[Blender] Dolly Zoom & Truck Shift navigation
RafaelNavegaThis is an add-on for Blender 3.x and 2.x.
It's a modal tool that lets you change the angle and shift of your camera lens while keeping it focused on the 3D cursor.
Use this to align your camera with background images (when modeling with reference) or for getting that perfect framing for your renders.
This tool works with exact math formulas.
How to use
- Set a camera of your scene as the active one, so you're looking through it.
- Place the 3D cursor at some point that you wish to keep focus on, like the nose of a character, the tip of a gun, the bottom of a cliff etc.
- Activate the tool in Object mode via menu View > Navigation > Dolly Zoom & Truck Shift or from a hotkey that you set up (read below in the "Installation" section).
- Use the D, X and Y keys to change between the dolly-zoom, truckshift-x and truckshift-y modes, respectively.
- Hold the Shift key for finer adjustments.
With the dolly-zoom mode this tool changes both the FOV angle of the camera and its location in space. You can keyframe these properties for use with animation.
With the truck-shift modes this tool changes both the shift of the camera and its location in space. You can also keyframe these properties.
Manual type-in mode
Following the same behavior as Blender's built-in operations, while this tool is on and in a certain adjustment mode (dolly-zoom, truck shift or rotate shift), if you type any number you will enter the "type-in mode".
In this mode you can write the exact value for the adjustment being made:
- Besides numbers, typing a period or comma will add a decimal place to the number, and pressing backspace will remove the last character written.
- The number being typed will use the same units as the tool, that is, either a focal-length in millimeters, or an FOV angle in degrees. This unit type can be toggled while the tool is on (to see the shortcut key for this, please consult the F1 menu while the tool is on).
- Finally, hitting Enter will confirm the adjustment with that typed-in value.
Installation
Download the zip file after purchase. The same file works on multiple Blender versions.
On Blender, choose "Install from File" from the Add-ons tab on the Blender preferences window, and look for this zip file. Once installed, tick the checkbox on the add-on info box to enable it.
Hotkey
You can add a hotkey to this tool by right-clicking its menu and choosing "Add Shortcut". You can also set a hotkey manually in the Input tab of the Blender preferences (it should look like this). The operator name is view3d.dollyzoom_truckshift.
Save your Preferences after all these changes so they are remembered the next time you run Blender.
Removal
To delete this add-on, first find it on the Camera or User categories of your Add-ons tab of the Blender Preferences. Expand its box and press the "Remove" button.