Clip view changes

Clip near / far is a funny thing - it seems different view to view? I can get very close at say FRONT - but in the TOP view - No such luck. As I zoom in things vanish as the do. Switch to BOTTOM - and Im fine; can zoom right in. Something Im missing somewhere?
 
I'm not certain, but I believe that the orthographic views (Front, Top, Right, etc.) are actually preset camera objects (each with their own set of clipping properties), not the camera item that is listed in the object list, where you can set values numerically.

The way I change the clip settings in the ortho views is to use the Focus Object tool (the crosshair/bullseye in the top right toolbar of the 3D View window). If the ortho view is clipping before you can zoom in as far as you want, select a small object or even a single polygon to focus on and click the Focus Object tool - the clipping values seem to be reset as the view zooms in on that detail. Then you can zoom out and move the view to the objects you're concerned with. If you use the Focus Object tool on a large object or even the whole model, clipping could occur before you zoom in very much at all.
 
Zooming in actually moves the camera,
if you hold the shift key while you zoom,
it will zoom without moving the camera.
 
The problem is you can get screwed up in views other than
the Camera view because the parameters are hidden.

Another way to clear the perspective view is to close and
open the file as it will reset back to it's default position.
 
Orthographic views are essentially like the sun, really far away.
You can do the same with the Camera view, just set the
field of view to 1 and move the camera way back.
Essentially a telephoto lens.
 
Once again - you guys come through. Of course something so simple, thank you MonkeyT, thank you - been driving me crazy!!
So I guess I must have at one time selected a larger object in TOP view and then selected "Focus" and that retained the "View" ?
 
Actually, I've run into that too, so I suspect the default settings in the different orthographic "cameras" aren't the same.
 
Not from my experience when you save before closing not to loose anything it opens in that particular state.

I said it before: when in modelling process use perspective or orthogonal views - camera is for "guess what".

Cheers
Frank
I'm talking about the Perspective view, you're talking about the Camera view.
Camera position is saved, Perspective view position is not.
 
Does anyone know if/when it might be possible to set a "default" for the main camera's clipping near and far? Because I model for Poser (which uses a scale roughly 1/10th that of Cheetah's default scale), I always have to manually change the Clip Near setting to .01 or .001, on every single Cheetah file. I've saved other preferences using the little "make default tool setting" icon and the "Save Layout" option, but the clipping values don't get saved with either of those methods.
 
I always have to manually change the Clip Near setting to .01 or .001, on every single Cheetah file.
I don´t think that´s necessary; when you know the scale factor adjust it in the Preferences->Files->xyz->Scale factor: and use the standards setting while modelling.
(Otherwise make and save an empty scene with your changes to start with instead of opening Cheetah3d´s default - put in the dock for example)

Cheers
Frank
 
I don´t think that´s necessary; when you know the scale factor adjust it in the Preferences->Files->xyz->Scale factor: and use the standards setting while modelling.
(Otherwise make and save an empty scene with your changes to start with instead of opening Cheetah3d´s default - put in the dock for example)

I've gotten myself into way too much trouble trying to adjust the import/export scale on Poser and Cheetah! If I was a linear kind of person who only did things along one, straightforward path, then perhaps that would work. But I tend to move objects between Poser and Cheetah multiple times, so I learned the hard way to just leave everything set to import/export at 100%. Unless, of course, my aim is to make microscopic dollhouses ;-)

Poser's default scaling is notoriously small relative to other modeling apps, but thankfully Cheetah can still work with most items from Poser at their default size. Using several measuring tools in both apps, I've worked out a Numbers spreadsheet that lets me easily determine what sizes to use in Cheetah if I want a prop to be a particular size in Poser.

If I'm not so concerned with a precise size, then I go with 10% of whatever the default value is in Cheetah. So a primitive box that comes in at 1 on all sides I'd adjust to be .1 on all sides. Works well most of the time!

I appreciate the idea of setting up a "default" Cheetah3D scene and using that as a starter, but I hit "command n" so many times in the process of working on something that it would really slow me down to have to navigate to the dock and select the default scene every time. But I'll give it a try. However, my "wish list" request for more ways of setting default preferences in Cheetah remains :)
 
I'm not certain, but I believe that the orthographic views (Front, Top, Right, etc.) are actually preset camera objects (each with their own set of clipping properties), not the camera item that is listed in the object list, where you can set values numerically.

The way I change the clip settings in the ortho views is to use the Focus Object tool (the crosshair/bullseye in the top right toolbar of the 3D View window). If the ortho view is clipping before you can zoom in as far as you want, select a small object or even a single polygon to focus on and click the Focus Object tool - the clipping values seem to be reset as the view zooms in on that detail. Then you can zoom out and move the view to the objects you're concerned with. If you use the Focus Object tool on a large object or even the whole model, clipping could occur before you zoom in very much at all.
The cross hair / select a poly trick ,works really well. I just ran into the clipping problems. Thank you for that!
 
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