Perspective Projection Settings

For general information, see 3D Projections.

Use the View > 3D View Options > 3D Projection Settings command or the 3D Visualization toolbar’s button to open this dialog box.

Use this dialog box to set all the relevant parameters for perspective 3D views, such as viewpoint location and elevation, target location and elevation, width of the viewing cone, and sun position.

The preview area on the left side of the dialog box shows your Floor Plan as it currently appears in the window. To see another part of the Project, leave the dialog box, choose another detail using the Navigator or zooming and panning operations, then open it again.

For more information on Navigator or zooming and panning operations, see Navigation.

The solid line in the preview area represents the line of vision between the viewpoint and the target point. You can click and drag both the target point and the viewpoint independently of one another. Click anywhere in the preview area and the line of vision will be rotated around the target point to your click position.

The angle defining the View Cone is displayed in the preview area and provides reliable information if the line of vision is horizontal. If the line of vision is looking up or down, the angle can be used only for estimating the resulting view.

After zooms, pans, or numeric distance settings, the viewpoint and/or target point may occasionally disappear from the preview area. To retrieve them, simply Shift-click where you want the viewpoint and Alt/Cmd-click where you want the target point to be in the Window. They will immediately move to the points where you clicked.

You can also specify the following values numerically. Effects of these settings will be displayed graphically in the preview area.

•Camera Z: Enter a value here to specify Camera height from Project Zero. (In this case, the position of the target will remain unchanged.)

•Target Z: Enter a value here to specify Target height from Project Zero.

•Distance: Enter a value here to specify the horizontal distance between Camera and Target.

•Azimuth: Enter a value here to specify Camera Azimuth to Target.

For a one-point perspective, set the viewpoint and target point elevation to the same value. Set the viewpoint Azimuth parallel to the principal axis of the Project.

•For a two-point perspective, set the viewpoint and target point elevation to the same value. The other settings can have any value.

•For a three-point perspective, set the viewpoint and target point elevation to different values.

•To get a top view in perspective, set the viewpoint elevation higher than that of the target point elevation, drag the target to the desired location on the plan, then set the distance to zero by dragging the viewpoint until the numeric field displays a minimal value near zero. (You cannot type zero in the Distance field.)

The elevation of the viewpoint and the target point, as well as the View Cone and Roll Angle of the Camera must be set numerically by using the remaining edit boxes.

View Cone: Enter a value here to specify the opening angle of the Camera View Cone.

Hint: Wider angles (a°=>60°) can fit more objects in the Window, but can also distort the image.

Roll Angle: Enter a value here to specify Camera Roll Angle.

In the projection preview area, the dashed line from the center of the area with a sun icon at its end shows the direction of light for shaded and rendered representations. The sun icon can be dragged around the perimeter of the plan, but it cannot be positioned closer. Its distance is considered to be infinite. Both its Altitude and Azimuth can be set numerically in the edit boxes below the viewpoint and target settings.

Sun Altitude: Enter a value here to specify Sun Altitude used in shaded or rendered images.

Sun Azimuth: Enter a value here to specify Sun Azimuth used in shaded or rendered images.

Note: Cameras placed in the Floor Plan window also define perspective views, but they are configured in the Camera Tool Settings dialog box, not in this dialog box. You can copy a camera’s settings here by selecting a single camera on the Floor Plan and choosing 3D Projection Settings.

More Sun button: Click here to open a dialog to specify Sun settings.

For details, see Sun.

You can also use the Navigator and Navigator Preview palettes to set up the 3D view.

For details, see Navigation in the 3D Window.