nVIZ Advanced Cameras Plugin Documentation

Installation

Autodesk VRED provides two paths for maintaining plugins. Please identify the directory where you want to keep the nVIZ Advanced Cameras Plugin. The paths are displayed in the VRED terminal window after launching VRED:

Download and execute the nVIZ Advanced Cameras Plugin installer. After the installer has completed, you need to copy the two following files to your VRED plugins directory:

License File

Please contact nVIZ to receive your license file. The license file needs to be copied to the directory:    

After installation, the nVIZ Cameras Plugin can be launched from the context menu like any other VRED module – right mouse click on the Main Tool Bar or on the Quick Access Bar:

Cameras Project

All the settings defined in the Cameras Plugin can be saved to a project file and reloaded from there. The file format is *.cpb. The Plugin depends on an external process – the nVIZ Cameras Server – to calculate all the camera transformations. After starting the Server, you will see the ellipse path for the camera in the VRED view port and the camera ray pointing at the target node. The camera will stay in position also while the vehicle is driving. The ellipse will always have the target node as it’s center point.

Ellipse Path Camera

The Ellipse Path Camera tab provides functions to easily define an arbitrary elliptical path around a vehicle and then animate a camera flight along that path while the camera keeps looking at a dedicated point on the vehicle.

Elliptical Path Definition

Use the spin boxes or sliders to dimension and position the elliptical camera path around the vehicle. The blue ribbon will display the path in the VRED view port as long as the Camera Server is running.

Storing Camera States

For a defined elliptical path, you can add any number of view points along that path and store the camera states in the list field. To move the camera along the path, use the Camera Position slider or spin box.

Camera Animation

For camera flight animations, check the “Live Cam” check box. Then select any of the camera states from the list field or use the keyboard shortcut to activate any camera state. The camera will move along the elliptical path to the selected position and the resulting animation will be rendered in the VRED view port.

Camera Animation Recording

Any camera animation as described in the previous chapter can be stored in the VRED time line. This will allow you to make use of all the standard VRED features for rendering movie clips in raytracing quality. Select different camera states while recording, then save the recording.

Hand-Held Camera

The Hand-Held Camera tab provides functions to easily position a camera at predefined, reproducible positions around a vehicle and then take movie clips with camera shake for a very realistic impression of recording with a hand-held camera.

Predefined Camera Positions

You can maintain 24 predefined camera positions in a text file. The plugin installer will copy a template of the text file, which you can easily edit to your needs, in:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\nVIZ\VREDProCameras\nVIZcamDefaultPositions.txt
The positions defined in the file are relative to the target node.

Adding a Camera Shake Effect

Use the sliders or spin boxes to add a shake effect to your hand-held camera. The amplitude, speed and roughness factors for each shake effect can be tuned on the options tab.

Adjusting a Predefined Camera Position

These functions allow you to adjust the predefined camera positions by moving the camera in a very natural way while keeping it looking at the target node.

Storing Camera States