Camera Pivot Point Peculiarities

deepblueXXXX

In Daz Studio 4.20.0.17 the camera can be "ortbited" around a pivot point. This is done by default via Ctrl+Alt+LeftMB (Windows).
The pivot point can be set by selecting an object in the scene tab and then aiming the camera at its midpoint via the control [+] = crosshair symbol at the right top of the viewport.
[+] and LMB = Frame and Aim, [+] and RMB = Aim only.

This works perfectly fine using the perspective view as well as any "named camera" that is created - each camera "memorizes" its originally set pivot point and can be adjusted later, by orbiting around this pivot point.
Also the pivot point can reset later via [+] and LMB or [+] and RMB.

Where things go wrong (or at least very counter-intuitive) is when named cameras are grouped! 

If the cameras in the scene are all selected and then via Create > New Group are placed into a dedicated group in the scene tab, all cameras appear to "forget" their pivot point and orbiting via Ctrl+Alt+LeftMB leads to unexpected effects. The camera motion may appear to be a translateral movement which means the intended (expected) pivot point is lost from view and has to be centered again manually.
What appears to be happening, is that when the group is created from the selected objects, its "center" point is being set at (probably) the middle of the downside face of the bounding box of all objects (see screenshot attached). When attempting to orbit any camera in the group, the pivot point being used seems to be that "group center point". Also the pivot point cannot be reset be framing/aiming! 

When removing a camera from the group, it will "remember" its original pivot point and resume the expected behaviour.

 

This phenomenon occurred to me when creating a series of scenes and then taking shots from similar camera angles.
To keep the scene tab tidy, I grouped the cameras as well as hiding them. Moving from frame to frame, the cameras needed slight adjustment.
This is when the somewhat strange behaviour occurred to me. Researching this topic led me to the following thread: 
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/13497/what-causes-camera-pivot-point-to-get-screwed-up

However, the problem seemed to be not described clearly enough, so the responses although valid, did not address the right issue I believe.
For sure it is possible to point the camera at something, i.e. a "Null" created for exactly that purpose. But what is really searched for is the "standard" behaviour of the perspective view in the viewport.

I hope this can be useful for others and probably I have missed something here myself. I wonder if this is "working as designed" and thus a feature and what purpose it serves...

Please refer to the attached sample file to reproduce the phenomenon.

Guido 

 

Catherine3678ab

deepblueXXXX said:

In Daz Studio 4.20.0.17 the camera can be "ortbited" around a pivot point. This is done by default via Ctrl+Alt+LeftMB (Windows).
The pivot point can be set by selecting an object in the scene tab and then aiming the camera at its midpoint via the control [+] = crosshair symbol at the right top of the viewport.
[+] and LMB = Frame and Aim, [+] and RMB = Aim only.

This works perfectly fine using the perspective view as well as any "named camera" that is created - each camera "memorizes" its originally set pivot point and can be adjusted later, by orbiting around this pivot point.
Also the pivot point can reset later via [+] and LMB or [+] and RMB.

Where things go wrong (or at least very counter-intuitive) is when named cameras are grouped! 

If the cameras in the scene are all selected and then via Create > New Group are placed into a dedicated group in the scene tab, all cameras appear to "forget" their pivot point and orbiting via Ctrl+Alt+LeftMB leads to unexpected effects. The camera motion may appear to be a translateral movement which means the intended (expected) pivot point is lost from view and has to be centered again manually.
What appears to be happening, is that when the group is created from the selected objects, its "center" point is being set at (probably) the middle of the downside face of the bounding box of all objects (see screenshot attached). When attempting to orbit any camera in the group, the pivot point being used seems to be that "group center point". Also the pivot point cannot be reset be framing/aiming! 

When removing a camera from the group, it will "remember" its original pivot point and resume the expected behaviour.

 

This phenomenon occurred to me when creating a series of scenes and then taking shots from similar camera angles.
To keep the scene tab tidy, I grouped the cameras as well as hiding them. Moving from frame to frame, the cameras needed slight adjustment.
This is when the somewhat strange behaviour occurred to me. Researching this topic led me to the following thread: 
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/13497/what-causes-camera-pivot-point-to-get-screwed-up

However, the problem seemed to be not described clearly enough, so the responses although valid, did not address the right issue I believe.
For sure it is possible to point the camera at something, i.e. a "Null" created for exactly that purpose. But what is really searched for is the "standard" behaviour of the perspective view in the viewport.

I hope this can be useful for others and probably I have missed something here myself. I wonder if this is "working as designed" and thus a feature and what purpose it serves...

Please refer to the attached sample file to reproduce the phenomenon.

Guido

Thank you for explaining all this :-) 

Catherine3678ab

Oh dear, the forum glitch struck again, if you would kindly "edit" your post, just put a space in there - so you can "save" it again, the attachments should reappear.

deepblueXXXX

Catherine3678ab said:

Oh dear, the forum glitch struck again, if you would kindly "edit" your post, just put a space in there - so you can "save" it again, the attachments should reappear.

Hello Catherine, now you caught me out... The attachements to my post seemed to be still visible, at least to me. But I did follow your suggestion - edit and save again. But maybe you could explain what the issues was (or point mme to some place I can read up on it.) Best regards, Guido 

deepblueXXXX

deepblueXXXX said:

Catherine3678ab said:

Oh dear, the forum glitch struck again, if you would kindly "edit" your post, just put a space in there - so you can "save" it again, the attachments should reappear.

Hello Catherine, now you caught me out... The attachements to my post seemed to be still visible, at least to me. But I did follow your suggestion - edit and save again. But maybe you could explain what the issues was (or point mme to some place I can read up on it.) Best regards, Guido 

I guess now I understand --- after the editr/save they were gone and I have re-attached them... 

Granville

I had seen this behavior too, but didn't understand it. There doesn't seem to be a way to keep the scene list tidy without side effects.