Camera Common Properties, Operators, and Methods

Lights and Cameras - Quick Navigation

Properties

The following properties apply to all camera types:

<camera>.fov Float default: 45.0 -- animatable, angle 	 

Determines how wide an area the camera views. This is the horizontal Field Of View.

<camera>.curFOV Float default: 45.0 -- float   

Returns the current Field Of View, respecting the fovType value described below.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

<camera>.fovType Integer default: 1 -- integer 

Sets the current Field Of View type.

Changes the flyout next to the FOV spinner in the Camera's UI.

Available in 3ds Max 8 and higher.

Possible values are:

1 -Horizontal

2 -Vertical

3 -Diagonal

<camera>.orthoProjection Boolean default: false 

When on, the camera view looks just like a User view.

When off, the camera view is the standard perspective-like view.

<camera>.type Name default: #free 

The type of camera:

#free- Free Camera (Target view can be set in any direction)

#target- Target Camera (Camera will always align view with target object)

<camera>.showCone Boolean default: false 

Displays the cone (actually a pyramid) defined by a camera's field of view.

The cone appears in the other viewports but does not appear in a camera viewport.

<camera>.showHorizon Boolean default: false 

Displays the horizon line.

A dark gray line appears at the level of the horizon in the camera's viewport.

<camera>.nearrange Float default: 0.0 -- animatable; alias: Near_Env_Range 

The near range for atmospheric effects.

<camera>.farrange Float default: 1000.0 -- animatable; alias: Far_Env_Range 

The far range for atmospheric effects.

<camera>.clipManually Boolean default: false 

Turn on to define clipping planes.

When Clip Manually is off, geometry closer to the camera than 3 units is not displayed.

<camera>.nearclip Float default: 1.0 -- animatable, alias: near_clip 

Objects closer than the near clipping plane are invisible to the camera.

<camera>.farclip Float default: 1000.0 -- animatable, alias: far_clip 

Objects farther than the far clipping plane are invisible to the camera.

<camera>.showRanges Boolean default: false 

When on, displays yellow rectangles within the camera's cone to show the Near and Far range settings.

<camera>.targetDistance Float default: 160.0 -- animatable, alias: Target_Distance 

Sets a point to use as an invisible target.

<camera>.mpassEnabled Boolean default: false -- boolean; MultiPass_Effect_Enabled 

Enable/Disable the MultiPass Camera Effect.

<camera>.mpassRenderPerPass Boolean default: false -- boolean; MPEffect___Render_Effects_Per_Pass 

Enable/Disable the Render Per Pass option.

<camera>.multipass_effect SubAnim default: SubAnim:MultiPass_Effect -- SubAnim 
<camera>.mpassEffect Depth_of_FieldMPassCamEffect default: Depth_of_FieldMPassCamEffect:Depth_of_FieldMPassCamEffect -- SubAnim 

Get/Set the MultiPass Camera Effect. See MPassCamEffect objects for details.

To preview a MultiPass Camera Effect in the viewport, see the maxOps.displayActiveCameraViewWithMultiPassEffectMethod

$Camera01.mpassEffect = Motion_BlurMPassCamEffect()
$Camera01.mpassEffect.disableAntialiasing = true

fn GetCamVFOV theCamera =
(
	local r_aspect=(renderWidth as float)/renderHeight
	2.0*atan(tan(theCamera.fov/2.0)/r_aspect)
)

<float>cameraFOV.FOVtoMM <float fov> 

<float>cameraFOV.MMtoFOV <float mm> 

<float>cameraFOV.CurFOVtoFOV <camera> <float cfov> 

<float>cameraFOV.FOVtoCurFOV <camera> <float fov> 

c = freecamera()
--> $Free_Camera:Camera01 @ [0.000000,0.000000,0.000000]
cameraFOV
--> #Struct:cameraFOV(
FOVtoMM:<fn>,
CurFOVtoFOV:<fn>,
FOVtoCurFOV:<fn>,
MMtoFOV:<fn>)
cameraFOV.FOVtoMM 45 --convert horizontal FOV of 45 degrees into mm
--> 43.4558
cameraFOV.MMtoFOV 43.4558--convert 43.4558 mm back to degrees
--> 45
c.fovType = 3--set the FOV type to diagonal
--> 3
cameraFOV.CurFOVtoFOV c 54.7473--convert diagonal to horizontal FOV
--> 45
cameraFOV.FOVtoCurFOV c 45--convert 45 deg. horizontal to diagonal FOV
--> 54.7473
c.curFOV--current FOV type, in this case 3=diagonal
--> 54.7473
c.fov--this is ALWAYS the horizontal FOV!
--> 45
c.fovType = 1--set current FOV to 1=horizontal
--> 1
c.curFOV--the current FOV is now horizontal
--> 45
c.fov--this must return the same as current, as both are horizontal
--> 45
 

 
fn ZE_Cam cam objs =
(
local max2, fov, asp, v-- declare local variables
-- define a function that returns the maximum value
-- of a set of values in an array
fn maxof vals = (local v=vals[1];for v1 in vals do (if v1 > v do v=v1);v)
fov=0-- initialize the fov value
asp=(renderWidth as float)/renderHeight-- calculate the renderer's image aspect ratio
in coordsys cam-- work in coordinate system ofthe camera
(
for obj in objs where obj != cam do-- loop across all objects except the camera
(
if obj.min.z >=0 do continue-- if object is behind camera, skip it
-- get max value of the object's bounding box, correcting for the image aspect ratio
-- in the y values
v = maxof #((abs obj.max.x),(abs obj.min.x),(abs (obj.max.y*asp)),(abs (obj.min.y*asp)))
fov = maxof #(fov,(2*atan(-v/obj.min.z)))-- increase fov if needed
)
)
cam.fov=fov-- set the camera's fov to the new fov value
)
-- test bed --
cam=$camera01-- specify the camera to "zoom extent all" on
ZE_Cam cam $*-- call the function, passing the camera and an object set containing all objects 

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