Applying multiple cameras

[Stephen Smith]

I’m confused, why would you want more then one camera?

Stephen Smith
Lone Peak Producitons

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[Michael Garske]

Im sorry, I’m new to the program & so not very effective in my descriptions. I need to move three different objects along different paths in 3D space. I thought the way to do this is to make three different cameras, one for each of the items with different properties of movement. But all three objects adhere to only one set of camera movement keyframes. I’m guessing from your response is that you can only have one camera active at a time. Is this so? Can I apply different paths for movement in 3D to multiple objects with just one camera? thanks.

Mike

[Stephen Smith]

Michael,
Okay, I see what your saying. Move each group independently from each other by animating the group or image in the group with key frames or a Basic Motion Behavior. Use the Camera to animate all of your groups.
I like to think of it like you would if you where shooting it with your “real” camera. Think of the Objects as props/talent you can tell to move (aka Keyframes / Behavior). To create movement in the whole scene you would move your camera. Hope this helps.

Stephen Smith
Lone Peak Producitons

Check out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2

[Doyle Rockwell]

Howdy,

It sounds like you’ve overcomplicated this. Motion deals with cameras the same way that most 3D-capable apps do: emulate the real world. Place you camera(s) where you want them and then animate the objects as you see fit. If you want the cameras to move, too, you can animate them as well. This is similar to how an actor might walk around a set, and the camera might move, too. But you don’t have to create the impression of the actor moving by moving the camera; you just move the actor.

When you have multiple cameras, you can switch the viewer to show you the scene from each camera’s viewpoint. When you go to export, however, the topmost active camera in the Layers List/Timeline will be rendered on any given frame. This makes it much like editing in FCP: you can cut between cameras by trimming them.