Pan Without Changing Eye Height

Hi, I wonder if there is a way to (once having set a view to the exact coordinates desired) pan the image up (or down) without changing the eye height of the view. An example of this would be if in my view I want to have less ground occupying the bottom of the frame and more of the ceiling. I’m relatively new to Rhino but in SketchUp you would be able to do this by setting the perspective to a Two Point and then panning. I hope I explained myself correctly and thanks in advance!

Hi Paco - you can set 2 point perspective in Rhino (in Properties, with no selection) but panning still moves the camera - you can use RotateCamera (Up/Down) to move the target point.

-Pascal

Thanks for the speedy reply! So, to make sure, there is no way to go from the first picture, to the second, In which I’m getting more of the sky and less of the ground in the picture?


Yeah - I think you want to shift the camera relative to the view plane, there is no control for that that I know of in Rhino.

-Pascal

having the viewport active, you want to edit:
_camera show

now in an additional viewport (at least 2 or all 4) the visible camera with gumball…
like this or similar ?

but those edits are a bit limited …
there have bin a few topics lately that wish more functionality regarding how to edit the camera

this one is quite similar to your wish:

and the other topic:

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hmm, can be done very easily in grasshopper using Human and sliding camera target and origin points up and down on z axis, unless I miss understand the question?

have you tried entering numerical values in properties for camera target?:

1 = camera target, 2 = camera location:

place camera location, then place target,

like this:

enter numerical values here to raise view:

Rotate the view vertically when the view is set to two point perspective with help you get more sky and less ground.

I suppose I simply don’t understand the request…
Rotating the view by holding Ctrl+Alt and RMB keeps the camera in place in a simple perspective view?

2022-12-13 RotateView

-wim

The thing about rotating the camera up is that the perspective is no longer a two point and the vertical lines get warped.

In this model, this view is great, but I’m not getting the enough of the ceiling:

When I rotate the camera up, the perspective gets kinda screwed (vertical lines especially so):

What I’m looking to achieve is something like this:

I’ll probably end up resorting to taking the picture looking up and warp it in photoshop to straighten those vertical lines.

but did you set projection to two-point ?

Yeah. When I set it to Two Point and attempt to manually rotate the camera, the movement is limited to horizontal. I am able to force it by pressing the “up” button, but the result is no longer a two point (although the toggle is still shown as set in two point).

i was not able to reproduce something similar to your last screenshot.

maybe try to experiment with a new, simple document, restart rhino or even your computer.
this is what i tried to reproduce your issues - without success:
I started with a default front view…
image
image

don t use saved / namedviews until you have the correct camera - position…(not sure, what is overwritten by those settings).

or maybe post a (reduced ?) version of your file ?

I use “WalkAbout” (WA) command. It’s especially useful in tight spaces, ie. small interiors, inside vehicles, and even inside very small mechanical parts.
Typing “wa+enter” toggles the feature on & off. The camera is locked in the position in which it was executed and spins on its axis using Right-Click-Hold.
A crosshair appears center-screen to indicate WalkAbout is turned on. Right-click and hold to pan left/right and to tilt up/down. Hold Shift and Right-Click-Hold to dolly camera as usual. NOTE: This command does not maintain an exact camera height when panning in such a manner.
Work-Around: with nothing selected, take note of your Z Location (height) listed under “Camera” in the Properties Panel. Dolly to new location then enter previously noted Z Location. Your Camera tilt will have to be adjusted but Camera Height will return to the previous height.
While in WA mode “Orbit” (ctrl+shift+rt click) can be quickly accessed w/out disabling WA mode.

Not being able to look up/down in TwoPointPerspective projection is a known limitation in Rhino, I don’t have Mac version but I guess must be the same as in Windows. TwoPointPerspective was implemented in a bit sloppy way in Rhino 5 and ever since did not get any updates or interest to make it all work properly. Here is a post from 7 years ago, to my knowledge nothing has been improved since.
2 Point Perspective Rant and Poll - Rhino / Rhino for Windows - McNeel Forum

Your problem is valid - not being able to easily look up and down in 2PP is a major issue when trying take advantage of 2PP projection.
You may have some luck with showing the camera points (_Camera _Show) and using Gumball in another vport to drag the target up and down. (It gets stuck sometimes though, not sure why)

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We basically would need Ctrl+Alt+RMB drag in 2PP mode to allow not only for horizontal pan, but also up/down, like this:

image

You just need a to install a tilt-shift lens!

Seriously, though - this is the specific issue that these architectural focused optics address, essentially the shift portion moves the cameras view off-center of the image circle, to take advantage of a wider angle of view portion of the projection (towards the edges of the image-circle in optics parlance) while remaining parallel with the subject - (to avoid the effect of converging parallel lines on the subject plane).

Possibly a lateral displacement of the cameras position off of the central axis of it’s notional “lens” would achieve this aim.

That’s exactly what 2PP projection does in Rhino. The UI is just not very well implemented.

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An architect here. I would be happy to be able to use the 2PP and compose my image in a more professional manner. Unfortunately, not able to do it in Rhino 8 SR12.

use 2 viewports.
set one viewport to 2PP
now make the camera visible
_camera _show
you will see the geometry of the camera in the second viewport.
manipulate the CVs of the camera with any known transformation commands like
gumball, _move _rotate _setPt …

gumball with reduced drag strength is quite intuitive and precise…

which functionality do you miss ?