Article Number: 90 | VC6 | VC5 | VC4 | VC3 | VCPS | Post Date: September 19, 2019 | Last Updated: September 19, 2019
Is it possible to rotate a camera to visualize a driver’s changing field of view?
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Yes, this is possible. This Knowledge Base post shows how camera rotation was implemented in the scene below, in order to visualize a driver’s field of view while the head turns:
Note, the method shown below works whether you’re simulating vehicle motion or animating vehicle motion. You can even use this method for pedestrians.
First, attach a camera to your vehicle by selecting the camera tool and then left clicking on your vehicle. This will lock the camera to the vehicle’s reference frame.
Make sure that your vehicle isn’t frozen in the left-side project window. You'll know your vehicle isn't frozen if it turns blue while hovering over it with the camera tool. You may also find it helpful to pause your simulation before continuing.
The camera’s position and orientation can be controlled using the x, y, z, yaw, pitch, and roll fields in the left-side control panel. These values are with respect to the vehicle’s frame.
Clicking “assign to view” will allow you to view the scene from the camera’s perspective. To exit, simply select a view from the views icon.
When rendering your scene from the camera view, it’s often a good idea to delete the windshield and front windows, as this will significantly reduce render times. To delete windows from a vehicle, change your object-selection type to “elements” and then select and delete the vehicle’s windows that are visible from the camera’s perspective.
Note: Make sure that once you delete the windows you save your file with a new file name so that you have access to the vehicle with windows in case you need it.
If you do not wish to delete the vehicle’s windshield, then simply adjust the camera’s x position forward enough to view through the front surface of the windshield.
With our windows deleted and back in the camera's full screen mode we're ready to set up our camera to pan.
Next, with your camera selected in the project menu, click the box next to the yaw input for your camera.
Next, select which function you would like to use. The diagram tool will then open, thus allowing you to program the camera's yaw parameter as a function of time.
In the video above, the camera pans to the right when the animation starts and then stops once it reaches 0 degrees with respect to the vehicle's local position. For this we’ll use the “intervals” function.
The resulting graph is displayed below. Note that you can use the white control grips to adjust the diagram tool or you can manually enter data in the left control panel. You can also add extra white control grips under "count" to create more complex camera movement.
Note that you can also use the same workflow to control the camera's x, y, z, pitch, and roll position as a function of time.
Tags: camera, pan, animation, driver’s perspective, driver’s view.
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