Maya Tutorial 3: Working with Camera and Aim
Creating a Camera Perspective
In the Polygons mode (Modeling in Maya 6), select Create->Cameras->Camera and Aim.
A Camera and its Aim point (looks like a
bull's eye) will appear at the
origin of your grid.
Select the Camera object and the Move Tool and move the Camera to where your eye would be relative to the object. The Camera should be at your horizon line (approximately 15 units up) and the appropriate distance away from the object. Move the Aim point to the center point of the object.
In the Four View panel layout, in the upper
left quadrant, select
Panels->Perspective->Cam1 (or Camera1). You
should now see what the camera sees.
Experiment with the Camera position. By zooming in or out in the Camera view you
can move the Camera object forward or
backwards. Select the Camera and input:
TranslateZ 70
Notice how this moves your Camera towards the
origin on the Z-axis. Now select the Camera
and input:
TranslateZ 120
Notice how this moves your Camera backwards
from the origin on the Z-axis.
Now select your cube structure and deselect
the Camera and the Aim point.
Select the Rotate tool from the left tool bar.
Holding down the Shift-key, drag on the Y-axis
(green bar) left or right. This will rotate
the cube around, while it remains flat on the
grid.
Select View->Camera Settings->Resolution Gate
to see what will be rendered out.