Hi,

Here's a simple question which I can't seem to figure out.  How do I set the center point for any kind of revolving camera?  I mean, I realize that for example, the Posing camera will always revolve around the currently selected figure, but what if I want it to revolve around a prop?  Is that possible?

Parent the camera to the prop or, another invisible prop (box) that you animate. The camera follows the box prop...

 

... or you could select the Camera and then ... use the menu to ...

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

Point at will do what it says on the tin, it will make the camera point at the origin of some item, but it will not change the orbital centre of the camera. There is a difference between 'Pointing At' and and 'orbiting'. When a camera orbits some point it will maintain a constant distance from that point, when it points at some item the distance between the camera and item can vary enormously, depending in the position of the item and the rotation of the camera.

To change the the point that the camera orbits, you should follow richardson's advice. In recent versions of Poser, an alternative to parenting the camera to an invisible prop is to use the 'Frame Selected Object' feature, which you will find in the Camera Controls palette. Using 'Frame Selected Object' will cause the camera to orbit the position of the  item  selected at the time you apply 'Frame Selected Object', but note that it will also alter the position of the camera. To maintain the position, Memorize the camera first, then after using 'Frame Selected Object' Restore the camera. You will have changed the orbital centre, and still have the same camera position.

Personally I usually use richardson's method. I have nothing against Point At, it is good for what it's meant for, but it does not change the orbital centre of the camera.

Whoops! :blushing:

There is also an 'Orbit Selected Object Mode', which may be more appropriate. I'm not really up to date with all the new features yet. :sad:

Thanks everyone.  Up until now i've been navigating my scenes a bit like a drunken sailor, but the parenting idea works really well.  I haven't had much luck with the frame control - I don't know if it's just me, but it seems a bit eratic.  Quite often the camera ends up either miles away from the framed object, or inside it or below it.  But parenting a camera to a simple prop is really good.  Thanks again.

I'm having the same problem with "Frame" function. Every time I used it, it seems to have a slight different outcome / position.

And when I try to get the camera to revolve around a prop, it moves all over the place, even though I parented it to it, pointed at, whatever. As soon as I try to rotate the camera, it moves like hundreds of feet instead of small steps around the object. I have really no clue how to make this work. 

"Frame Selected Object" can be pretty unpredictable for me too.  Sometimes it works nicely (i.e. the camera appears a reasonable distance and angle from the selected object), but often I end up either miles away, upside-down or inside of objects.  So I usually avoid using this 'feature'.

As for revolving around a prop, I just parent a camera to the prop.  If you move the prop, the camera's view should adjust accordingly.  I wouldn't use 'Point At' as well.  Mixing both commands could cause some strange behaviour.

Right, like someone else mentioned, not every camera works for this. I'm having much better luck with the "main camera" than with "posing camera", as the latter just moves all over the place. At least the main camera actually moves around the selected prop, in my case a car in a large scene.

As far as I can see the "Orbit Selected mode" ("rotates the camera around the
currently selected actor") is most suitable. But I do not understand the comment in the Help file (page 51) which warns about using specific body parts.