keep updating to display the name of the current Camera view that is active.

2. Click Apply to activate the changes.
3. Click OK.