1. The X/Y/Z axis arrow thing, if for example I move an item of my working area...is there any way to thing this back into my view? I hate just typing numbers.....I like to move using this tool & watching my numbers shift around.

2. When creating a scene I use full screen view. That said, when I render(doesn't matter what size) Parts to the left & right are cut off, so I end up having to move things in closer.....what am I doing wrong that I can't use my WHOLE working area vs render area...hope that makes sense....this is making things much more difficult in scene setup.

Thanks again :)

Message edited on: 12/19/2005 16:25

I forget about question one at the moment... (sorry.) Question 2: You want to activate the 'Production Frame.' When you are in the camera view that your rendering from, Go to the 'View' menu and choose: 'Show Production Frame.' You will see a double square appear in your camera view which represents the area you will be rendering. (It's a double square because the outside is the 'Full Raster' of your rendering, while the inner square is the 'Safe Area' for televisions.) Hope this helps! :D

Thanks again :) Now go back & think about No.1.....LOL just kidding :) Is there anyway to enlarge the "production view"?

You can enlarge the production frame in your render settings -- enlarging the render size will correspondingly enlarge (or at least reshape) your production frame. As for seeing more things within the production frame, you can either dolly the camera away from your subject, or change the focal length of your camera to a wider angle (smaller number) in the Camera Properties tab. As for moving things back into your view, I don't think there's a way without either selecting the object and typing in new coordinates, or opening a second view pane and sliding the object in from the second viewpoint. Once it's outside of your view in the window, there's no real way to grab the object and drag it back in, unless you happen to be able to see the projections of the object on the working planes. Hope that's helpful. - Dex

Try selecting the object, then zoom to selection. You can then zoom out at, say, 50%, and you should see the ball-park -- so to speak. Also, don't forget to use the hand tool to move around the scene. As bluetone stated, activate the Production Frame, you will get lost without it -- relative to rendering.

You can also directly size the Production Frame in the Assembly Room by dragging the corners (will proportionally expand if "Keep Proportional" is selected in the Render room); move the entire frame by selecting the center frame point and moving. Select the camera before doing this.

Thanks a bunch :) A lot of good tips here :) Have a Happy Holiday :)

LCBoliou: I would HIGHLY suggest AGAINST using the 'Hand' tool or the 'Zoom' tool in a camera viewport. In the others (Left, Right, Front, Back, Top) OK, since those tools are for flat views like them. But the camera view has it's own tools for moving around and should be used otherwise the camera viewport gets distorted and difficult to work with. (I wish that Eovia disabled the Zoom and Hand tools in a camera view.) dlk30341: Try using the Pan, Dolly, and Truck tools when in a camera veiwport. (Keyboard shortcuts: Pan- 'D', Dolly- 'W', Truck- 'E') Or use the other technique, looking through a diferent viewport, for moving items to bring them into view of the camera. Just my 2 cents... hope it helps!

Perhaps I misread Debbys concern entirely possible. I was just considering moving the 2d screen with the Hand Tool to simply view an object that was out of the viewing range for location purposes. Ive never had any issues with distortion? I dont try to use these tools for camera viewport modification, just for 2d movements.

Same goes for the Zoom to Selection dont modify, and zoom back, how can that distort the view Ive never had any problems?

Sorry... I must have mis-read YOUR post. I thought you were saying that dlk30341 should use the 2D tools in the camera views. It will distort the images in the camera views, but not in the 2D views.

No problem, nothing to be sorry about. This is all pretty abstract stuff, and your comments compelled me to look at and play around with Carrara's camera settings. This is something I needed to do, and I learned a bit more, thanks to your insights.

Glad to help! :D