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Camera Manager

Create, edit, and delete dynamic cameras

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Description

Camera Manager is a Mechanics Explorer tool that lets you create, edit, and delete cameras with dynamic viewpoints.

You can constrain the camera trajectories using keyframe and tracking modes. Use the keyframe mode to set the camera viewpoints at specific playback times and apply smooth interpolation between them. Use the tracking mode to fix the camera position and aim to coordinate frames and follow them during playback.

The cameras that you create appear in the cameras list shown in the visualization context-sensitive menu. To select a camera, right-click the visualization pane and select Camera. If the visualization pane is split into tiles, you can assign a different camera to each tile. All dynamic cameras use a perspective projection to capture the visualization contents.

Open the Camera Manager App

From the Mechanics Explorer menu bar, select Tools > Camera Manager. Use the camera definition pane to set the camera mode and trajectory constraints. To open the camera definition pane for a new camera, click the button in the New Camera field. To open the camera definition pane for an existing camera field, click the button.

Parameters

Label used to identify the camera in the main pane of Camera Manager and in the visualization context-sensitive menu.

Select a mode for defining the camera trajectory:

  • Keyframes — Set the camera viewpoints at specific playback times. The camera trajectory is the result of smooth interpolation applied between keyframes.

  • Tracking — Constrain the camera position, aim, and up vector to coordinate frames in the model. The camera trajectory is the result of the constraints applied to the camera. In Tracking mode, the Status indicator is red if the camera definition is incomplete or invalid, as determined by the specified values for the Position, Aim, and Up Vector parameters.

Dependencies

When Mode is set to:

  • Keyframes — The Keyframes setting buttons, Set, Remove, Previous, and Next, are visible.

  • Tracking — The tracking status and related parameters, Position, Aim, and Up Vector, are visible.

Use the buttons to set, remove, and navigate camera keyframes:

  • Set — Define a keyframe with the current viewpoint shown in the active visualization tile. Click Set for an existing keyframe to modify its definition.

  • Remove — Remove the currently selected keyframe from the camera trajectory definition. The location of the playback slider identifies the selected keyframe.

  • Previous and Next — Go to the previous or next defined keyframes.

Dependencies

  • Before setting keyframes, you must simulate the model and pause playback.

  • The Keyframes parameter is active only when the Mode parameter is set to Keyframes.

Frame origin used to constrain the camera position. During simulation, the camera position follows the trajectory traced by the selected frame origin. To set the camera position:

  1. In the Mechanics Explorer visualization or tree view panes, select a coordinate frame.

  2. In Camera Manager, click the Use Selected Frame button.

Be sure to select the frame itself and not simply the solid or body it belongs to.

Dependencies

The Position parameter is active only when the Mode parameter is set to Tracking.

Frame origin or axis used to constrain the camera orientation. During simulation, the camera aim stays fixed on the selected frame origin or aligned along the selected frame axis. To set the camera aim:

  1. In the Mechanics Explorer visualization or tree view panes, select a coordinate frame.

  2. In Camera Manager, click the Use Selected Frame button.

  3. From the adjacent drop-down list, select the frame origin or axis to constrain the camera aim to.

Be sure to select the frame itself and not simply the solid or body it belongs to.

Dependencies

The Aim parameter is active only when the Mode parameter is set to Tracking.

Frame axis used to constrain the camera up direction. During simulation, the up direction stays aligned with the selected axis. To set the camera up direction:

  1. In the Mechanics Explorer visualization or tree view panes, select a coordinate frame.

  2. In Camera Manager, click the Use Selected Frame button.

  3. From the adjacent drop-down list, select the frame axis to align the camera up direction with.

Be sure to select the frame itself and not simply the solid or body it belongs to.

Dependencies

The Up Vector parameter is active only when the Mode parameter is set to Tracking.

Version History

Introduced in R2016a

See Also

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