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Decent camera tutorial for animation

office_264e2f23office_264e2f23 Posts: 0
in New Users

Is there a decent tutorial on cameras for animation out there?  Every camera "tutorial" I have seen either focuses on still-frame renders, are just a clip of an animation they created, or the poster focuses 90% of the video on what props they added to the scene, and then focuses almost exclusively on F-Stop, Focal distance, etc.

I am seeing if Daz is a good option for creating videos to teach some basic dance techniques.  I have the basic camera moves mapped out in Timeline, but it looks like the camera operator is being attacked by a dog while the camera field of view changes - the model disappears from the frame as if the operator is more concerned with being attacked than filming the scene.

Desired shots are:

Full front view

Pan down to show shoulders to pelvis

Pan down/zoom in to a front view of the feet

Spin on the X-Axis to show the bottom of the feet

Return to the front view of the feet

Spin on the Y-Axis while panning up and zooming out to show foot-to-pelvis at 45° (roughly 2 o'clock)

Continue to spin on the Y-Axis to zoom in and show the upper thighs to upper abdomen (rear)

Zoom out to full rear view

Spin on the Y-Axis to show the dancer their perspective of the hands.

Comments

  • rames44rames44 Posts: 329

    I think you're going to find that the Daz animation tools are a bit limited in this respect.  You can do keyframe animations of the camera, but it's up to you to get everything correct, which can be hard, since the DS tools are still a bit primitive.  You might think about giving Blender a shot.  With the new Daz-to-Blender bridge, you can get Daz characters over into Blender, and then use Blender's animation features, which are a lot more advanced.  Then render with Cycles or Eevee...

  • Catherine3678abCatherine3678ab Posts: 8,336
    office_264e2f23 said:

    Is there a decent tutorial on cameras for animation out there?  Every camera "tutorial" I have seen either focuses on still-frame renders, are just a clip of an animation they created, or the poster focuses 90% of the video on what props they added to the scene, and then focuses almost exclusively on F-Stop, Focal distance, etc.

    I am seeing if Daz is a good option for creating videos to teach some basic dance techniques.  I have the basic camera moves mapped out in Timeline, but it looks like the camera operator is being attacked by a dog while the camera field of view changes - the model disappears from the frame as if the operator is more concerned with being attacked than filming the scene.

    Desired shots are:

    Full front view

    Pan down to show shoulders to pelvis

    Pan down/zoom in to a front view of the feet

    Spin on the X-Axis to show the bottom of the feet

    Return to the front view of the feet

    Spin on the Y-Axis while panning up and zooming out to show foot-to-pelvis at 45° (roughly 2 o'clock)

    Continue to spin on the Y-Axis to zoom in and show the upper thighs to upper abdomen (rear)

    Zoom out to full rear view

    Spin on the Y-Axis to show the dancer their perspective of the hands.

    Try using several cameras - each one dedicated to the specific task. Render out parts of the scene individually. There is a nifty script available for free too for rendering all in one go from camera to camera. Thread Post. mCasual

  • azcraigrrazcraigrr Posts: 70

    Are you looking for something like this?

     

  • office_264e2f23office_264e2f23 Posts: 0

    I found a video which gave a decent tutorial.  Unfortunately, just after I got the concepts to work, I got a BSOD and haven't been able to find the specific tutorial again.  I was impressed by WP guru's videos, since he breaks the mold and actually shows all steps and gives enough time for the viewer to see what he's doing - he doesn't just say "snarfle the garthock" and jump right in to the next step.  I really prefer to give due credit when someone creates a good tutorial.

    What I was looking for is camera orbit functions, not fly-through.  The two share some techniques but aren't the same by a long shot.  Only one camera is needed with this method.

    The essence of what worked for me:

    1. Create a null and a camera - default settings work fine - needed changes from default are explained below.
    2. Drag the camera onto the null object, which makes it a "child" of the null.  This is often just clumsily referred to as "parenting the camera to the null," without any eplanation if this refers to some hidden command or there are more steps than this.
      1. The Camera's "point at" property will be automatically set to the null.  Keep it there.
    3. Set the camera's X and Y translate, X, Y and Z rotation to 0. 
      1. This locks the camera so that it is pointed directly at the null, squarely - you can lock each of these in the parameters pane, but hasn't proven to be necessary for me.
      2. Camera Z translate can be used to pull the camera in or push it out.  I have found a setting of 400 is a great start for pointing at a single Genesys 8 model.
      3. Camera focal length can be used in concert with Z Translate to change the depth of view
    4. Select the null and set X and Z translate to 0 (assuming the model is in the default location)
      1. Set X, Y and Z rotation to 0
    5. Assuming that the model is in the default location, you can:
      1. Use null's Y translate to move the camera up or down
      2. Use null's X rotation to pan (pitch) the camera higher or lower without changing where the camera is looking - from focusing on the feet to focusing on the head
      3. Use null's Z rotation to orbit (yaw) around the null (move from front to side to rear view) without changing point of focus
      4. Use null's Y rotation to tilt the camera so that up isn't up (roll)
      5. Use null's X and Z translate to pull camera focus away from the model
      6. Use the camera's Z translate to move the camera closer or further from the null, and focal length to zoom in or out

    With this setup, Daz will smoothly transition from perspective to perspective without any "dog attacks."  For spins from front to back, if you want to control the direction, you can set the null's Z rotation at the mid point between key frames - You can even create acceleration and deceleration with key frames.  I have done nearly a dozen videos with this technique, changing the null's Y translation and X and Z rotation without any inexplicable camera moves - the worst I've had has been rotation to one side rather than the other (clockwise vs counter-clockwise) - all fixed with a single key frame adjustment.

    A demo video where I use this technique is at https://kineticdanceacad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/First_Position.mp4 - There is a minor hiccup between the static "overlay" frames and motion to the next static position, which is a result of the Python script I created that merges the rendered frames from Daz with the background, the logo and the slides themselves.  The camera motion from Daz is fluid without hiccups or strange camera movement throughout, but doesn't make sense without the overlays put into the final video.  All camera motion in this video is created by 10 key frames including the start and end.

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