Camera panel
The Camera panel manages all cameras in the document and the active camera's settings.
Open: always accessible. If not showing, use View ▸ Camera. In the minimal-chrome layout, use View ▸ Unlock Advanced UI first.
Camera list
The top of the panel lists all cameras in the document. Click a row to select a camera and reveal its settings below. Each row has its own padlock button.
Camera toolbar
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| New camera | Add a new camera |
| New smart camera | Add a new smart-framing camera (auto-frames the product) |
| Duplicate the selected camera | Duplicate the selected camera |
| Delete the selected camera | Delete the selected camera |
| Rename the selected camera | Rename the selected camera |
| Save this camera as its baseline | Save the camera as its baseline |
| Save this camera to the VIZid library | Save to the shared library for reuse across documents |
| Revert this camera to its saved baseline | Revert to the saved baseline |
You can also drop a Library camera onto the list to add it to the document.
Free Cam save route: with Free Cam selected, the Save button's tooltip reads Save the Free Cam as a new camera (keeps this view). This creates a new named camera at the current Free Cam position and is how a new document gets its first named camera.
Position and Orientation section
Smart framing
Smart framing toggle — turns the camera into a reusable shot that automatically re-frames the product based on a recipe. Drop a smart-framing camera from the Library onto a different product and it will re-frame itself.
When Smart framing is on, the manual orbit controls are replaced by:
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Azimuth | Horizontal viewing direction around the product |
| Elevation | Vertical angle above the product base |
| Field of View | FOV along the frame's longer axis |
| Margin | Framing tightness. 1.0 fills the frame; higher values pull back. |
| Roll | Camera roll |
| Frame selection only | When on, frames only the selected parts rather than the whole product |
Manual orbit
When Smart framing is off, the camera is positioned with:
| Row | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Distance | Camera-to-target distance |
| Azimuth | Horizontal rotation around the target |
| Inclination | Vertical angle above the target plane |
| Twist | Camera roll |
All four fields update the viewport live as you drag.
Framing section
Standard view
The Standard view list jumps the camera to a preset angle: Front, Back, Left, Right, Top, Bottom, or 3⁄4 View. All standard-view and framing buttons are disabled while Smart framing is on.
Framing buttons
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Frame Selected | Frame the selection in the viewport |
| Frame Scene | Frame the entire scene |
| Look At Target | Aim the camera at the current target |
| Level Horizon | Level the camera's horizon |
| Align to View | Match this camera to the current viewport angle |
| New Camera from View | Spawn a new camera at the current viewport position (always enabled) |
Lens Settings section
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Orthographic | Switch to parallel projection. Removes perspective and hides the DOF section. |
| Unit | Focal length (mm) or Field of view (°) — choose which value to edit below |
| Focal length / Field of view | The primary lens control, shown by the Unit choice above |
Sensor width and lens shift are in the Advanced section below.
Depth of Field section
Hidden when the camera is in orthographic mode.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Use depth of field | Enable lens blur. Enabling sets F-stop to 2.8 if it was previously 0 (pinhole). |
| Focus distance | Distance to the focus plane. Shows "auto (target)" when linked to the camera target. |
| F-stop | Aperture. Shows "off (pinhole)" when DOF is disabled. Higher f-stop = deeper focus; lower = more bokeh. |
| Aperture Shape | Round / Pentagon (5) / Hexagon (6) / Octagon (8) |
| Set Focus Point | Enter focus selection: click surfaces to preview focus, then choose OK to keep it. With Record enabled on a saved camera, OK keys the accepted focus at the current frame. × or Esc restores the previous depth of field settings without changing keys. The green viewport outline shows that selection is active. |
| Focus on the camera target | Align focus distance to the camera's look-at target |
View section
Guides — choose a composition overlay for the viewport:
| Choice | Overlay |
|---|---|
| Off | No overlay |
| Thirds | Rule-of-thirds grid |
| Center | Crosshair at centre |
| Golden | Golden-ratio spiral |
This is a viewport display setting; it is not saved per camera.
Advanced section
Advanced holds the specialist controls.
Lens
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Sensor width | Film-back width in mm. 36 mm = full frame. (Hidden in orthographic mode.) |
| Shift X / Shift Y | Offset the principal point without rotating the camera — useful for correcting converging verticals. |
| Two-Point Perspective | Level the camera and solve vertical shift automatically. |
| Reset lens shift | Reset Shift X and Y to zero. |
Section Cut
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Clip start | Clip (hide) everything nearer than this camera-space depth. 0 = off. |
| Clip end | Clip everything beyond this depth. Pair with Clip start to isolate a slab. 0 = off. |
| Cap Section (solid cut face) | Render a solid face on the cut surface. |
The Passepartout, Match aspect and Short name settings are in Compositions ▸ Image extras.
Backplate Override
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable backplate override | Replace the environment backplate with this camera's own plate and grade. |
| Image + Browse… | Path to the backplate image file. |
| Grade | Exposure (EV), WB Kelvin, WB Tint, Contrast, Saturation, Lift/Gamma/Gain per RGB channel. |
Animate
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| To camera | Destination camera for a flythrough tween. |
| Frames | Duration of the tween in frames (default 48). |
| Ease in / out | Apply easing to the flythrough. |
| Create Flythrough | Tween a camera animation to the target camera over the set duration. |
| Turntable | Starts or stops timeline playback. To make a camera turntable, use Edit ▸ Animation Wizards ▸ Turntable (camera). |
| Open Camera Presets… | Opens the Camera Presets menu at the pointer. |
Looking through a camera
Use the camera selector in the viewport's camera controls to choose which camera to look through. In fullscreen, the selector appears at the bottom right. Choose Free Cam to detach from any saved camera.
5 on the keyboard toggles orthographic projection for the current view.
A padlocked camera freezes orbit, pan and dolly navigation — the padlock icon in the camera row indicates this state.
Render menu camera controls
Saved cameras show keyframe diamonds beside distance, azimuth, elevation, roll, focal length/FOV, DOF enable, focus distance, f-stop, aperture shape, lens shift and clip start/end. Click a diamond to add or remove a key at the playhead; right-click for key navigation and channel actions. DOF enable shares the f-stop channel (zero means off), and FOV shares focal length. Save Free Cam as a camera before keyframing it. Lens format, projection, backplate and camera-management controls do not gain animation channels through these controls.
Camera Motion Stack translation effects, including Wiggle, move the camera and its target together. Their Weight controls strength, supports keyframes, and returns to the uneffected pose at zero.
Render ▸ Camera… opens a compact lens dialog with: Focal length, Aperture (0 = off), Focus distance, Focus on selected part, Orthographic. This is a quick-access alternative to the panel.
Render ▸ Lens ▸ has lens presets: 24 mm / 35 mm / 50 mm / 85 mm / 135 mm.
Render ▸ Standard Views (4) queues four render shots — Front, Side, Top, and 3⁄4 — and then restores your view. It does not jump the viewport. See Rendering stills.
Render ▸ Reset View returns to the default 3⁄4 framing.
Camera presets
Camera presets are hero angles saved in the document. Render ▸ Camera Presets ▸ Save Current as Preset… saves the current view. Once a preset exists, the menu also lists each saved preset, Render All These Angles and Delete a Preset….
Related topics
- Navigation — orbit and pan in the viewport
- Rendering stills — render the active camera's view
- Compositions — aspect ratio and the comp selector
- Motion Stack — Animation Wizards — key-authoring turntable, orbit and explode wizards that write editable keys