Mastering 3D Navigation & Cameras in Vectorworks

A guide to working efficiently in perspective, plus how to set up accurate camera views.

The Flyover tool is best for external views. When navigating an interior space, it’s better to use the Walkthrough Tool (below) to navigate inside.

• Before using the Walkthrough Tool or a 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse, it can be helpful to set an initial POV within the set. This can be done with either the Set 3D View command or by using a Renderworks Camera.

• The Set 3D View command is found under the View menu, or you can use the shortcut Cmd+0 / Ctrl+0 (that’s a zero).

• Click twice: the first click is where you’d like to stand, and the second click is the direction you’d like to look.

• The subsequent pop-up asks for Viewer Height, Look Toward Height, plus a Perspective setting.

  • You’ll typically enter the same value in both height fields (perhaps 5’), and Normal Perspective is fine to start off with.

  • These values will automatically be reused next time you use this command.

• When you click OK, your point of view is placed into the space. Switch the render mode from Wireframe to Shaded (unless your preferences are set to do that automatically).

• If you’d like to change the perspective amount, you can use the Current Projection dropdown in the view bar.

  • “Normal Perspective” is default. In small spaces you might prefer a slightly wider angle view, though I find that the “Wide Perspective” preset is usually too wide/distorted, so I choose Set Custom Perspective and move the slider to the right a bit.

  • For lens-accurate perspective amounts, use Renderworks Cameras (covered later).

• The Walkthrough Tool (Visualization Toolset) will let you navigate the interior of a 3D model.

• In my workspace I customize the shortcut to be Shift+W since that’s easy to remember and comfortable with one hand.

• The Walkthrough Tool only works in Perspective projection, and will automatically switch you to perspective if needed.

• There are four modes in the Walkthrough Tool, outlined below, which can be explored by using the practice file at the top of this page.

• The first mode of the Walkthrough Tool is Walk Mode.

• Click and hold the left mouse button, then move the cursor upwards. This makes you walk forward in 3D space.

• The point on the screen where you first click is indicated with a small black “+”. The further away from this point you move your cursor, the faster you move within your model.

• Moving the cursor below the “+” will move you backwards.

• To steer, move the cursor to the left or right to veer that direction.

• By moving the cursor around the screen you can navigate through a 3D model as if you’re walking in real life. This may take some practice to get used to; use the file above to take a few practice laps around the model.

• The second mode is called Look Around Mode, and requires that you click and hold just like the previous mode. The direction you move your cursor affects the direction you look (pan & tilt).

• To use an analogy, this mode leaves your eyes exactly where they are in 3D space and simply moves your head around, allowing you to see what’s visible from a particular point in space (the nodal point).

• For example, this can be useful for checking sightlines for an audience member sitting in a particular seat, or for seeing what a camera can see from a particular camera position.

• The third mode, Elevator Mode, has only one function: moving your POV up and down on the Z axis by clicking and holding in that direction.

• This can also be achieved by typing in a particular Z value in the mode bar “Viewer Height” field and pressing Enter.

• The fourth mode is the most versatile. Gamer Mode combines the abilities of all three previous modes.

• The controls for this mode follow conventional video game keyboard controls which can be viewed or customized by clicking the Preferences button in the mode bar.

  • By default, use the W, A, S, and D keys to Move Forward, Slide Left, Move Backwards, and Slide Right, respectively.

  • To move up and down, the default keys are Z and C, though I customize these as E and Q to match other programs like Unreal.

  • Note that when in Gamer Mode, the mapped functionality for these keys overrides any other functionality they may have.

  • When finished, use the X key to return to the default Selection tool.

• In addition to moving around the space, you can click (and release) the left mouse button to start looking around (similar to Look Around Mode, except you don’t hold the mouse button). Click again to finish looking around.

• Gamer mode is most powerful when you combine moving around with looking around. Use your left hand on the keyboard to move while your right hand on the mouse steers (once you’ve clicked to look around).

• Practice making a few more laps in the Vectorworks file until you’re comfortable with Gamer Mode.

• Renderworks Cameras give you additional specific control of view settings, and should be used in the following scenarios:

  • When visualizing what a real-life camera would see.

  • When fine-tuning perspective amount, angle of view, camera lenses with specific focal lengths, etc.

  • When setting up renderings at a specific aspect ratio.

• In the practice file, run the Saved View called “03. Camera Practice Plan” which takes you to a different design layer.

• First practice inserting cameras in Top/Plan.

  • The Renderworks Camera tool is found within the Visualization toolset.

  • The first click defines the placement of the camera, and the second click determines the direction of view.

  • The distance between the two clicks has no effect on the actual camera view, it only affects how large the 2D camera object is drawn in plan.

    • The location of the second click does come into play if you use the “Fine Tune Camera View” function, as it defines the picture plane which remains fixed when adjusting settings such as the Perspective slider.

  • In Top/Plan the camera object has blue handles that allow you to adjust the nodal point, picture plane, and Field of View interactively using the Selection Tool.

• All parameters related to the Camera can be changed in the Object Info Palette. For example:

  • Use Camera Height and Look To Height to set the camera’s height from the floor. When these two values are the same, vertical lines remain parallel.

    • If the set includes a deck/platform, set the Z parameter to the height of the deck. Then the Camera height is in relation to this Z offset. Otherwise leave the Z at 0”.

  • Set the Camera’s “Render Mode” parameter to Shaded (if you plan on rendering, you’ll choose a Renderworks mode later for the viewport, so don’t worry about that currently).

  • Make sure the Aspect Ratio is set to the desired ratio (such as 16:9 for TV).

  • The Field of View (technically this should be Angle of View), is the most accurate way to make sure that the perspective view in Vectorworks matches that of a real-life camera. I don’t recommend using the Focal Length parameter, as that relies on choosing an accurate sensor size for a particular camera. (A lens with a particular focal length will produce a different angle of view on cameras with different sensor sizes.) Since this requires a more advanced understanding of camera optics, it’s easier to always stick with the Field of View parameter, measured horizontally in degrees. The Director / DP / Cinematographer can usually give you this angle, or it can be derived from manufacturer spec sheets, or from handy charts like those created by Randall Wilkins.

  • The other parameters are relatively self-explanatory and can be experimented with. However, there are three legacy parameters that should be ignored completely: “For DPI of”, “Pixel Size is”, and “Crop Frame Scale %” have nothing to do with modern workflows and do not affect renderings on sheet layers.

  • The settings in the bottom category - Renderworks Camera Effects - are more advanced. Some settings only render when using a Render Style that has Camera Effects enabled (see my guide to Render Styles).

    • Turn on the Depth of Field checkbox if you’d like to render with bokeh (out-of-focus areas in foreground/background).

    • I recommend starting with an F-Stop of f/1.0, as that will yield the maximum amount of bokeh, then you can back off as necessary.

    • In Top/Plan, measure the distance from the camera’s nodal point to the object you’d like to be in focus, then type that length into Focus Distance.

    • Depth of Field and only renders when Camera Effects is enabled within the render mode settings. You must also be in the active camera view (or using a sheet layer viewport with embedded RW Camera).

  • The defaults for new cameras can be defined by clicking the Preferences button in the mode bar prior to inserting a camera. These defaults are document-specific, so it’s wise to set up default camera settings in your personal template file.

Activating Cameras

• To see what the camera sees, you must “activate” the camera view.

  • There are three ways to activate a Renderworks Camera:

    1. Double click the camera object in the drawing.

    2. Click the “Activate Camera View” button in the Object Info Palette (OIP).

    3. Turn on the Visualization Palette (Window > Palettes), switch to the Camera tab, then activate the desired camera by clicking in the first column.

  • Only one camera can be active at a time.

• Activating a camera is different than having a camera selected. For example, you can be in an active camera view even after deselecting the camera object. The fail-proof way to know whether you’re in a camera view is to look for the Active Camera icon in the Visualization Palette, or to notice the crop marks on the screen that indicate the camera’s view.

• It’s imperative to remember that when you are in an active camera view, navigating in 3D affects the camera object. When using the Walkthrough Tool, for example, the camera object follows you around. You are the active camera.

  • This functionality can be useful for finding and fine-tuning camera views, but in cases where you don’t want to alter a camera, make sure to de-activate it before navigating in 3D.

• Whenever I find a camera POV that I want to keep for later, I create a Saved View so that it’s handy and organized into a list. This is also a safeguard in case you accidentally move the camera as described above. The Saved View stores the POV independently from the camera object (i.e. a Saved View is not connected to a camera object in any way).

Cropped Perspective [deprecated]

• When you’re in an active camera view, there are four blue crop marks in each corner indicating the crop frame of the camera view. These are based on the camera settings (such as aspect ratio) determined in the Object Info Palette.

• When setting up camera views, I prefer to not see objects outside of the camera’s frame. This can be achieved by going to File > Document Settings > Document Preferences, and turning on Cropped Perspective in the first tab. This is actually a legacy setting for camera objects, but I like the interface a bit more than the blue corners, plus you can zoom in and out without accidentally dollying your camera.

• Cropped Perspective is not very useful outside of working with cameras, so I turn this setting on and off depending on what I’m doing (setting up actual camera views versus just working in perspective). For added efficiency, you can add a custom command to your workspace to toggle this setting on and off with a keyboard shortcut (I use Cmd+Opt+C).

Match Current View

• If you’re working in perspective (perhaps using the Walkthrough Tool) and haven’t yet added in a camera, you might come across a composition that you like. It’s possible to add in a camera object that matches the view without going to Top/Plan.

• With the camera tool active, click two times to insert the camera object somewhere in these scene arbitrarily. You might not actually see the camera object, but it’ll be selected in the OIP, where you can click the Match Current View button.

• Now the camera’s orientation matches your view perfectly. You may also then choose to Activate the camera depending on what you want to do next.

Seeing a Camera Object in 3D

• If you’d like to see the camera itself in 3D, set the Camera Display parameter to one of the options the includes 3D.

• You’ll then see the camera in 3D views (both orthogonal and perspective), assuming it’s not currently activated.

• This can be useful for a section study, for example, in which you might look at a side view to examine the extents of the camera view as it moves through space.

• When you’re done looking at the camera in 3D, I recommend setting it back to 2D+Name so that the camera lines aren’t visible when in other camera views.

Practice Setting Up Camera Views

• So far this page has outlined various parameters available to you when using cameras. Within the context of a real project, the order of operations and the parameters you use will vary depending on the circumstances. Instead of trying to remember a specific step-by-step workflow, focus on understanding how the tool functions so you feel comfortable interacting with it in the future.

• Below is one example of setting up a camera in which a particular framing is desired, while the camera’s angle of view and distance from the subject are variables.

  • In the practice file, run the Saved View called “03. Camera Practice Plan” if you’re not already there. Delete any extra cameras.

  • Looking at the plan view of this set, the large opening on the south side will become a framing element in the image composition; we want to look through it towards the two figures to the north.

  • Drop in a camera object on the south side of the set, facing north, and set the “look to” point (the picture plane) at the large framed opening. That way this point will be anchored when fine-tuning the camera, retaining the same framing.

  • Activate the Camera (in the OIP or by double-clicking it). Switch to Cropped Perspective if desired.

  • In the OIP click the Fine Tune Camera View button, then move the pop-up to the side so you can see the camera view.

  • Use the Perspective slider to choose the amount of perspective in the composition (up to you). This slider keeps the picture plane in place while changing both the Angle of View and the camera placement as needed.

  • When you click okay and return to Top/Plan, you’ll see that the camera position has moved and it’s set to a different Field of View (and therefore focal length). The default angle was 65° (33mm).

  • Continue fine-tuning the view as desired, and when finalized, create a Saved View (remember this has no link to the camera, it’s just another way to store that point of view).

• Practice finding additional camera views with different hypothetical variables. For example, how would you approach finding a shot if you knew it would be captured with a 15° Field of View lens?

  • Remember you can use the modes of the Walkthrough tool to reposition an activated camera.

• The next step moving forward might be to take a camera and make a Sheet Layer viewport for rendering purposes, but that is another tutorial for another day.

• Renderworks Cameras haven’t been updated in Vectorworks in many many years, so if you find some aspects frustrating, you’re probably right! But with practice you can get use to their idiosyncrasies.

• I hope you found this page useful, and if you have any questions or comments, please use the form below. Thanks!