I made a set of custom cameras and I was able to see the see through them the last time I worked with them, but now when I select the camera it doesn't leave the main camera view.  Any suggestions other than reinstall  to solve this problem?

Thanks in advance

You can't select any other camera?

Quote - You can't select any other camera?

I can't select any of the custom camera.   Even though poser says I've selected another custom camera it doesn't leave the main camera view.   The only time I'm able to select different camera is when I select one of the default cameras that come with Poser.

You can't select another camera? Literally you cannot get it to show in the list and you select it and its name appears in the preview window? Or do you mean that you select it, it appears to be selected, but the view you see is not what you expect?

Forgive me if I'm saying stuff you already know, but it's best to get this out of the way first. From P6 on up, selecting a camera can mean two diffrent things, selecting the camera itself, or selecting to view through the camera, these are separate actions.

1. To select a camera, use the dropdown parts menu near the top of the document window.

2. To select the view through a camera, right click anywhere in the document window, select 'Camera View', select a camera from the list.

3. To quickly select the view through a camera, and select that camera. Do as above in #2, then click in the camera track track ball (being careful not to move it).

P.S.
There are other ways of selecting the camera, or selecting a view through a camera, but I did not want to muddy the waters with too many options, and the methods above have proved to be reliable in many Poser versions.

Quote - You can't select another camera? Literally you cannot get it to show in the list and you select it and its name appears in the preview window? Or do you mean that you select it, it appears to be selected, but the view you see is not what you expect?

I can get the camera to show in the list and the name appears, but the view isn't of the selected camera. Earlier this year I noticed that I had to select the camera in two places in order to get it to show (above the preview window and above the parameter dials).  I originally thought that maybe it was a graphics card issue where the screen wasn't refreshing properly.

I was hoping that other may have heard of this happening and had a solution.  I'll probably make a screen recording of the problem and then send it to SmithMicro. 

1. To select the view through a camera, right click anywhere in the document window, select 'Camera View', select a camera from the list.

I was able to view through the camera this way, but I know there's something wrong with my Poser Pro 2012 because I've never had to do that before.  But thanks for a the work around at least now I can render some promotional images before I reinstall the software.

Still didn't answer my question. After you select a camera, perhaps called "ABC" - do you see "ABC" in the preview window indicating you did indeed select that camera to look through? Because I do and I'm wondering if you actually selected the camera (indicated by the preview TELLING you you did).

Aha - cross posting but we're getting closer.

So - you made the camera the current actor, but not the current camera. I don't remember it ever working any other way.

Current actor is not the same as current camera.

The white arrow is showing that the Main Camera is the current camera - the object I am LOOKING through.

Both of these are "selected" in some sense, but not the same sense.

Trying to help, so don't slag me off if this is all obvious to you, just trying to narrow down the problem...

On my default workspace:

you select the view through the camera over on the left;

you select the parameters of the camera just above the preview or top right over the parameter field.

Can you select the camera's view? Can you select its parameters? Or neither?

(This is what Les is getting at.)

edit: and Bill. In fact, Bill got you sorted!

The right-click in the preview window is a clone of the menu: Display/Camera View.

FYI

The main menu Display/Camera View shows the hot-keys I use all the time to switch camera views. Super useful.

Since then I made my own plugin that is even faster for selecting and viewing different cameras.

See those little camera widgets? If you just tap one with the mouse, and don't drag, it will change the current actor to be whatever camera you are looking through at the moment, thus selecting it both as view and in parameters.

I love this a lot because I often need to change focal length using the parameter dial - this is the fastest way to get there.

Hopefully between CaptainMARC, BB, and myself, this is becoming a little clearer.

Selecting a camera as an actor (as the active item), will enable you to use its parameters palette, and perform operations like parenting, but will not change to the view through that camera.

Selecting a view through a camera will let you look through it, and use the Camera Controls on it, but will not call up the parameters pallet for it. It is not the currently selected item (unless it was already).

Note that the drop-down menu in the Camera Controls palette will not always list all the cameras in the scene. For that reason, I prefer right clicking in the Document Window when choosing a camera view.

Quote - Another thing I found handy. The manual doesn't tell this.

See those little camera widgets? If you just tap one with the mouse, and don't drag, it will change the current actor to be whatever camera you are looking through at the moment, thus selecting it both as view and in parameters.

I love this a lot because I often need to change focal length using the parameter dial - this is the fastest way to get there.

That's pretty nifty!

So what's the difference between the three different widgets?

And what happens if you do drag?

Quote - Still didn't answer my question. After you select a camera, perhaps called "ABC" - do you see "ABC" in the preview window indicating you did indeed select that camera to look through? Because I do and I'm wondering if you actually selected the camera (indicated by the preview TELLING you you did).

Using your example.  After selecting camera "ABC" I do not see camera "ABC" in the preview window.

Quote - Using your example.  After selecting camera "ABC" I do not see camera "ABC" in the preview window.

And where exactly did you select it?

Quote - You should probably read Chapter 11 of the manual. The fact that you think PP12 is broken means your assumptions are wrong. Would help you to fix your assumptions.

I've always been able to change the camera view here for as long as I can remember.  Even in Poser Pro 2012.  I've been changing the camera view from this location for since day one of owning Poser Pro 2012 and I only recently had the problem of not being able to select it from this location.

CaptainMARC,

Quote - So what's the difference between the three different widgets? And what happens if you do drag?

The first is for rotation only, the second translates the camera in any of 3 axes relative to the plane of the document window, the third translates parallel to the plane of the document window only (up-down, or side-side). If you drag any of them, it performs the relevant transform, which you don't want to happen if you were just tapping the icon to select the camera, but if you do want to perform a transform, drag away.

Quote - > Quote - Another thing I found handy. The manual doesn't tell this.

See those little camera widgets? If you just tap one with the mouse, and don't drag, it will change the current actor to be whatever camera you are looking through at the moment, thus selecting it both as view and in parameters.

I love this a lot because I often need to change focal length using the parameter dial - this is the fastest way to get there.

That's pretty nifty!

So what's the difference between the three different widgets?

And what happens if you do drag?

First is rotate/orbit.

Second is XZ pan = horizontal moves camera in X, vertical moves camera in Z (forward/reverse)

Third is XY pan = horizontal moves camera in X, vertical moves camera in Y (up down)

The pan controls are relative to your current viewpoint!! I forgot to mention that. So if you're up high looking down, the XZ will move you up and down after all.

--

I am constantly shocked that people don't use these. I never use anything else

Quote - > Quote - Using your example.  After selecting camera "ABC" I do not see camera "ABC" in the preview window.

And where exactly did you select it?

I put a screen shot of where I've been selecting the camera to change my camera views.

Whoops, I stand corrected. The second is for  XZ pan, as BB said.

I didn't see what you corrected, LB. Did you at first think it was zoom? Lotta people do. It isn't. This is why I need to get to the parameters to adjust focal length.

Quote -
I put a screen shot of where I've been selecting the camera to change my camera views.

Strange.

Because I've never been able to select my view there.

That's where I select the thingy whose parameters I want to change.

I select the view over on the left: camera controls - or something similar.

@Les & Bill: thanks a lot gents. A great little time saver.

Quote - > Quote - You should probably read Chapter 11 of the manual. The fact that you think PP12 is broken means your assumptions are wrong. Would help you to fix your assumptions.

I've always been able to change the camera view here for as long as I can remember.  Even in Poser Pro 2012.  I've been changing the camera view from this location for since day one of owning Poser Pro 2012 and I only recently had the problem of not being able to select it from this location.

That's not my experience. I suspect you have convinced yourself of this without paying attention to what you were doing.

Anybody else ever see the "Actor" picker also change the viewpoint?

I just checked in Poser Debut (P8 era) and it doesn't do that.

I just checked in Poser Pro 2010 and it doesn't do that either.

From what everyone is posting it seems like I was the only one that was able to change the camera view the way that I'm describing it.  Which pretty means that my computer is messing things up.

Far more likely is you are confused. No offense meant. It's a simple fact that these two pickers (red double arrow) are and always have been the same and nothing to do with camera view.

Consider this:

If what you're saying is true, then you were never able to edit the parameters of a camera unless you were also looking through that camera. That's simply not the case and never has been.

I promise you that I frequently switch to a different camera, and physically I grab the camera I was using, as an object, and I move it with the mouse.

If what you describe were the case, that would be impossible, yet I do it all the time. It's how I move a dolly camera to be into a corner of a room with great precision. I switch to top view wireframe mode. I make the dolly camera visible and the current actor. I drag it like a prop, or use the X and Z parameters.

Quote - Anybody else ever see the "Actor" picker also change the viewpoint?

Not since P5, or was it P4? It changed after one or the other. [edited]

bagginsbill

I would agree with you if this wasn't the first time that I've had Poser do something out of the norm and if I didn't spend 3 weeks working on lighting and cameras for a scene. On the brighter side of things it seems like there's no need for me to reinstall since the only way that I'm able to select the cameras now is the way that has been described by you and others in the post.

I definitely appreciate the response.  Being able to hear how Poser functions on other people's computer helps made it clear that whatevery my computer was doing with Poser before wasnt the norm.

Baggins.. that last post was in reference to convincing myself that the cameras worked a particular way without me actually paying attention to what I was doing.