How to see something out of your view

[capta134]

I wonder if there is a way to see a part of scene which is out of your eyesight.

The closest thing that I can think of is a glass(mirror) object but that only shows what is behind you.

For example Is there a way to see a little alarm clock sitting on the far right side of the room? Is there a camera object?

 

[MacGruber]

You are looking for the "WindowCamera" atom. It's in every scene by default, unless you deleted it. You need to turn it on and it has a "display" attached you can move around separately (if you detach it).

I think there are also some resources floating around that wrap that into actually assets like "spy cams" and "tablet devices".

 

[capta134]

Thank for the reply. I'm not tht knew to VAM but you as a known expert please tell me,

For me rotating objects(for example camera to point it to the right direction is a daunting task). Is this hard for real or I just need more practice.

Another example is WindowCamera" atom . How do it know where the front point of camera is ?

Is there a tutorial on how to move and rotate objects in VAM?(I can move objects and I can rotate it using rotaton circles or move menu, but still I have diffculty pointing objects)

 

[MacGruber]

Is this hard for real or I just need more practice.

That should just need some practice, I think.

How do it know where the front point of camera is ?

If you select the WindowCamera (or anything in VaM), you see a blue box, with some white boxes attached. The "long white thing" is the forward direction...that's where the camera looks at. The "short white thing" is the direction where "up" is for the camera. See how the preview image is tilted? That's what the up-direction controls. These also correspond to the Z axis (blue = forward) and Y axis (green = up).

Using the "Camera View in HUD" option is generally helpful for aligning things. In Desktop-mode, you can toggle between regular view and the view of the camera by pressing M. Obviously the camera has to be "on", otherwise you just see black.

 

[capta134]

Thanks MacGruber.

I also was able to make it work.

Questions:
1: Is there a way to resize window Camera display? I did not find a size property. It's way too small.

2: I was able to create similar to the picture you attached above. As you see the woman view is tilted. However I have difficulty to move/rotate the camera to the right location to show the woman from the Exact front view. Like when you stand in front a mirror(not tilted).

Again when I choose an objects I seer a move sphere.

 

[MacGruber]

1: Is there a way to resize window Camera display?

For the "DisplayControl" thing, for some reason the setting is on the WindowCamera itself...not the display. "Physics Object" tab => "Scale"
For the "Camera View on HUD", it scales somewhat weirdly with "Field of View" of the Editor camera. It's best at 40 degree.
And again, you can always press M to maximize the camera view. (And again press M to get out)

However I have difficulty to move/rotate the camera to the right location to show the woman from the Exact front view.

Some helpful things:

• You can focus the editor camera on the selected control node by pressing F (there is also a button at the bottom..."Focus Selected")
• By holding Middle / Right Mouse button and moving the mouse, you can move / rotate the editor camera.
• => Focusing on the object and moving/rotating the camera so you see both the camera and what you want the camera to look at should do the trick?
• Do you know about the Move tab? (available on every atom) You can do precise movement there.
  • You could for example press "0" on the Z Rotation to get rid of the tilt. Or rotate by exactly 90deg or whatever.
  • There is a "Select Align To From Scene" button at the bottom. Click that, then click on another object in the scene and it aligns with that object exactly.

Another thing....and I don't know whether it's helpful or more confusing for you at this point. There is the PowerHandles plugin, which is part of my "Essentials" collection. It allows you to move in global orientation (rather than local) by holding SHIFT while moving/rotating and allows you to align to grid by holding SPACE. Also you it requires you to hold CTRL / ALT if you want to move/rotate...that way you don't accidentally rotate instead of move and vice versa. Also prevents accidental movement by disabling VaM's weird click&drag feature. With this plugin you can work a lot quicker and more precise, it's quite popular among the creators who build more complex scenes.

 

[capta134]

Great info. I will try all of all. Thanks!