Top camera view navigation

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
June 24, 2022
3 replies
798 views

I know this has been asked a million times, but suppose I have active camera view and top view. Suppose I zoom in to the top view but the camera controls are out of view. I saw someone in a video dragging the view until you can see the controls. But they don't tell you how to do this in the video. How do you do this?

I'v tried CTRL drag, SHIFT drag etc. and nothing works.

Also the controls to grab X Y or Z are awkward - is there some kind of keyboard shortcutv to start that action rather than fumbling around to try to grab the control?

I use a laptop and no mouse by the way. Thanks.

User interface or workspaces

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer nishu_kush

Hi Deaf_Guy,

Thanks for writing in.

You can drag the view with the Hand tool. If you were using a mouse, you can do that with the middle mouse button.

Hope it helps. Let us know if this is not what you're looking for.

Thanks,

Nishu

Roland Kahlenberg

Legend

This might sound silly but did you create a Camera in this comp and is it active at the point in time where you are trying to reach the Camera Controls - without a Camera Layer, you won't see the Camera Controls in any of the 3D viewports. HTH

Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV

Deaf_GuyAuthor

Inspiring

Hi yes there was a camera layer. I know it doesn't sound like it, but I've made some cute but not mind-blowing things in AE. The problem is I don't use it often like PS and Premiere so it's hard for me to remember some of the simpler commands like the Hand tool. Even though PS has a Hand tool, it just never ht me to try H to move around in the camera view. I was going nuts because I really had to stop the project I was working on until I knew how to move around in there. Thankfully I can proceed. Thanks.

Roland Kahlenberg

Legend

Thanks for reporting back. Have a great day ahead.

Very Advanced After Effects Training | Adaptive & Responsive Toolkits | Intelligent Design Assets (IDAs) | MoGraph Design System DEV

R

Rick Gerard

Community Expert

Press C for the camera tool, watch the pointer icon change and drag around the alternate views. You can dolly in and out of the top, left, right, front, and back views. You can freely move around any of the Custom views just like you were moving the Comp camera. The camera tool will not move the Active Camera unless you are in the Active Camera view or have a camera selected in the Active Camera view. The virtual camera will move around if there is no camera in the comp, and you use the Camera tool to move around in the Active Camera view. Personally, I think this is a design flaw, but you can reset the virtual Active Camera by right-clicking in the Active Camera view and digging through the popup menu.