Panel toolbar

The panel toolbar displays below the panel menus in each view panel. The buttons available change slightly depending on which renderer you select from the panel Renderer menu.

You can toggle view the toolbar by pressing Ctrl + Shift + M.

View buttons

Select Camera Selects the current camera in the panel. You can also perform this operation by choosing View > Select Camera from the panel menu.

Right-click on this button to toggle between camera views or create new camera views.

Lock Camera

Lock your camera to avoid inadvertently changing the camera position and thus your animation. See Lock your current camera.

Camera Attributes Opens the Camera Attribute Editor. You can also open the editor by choosing View > Camera Attribute Editor from the panel menu.
Bookmarks

Sets the current view as a bookmark.

Right-click on this button to toggle between bookmarks or edit bookmarks with the Bookmark Editor.

Image Plane Toggles the display of the existing image plane. If your scene does not contain an image plane, you are prompted to import an image. You can also access the image plane by choosing View > Image plane from the panel menu.

Right-click to import an image plane, adjust the display mode of the current image plane, or delete an image plane.

For more information about image planes, see:

2D Pan/Zoom

Toggles 2D pan/zoom on and off.

Right-click on this button to display all 2D bookmarks in the scene. Select Create 2D Boomark to create a new bookmark using your current Pan/Zoom settings. Select Edit 2D Bookmark to open the Bookmark Editor and manage your bookmarks.

You can choose between the panned/zoomed view and the full camera view by toggling the Ignore 2D Pan/Zoom option.

Blue Pencil

Opens the Blue Pencil toolbar so you can sketch on the screen with virtual drawing tools. See Draw on the Viewport with Blue Pencil.

Camera Settings buttons

Grid Toggles display of the grid in the view panel. You can also toggle the grid by selecting Show > Grid from the panel menu.

Right-click to show or hide the grid in all view panels or open the Grid Options.

Film Gate

Toggles the Film Gate border display. You can also toggle the Film Gate by choosing View > Camera Settings > Film Gate from the panel menu.

Resolution Gate

Toggles the Resolution Gate border display. You can also toggle the Resolution Gate by choosing View > Camera Settings > Resolution Gate from the panel menu.

Gate Mask

Toggles the Gate Mask border display. You can also toggle the Gate Mask by choosing View > Camera Settings > Gate Mask from the panel menu.

Field Chart Toggles the Field Chart border display. You can also toggle the Field Chart by choosing View > Camera Settings > Field Chart from the panel menu.
Safe Action Toggles the Safe Action border display. You can also toggle Safe Action by choosing View > Camera Settings > Safe Action from the panel menu.
Safe Title Toggles the Safe Title border display. You can also toggle Safe Title by choosing View > Camera Settings > Safe Title from the panel menu.

Shading buttons

Wireframe Toggles the Wireframe display. Wireframe is the default shading display. You can also toggle the Wireframe display by choosing Shading > Wireframe from the panel menu or press the hotkey 4.
Smooth Shade All Toggles the Smooth Shade All display. You can also toggle the Smooth Shade All display by choosing Shading > Smooth Shade All from the panel menu or press the hotkey 5.
Use Default Material Toggles the Use Default Material display. When enabled, displays the default shading material on objects when in shaded mode, regardless of the assigned shading material. You can also toggle the Use Default Material display by choosing Shading > Use default material from the panel menu.
Wireframe on Shaded Toggles a wireframe display on all shaded objects. You can also toggle the Wireframe on Shaded display by choosing Shading > Wireframe on Shaded from the panel menu.
Textured Toggles the Hardware Texturing display. You can also toggle Hardware Texturing by choosing Shading > Hardware Texturing from the panel menu or press the hotkey 6.

Lighting buttons

Use All Lights Toggles the illumination of surfaces by all lights in the scene. You can also toggle Use All Lights by choosing Lighting > Use All Lights from the panel menu or press the hotkey 7.
Shadows

Toggles hardware shadow maps when Use All Lights is on. You can also toggle Shadows by choosing Lighting > Shadows from the panel menu.

Isolate Select

Isolate Select Limits the view panel to only display the selected objects. You can also isolate selected objects by choosing Show > Isolate Select from the panel menu.

Viewport 2.0 on-screen effects buttons

Screen space ambient occlusion

Toggle screen space ambient occlusion on and off.

Motion blur

Toggle motion blur on and off.

Multisample anti-aliasing

Toggle multisample anti-aliasing on and off.

Depth of field

Toggle depth of field on and off.

To see depth of field in the viewport, you must first enable Depth of Field in the camera Attribute Editor.

X-Ray buttons

X-Ray Toggles semi-transparency on all shaded objects. You can also toggle X-Ray display by choosing Shading > X-Ray from the panel menu.
X-Ray Active Components

Toggles the display of active components over top of other shaded objects. You can also toggle X-Ray Active Components by choosing Shading > X-Ray Active Components from the panel menu.

X-Ray Joints Toggles the display of skeleton joints over top of other shaded objects. You can also toggle X-Ray Joints by choosing Shading > X-Ray Joints from the panel menu.

Color Management buttons

Exposure Adjust the brightness for display. Lowering the exposure allows you to view detail that is not visible in highlights by default.

Click the icon to toggle between the default and modified values.

This is a diagnostic option that is not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output.

Gamma Adjust the contrast, or brightness of the midtones in the image for display. Increasing the gamma allows you to see details in the shadows of your image.

Click the icon to toggle between the default and modified values.

This is a diagnostic option that is not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output. In particular, it is applied on top of the view transform, if any — you do not need to set it to 2.2 to emulate sRGB.

View Transform
Control the view transform that converts colors from the working color space for display. This is useful, for example, if you want to quickly check the raw color values or temporarily apply a different view transform. The available color spaces that you can choose depend on whether you are using an OCIO configuration file for color management, or have defined user transforms.
  • Click the icon to toggle the view transform off temporarily, and back on again.
  • Use the drop-down list to select a different view transform.

These are diagnostic options that are not saved in the scene, nor applied to rendered output.

They are not available unless color management is enabled. See Color Management.