How to Animate a Camera?

# 1 26-11-2006 , 11:05 AM

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pls help me how can i animate a camera?? how can i move it to what i want to view my object in like a holywood movies?? i hope you can help me

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# 2 26-11-2006 , 02:28 PM

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Just move it and set keyframes

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# 3 26-11-2006 , 08:41 PM

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And make sure its selected.

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# 4 27-11-2006 , 06:23 AM

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Well, they're right. But, if you're still having issues, try this.

First, create a camera (Create-> Camera), and name it whatever you'd like. Then, in the 4 pane view, select one of the panels you probably won't use and click on Panels-> Perspective-> and select the camera you made. That way, you can control the camera directly, and view whatever you want. After that, you just have to do what was mentioned earlier, select the camera and keyframe it.

Also, in the other panels, you may want to show cameras so you can easily find and select your cam.

Click Show, and make sure Cameras is checked.

Good luck!

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# 5 27-11-2006 , 03:39 PM

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i love animating cameras! But dont be too camera happy.be warned!

Its too easy to think yor steven spielberg and focus more on the cameras than the animation its itself.

One thing i was looking for, for a long time was how to animate camera cuts. Heres how if you dont know yet:

1) Create Camera and key frame it.

2) Move it, and key frame it again.

3) Now in the timeline, shift select the 2 'ticks'

4) Right click the now red area of the timeline, and go Tangeants > Stepped

Now click play and enjoy. Remember to be as realistic as poss.

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# 6 27-11-2006 , 07:17 PM

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one problem with animating camera cuts reverts back to 'thinking like a filmmaker' like you were talking about...

when you think about camera cuts, you want to keep the motion similar, which is called 'cutting to continuity'.

basically, a handy tip to keep in mind is that when you're cutting from further away (from the action) to closer up, you want to shave off a few frames (only like 3-4, unless you're animating at 15fps, then 2-3)of the animation. if you're changing camera angle from closer up to farther away, you want to repeat a few frames from the new angle. in order to do these kinds of things, you'll want to render out two times from different cameras (for the few-frame overlap) to ensure you get enough coverage... so keying camera cuts isn't always a great idea.

one extra tip to keep in mind is DO NOT move your camera too much. just because you can rotate it and dolly in/out and pan around freely with your camera doesn't mean you should. it might look cool to you, but it's more than likely only distracting to your audience. think about your subject. are you revealing something about it? is it going somewhere you can't see in frame? if so, then moving the camera MIGHT be ok... but not always necessarily so.

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# 7 27-11-2006 , 08:25 PM

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yeah gd point neo about cuts, didnt think of the frames. Im not an expert, so i didnt think of that.

Thnax

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# 8 29-04-2015 , 12:33 AM

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Question

Hello!
I am trying to create a camera that follows a character. Also, I created certain controls to rotate the camera, and move back and forth. I tried to make certain buttons to set the camera in certain positions, like a "conversation position" or a "fight position".
Unfortunately, the camera is not what I want.
Can somebody help me to create a camera that...
Follows the character (like "always aiming the back of the character")
Restores its position
Rotates around the character´s waist
Zooms in and zooms out of the character
Gets an aim when the character uses a fire weapon
Shows the character health
Gets a "pause screen" whenever it is necessary
Shows texts in the lowest side of the screen?
I am asking this because I wanna create videos, so I can create a video game.
Thanks.
user added image

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# 9 29-04-2015 , 01:03 PM

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This sort of functionality doesn't seem to be best implemented in Maya with camera controls. If you want overlays and that sort of thing for a video, you would want to composite those after, like in After Effects. If you want to create a video game, then you should look into something like Unity for making video games. The assets can be created in Maya, but it's not totally clear what your objective here is.

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# 10 04-05-2015 , 06:26 AM

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Thanks

This sort of functionality doesn't seem to be best implemented in Maya with camera controls. If you want overlays and that sort of thing for a video, you would want to composite those after, like in After Effects. If you want to create a video game, then you should look into something like Unity for making video games. The assets can be created in Maya, but it's not totally clear what your objective here is.

Originally Posted by stwert

Thank you.
All I needed was to create some joints. That way I can parent the camera, and no matter where the joint that moves the camera goes: the pivot will always stay where I want. user added image

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# 11 25-05-2015 , 05:50 AM

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Hello again.
Now that I am trying to texture my objects in MAYA, can you tell me what is the best way?
Do I have to export my files to photoshop, or to autodesk mud box?

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# 12 16-06-2015 , 12:03 AM

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Can anyone tell me if it is possible to render with sound in maya?

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# 13 16-06-2015 , 01:46 AM

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Hello again.
Now that I am trying to texture my objects in MAYA, can you tell me what is the best way?
Do I have to export my files to photoshop, or to autodesk mud box?

Originally Posted by arkmnpszy

The "best" way of texturing comes down to a matter of resources and preferences I think. You could take your UV maps into Photoshop for painting however, I can't recommend it's 3D painting capabilities as its handling of obj files was pretty weak last I checked. Or you could take your models into Mudbox/Zbrush/Mari or whatever, there are quite a few others.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to render with sound in maya?

Originally Posted by arkmnpszy

I don't even know if the avi output for software render can do that. Even then, it's not worth the downsides. Common practice is to render out image sequences and add sound in post.

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# 14 23-06-2015 , 03:13 PM

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Thank you, buddy!

The "best" way of texturing comes down to a matter of resources and preferences I think. You could take your UV maps into Photoshop for painting however, I can't recommend it's 3D painting capabilities as its handling of obj files was pretty weak last I checked. Or you could take your models into Mudbox/Zbrush/Mari or whatever, there are quite a few others.

I don't even know if the avi output for software render can do that. Even then, it's not worth the downsides. Common practice is to render out image sequences and add sound in post.

Originally Posted by Gen