camera zoom behaviour maya 2008

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on Windows.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
3dan
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:44 am

camera zoom behaviour maya 2008

Post by 3dan »

I am using Maya 20008 with a SpaceExplorer, and I am using these settings:

View: Camera
Rotation pivot: Focal Point
Flymode : checked

All other boxes unchecked

In the control panel: Zoom direction toward/away
All axes reversed
All axes on

This post relates to the difference between the Zoom on the mousewheel and the Zoom on the SpaceExplorer

The "SpaceExplorer Zoom" physically it moves the camera forwards and backwards in 3D Space

The "Maya Mousewheel Zoom" appears to acutally zooms the camera lens, keeping the camera and it's rotation pivot in its original positions.

I would greatly like to have the option to have the actual camera zoom on the space explorer, as oppose to camera translation in 3D Space. This will allow me to pick an object in an environment, 'fit' to screen (positioning the rotation pivot at the centre of the object) and then move around, in, and out, from the object without moving the camera's centre of roation, which I find very disorienting.

This follows on from my previous topic which appears to have been abandonded.

Please Help, it would be a massive improvement!
sanzzi
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 12:57 pm

Incorrect Zoom behavior / terminology

Post by sanzzi »

Hello 3dan, I'm with you on this. I just got my Space Navigator last week, and while I'm definitely not disappointed, I do feel it's not as intuitive as it is promised to be:

When trying to understand their axis, movement, customization, preferences, etc, I feel he Navigator has a very steep learning curve even for people who, like myself, have been interacting with 3D environments for a very long time. I specially find that using the wrong terminology makes it even harder. I don't understand why they refer to the z-axis translation as "Zoom". There's even a thread from 2 years ago that talks about it but there's no real or useful help from the moderator.

The main reason I bought the Space Navigator was to be able to record camera movement during playback and be able to simulate a documentary-style hand-held camera movement. Zoom is a big part of this, since an actual camera-man would not run back and forth when closing-up on a particular subject. Z translation and Zoom should be clearly differentiated. I was also hoping to be able to adjust camera focus when capturing animation, but I guess that would be probably even harder...

Anyway, I feel your frustration because it's mine, too. I wish I had an answer I could share. I will keep looking and if I do, I'll keep you posted, and if you don't mind, if you happen to stumble upon a solution, please let me know.

If a moderator happens to read this, these are my system specs:
SpaceNavigator PE
Maya 2008
Aluminum iMac, OSX 10.5.6
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz

In plain English (for plain humans, like myself):
Z Translation refers to the physical movement of the camera close or away to the subject.
Zoom refers to a change in the simulated camera lens to make the subject appear close or away.
Focus refers to how blurry or sharp a subject appears on camera.


Keywords: Zoom, Z Axis, Tz, Z Translation, Focal Length, Field Of View, FOV
3dan
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:44 am

Post by 3dan »

I don't know why but the moderators seem to have abandoned helping me with this :(

3Dconnexion: The issue has a tracking ID 5001, please assist.
3dan
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:44 am

Post by 3dan »

The service is amazing at 3D connexion :roll:
3dan
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:44 am

Post by 3dan »

Still no response, Tracking ID 5001 anyone??
UtaSH
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 3754
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:34 am
Location: Munich, Germany
Contact:

Post by UtaSH »

Hi 3dan,

issue 5001 is closed as there is a workaround to achieve a similar effect:
  • I would suggest you try the following

    View: Camera
    Rotation Pivot: Focal Point
    Fly Mode: On - this is required to be able to move the center of interest which
    is a prerequiste to be able to pan.

    In the 3Dconnexion Control Panel in the Advanced Settings tab unclick 'Zoom'

    Alternatively simply switch fly mode off when the vertex selection is to be the
    center of interest
Post Reply