Cycle through Camera ( Previous and Next )

hi again sorry many question i really cant find an answer ive already check all menus and input editor or maybe i miss it

question > is there a cycle camera in blender
what i mean is function like ( NEXT and Previous )

its similar animation is to … => screen.screen_set ( Switching Layout )
where there is Previous and Next can be set at Delta

currently for now my solution is i Use manual click the camera then Set Active camera and See it
but im looking for cycling camera because

i find its more intuitive and quickly jump through various camera setup by cycling
thank you for answer

command: ctrl 0 ( switch active camera )

yes im aware of that command that is what im using right now

but what im looking is cycle through camera that is place in scene … so i can quickly recheck all the setup in camera scene without clicking

you mean lock camera to view? i dont get it.

example i have 4 camera setup in scene named 1 2 3 4

if i trigger a hotkey for example right arrow key … it will jump to camera 2 now if i press again right arrow key … it will jump to 3 if i press left arrow key then it will jump to 2 …

next and previous … cycling camera
this is very helpful especially quickly checking various composition you setup

and i wanna ask if blender if these function exist because i check the input editor and icant find it

I think there is something like that. It might be a script. I will see if I can find anything on it.
(edit)one thing that occurs to me, is, you could key the position of a single camera, for every frame, from say 1 to 5, and cycle through the frames with the arrow keys. would that work for your purpose?

this is the script I was thinking of. unfortunately it looks as if it hasn’t been updated since the 2.4 versions
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.4/Py/Scripts/Animation/Camera_changer

Bind the cameras to markers on the timeline and use the arrow keys to step through the frames/camera views.

Create markers on consecutive frames in the timeline (Key M). Select a camera, select a marker then Ctrl B while hovering over timeline. Arrow keys to forward/back through those frames (no matter where your mouse is).

-LP

keyframing is can be work but
but i like to setup multiple camera and just switch from one to another ( cycle quickly ) without worrying using keyframe because it will slowdown workflow

while cycling it will automatically look at camera ( 1st person view )

similar animation to switch active camera but … without clicking … and has Switch to Next Camera and Previous function

but ithink its not in blender ive search over the input editor
so i will stick with manual clicking + set active camera …

i want this function because sometimes iwant quickly recheck the composition or review it and the fast way is by cycling ( like slideshow )

thank you anyway
sorry for bad english

No there’s no built in feature for this.

The timeline/animation features are often useful for other tasks. Camera bind to markers makes it useful for camera views too. This technique probably no good if you are working on an animation.

Here’s an example blend. Open (load UI) and try the L/R arrow keys. Cameras are on layer 2.

camera switching w markers.blend (596 KB)

Edit: BTW no keying done here. Just adding markers and binding cams to them as described above. Delete the markers and it’s gone.

Edit 2: Notice this works (arrow keys = frames) no matter where your mouse is. It works when editing the mesh. Turn off the cameras’ layer to get them out of your way and it still works.

Hope this helps.

-LP

Here’s another tip. Notice in my file I have other screens set up besides the one showing (00 - Default 1). See the one I labeled 03 - Camera View Full. The point here is that you can cycle through the screens with Ctrl + Arrow L/R keys. I think you mentioned this in your first post.

Rename the screen names (just delete the one I labelled 02). Now you can Ctrl + R Arrow key to toggle to a big camera view and L/R Arrow keys to switch the cameras while in this screen. Ctrl + L Arrow key to return to your work view.

You may have already figured this out. This for the lurkers/searchers too. :wink:

-LP

thank you for alternate ways
Q> is it possible to submit to add request feature suggestion to blender developers?

yes. either here(TecnicalSupport) or here (BlenderAndCGDiscussion)

I’d suggest doing this “like they really do it in the movies.”

Place several cameras in the base scene. Then, create linked scenes in which you select a particular camera and designate a different output-directory. Then, use “OpenGL Preview” renders to quickly render the action from each camera position. Go ahead and let the characters walk on, do their moves and walk off while the camera runs. Turn on the Stamp feature to include timecode, frame number, scene, camera, and output-file.

Then, dust off your cinematographer / film-editor hat. Use VSE or some other video editing tool to “cut the shots together” into a finished sequence. Perhaps, one of several.

You’ll actually spend more time than you think, tweaking this. It’s a very important part of filmmaking, and quick-renders make it cheap. And, you’ll probably find that the actual cuts that you come up with are quite different from what you originally thought. You’ll probably find that the actual frame-ranges, that you actually use in the “final cut,” are much less than what you quick-rendered. If you plan to use music, lay in a scratch-track with the proper timing.

You might find yourself saying, “well, what if we do this?” Go ahead and try it! Whip out another quick strip in the same manner and see if you can fit it in. OpenGL Preview renders are cheap enough to make that you can afford to splurge.

(But do make this agreement with yourself: that, at this point, you will not throw anything away. If you don’t like this-or-that shot, make another one. Make a folder called “rubbish,” if you like. But don’t actually discard anything. Add another camera instead of removing or repositioning one that you’ve already used. After all, you won’t exactly “run out.”)

Now, pull-off the list of shots and frame-numbers from each shot. Those, and only those, are the frames that you must now render in detail. As you complete each one, drop it into the final. The best thing about “OpenGL Preview,” in addition to the fact that it’s fast, is that the previews will match exactly to a final-render version of the same shot. (Furthemore, in quite a number of situations, those “Quick” renders are actually good enough(!) for all or part of the shot.)