Orthographic Views and Cameras
The viewport can show your groom either in perspective, which mimics how a real camera sees the world, or in one of six orthographic views, which look straight down an axis with no perspective distortion. Orthographic views are ideal for precise alignment and symmetrical grooming, while perspective is best for judging the final look.
The standard views
Ornatrix App provides the usual set of axis-aligned views:
- Perspective
- Top and Bottom
- Front and Back
- Left and Right
The Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Left, and Right views are orthographic; Perspective is not. You can orbit, pan, and zoom an orthographic view just as you would a perspective view; the framing stays consistent as you navigate. See Viewport Navigation and Display.
Switching views
There are three ways to change the current view:
- Click the view-name label in the top-left corner of the viewport and choose a view from the menu.
- Open the viewport settings menu and pick a view from the camera submenu.
- Use the keyboard shortcuts (numpad based):
- Perspective: Ctrl+Numpad 5
- Top: Ctrl+Numpad 7 / Bottom: Ctrl+Shift+Numpad 7
- Front: Ctrl+Numpad 1 / Back: Ctrl+Shift+Numpad 1
- Left: Ctrl+Numpad 3 / Right: Ctrl+Shift+Numpad 3
Working with cameras
In addition to the standard views, you can look through any camera that exists in the scene. Selecting a camera from the view menu makes the viewport show exactly what that camera sees, which is useful for matching a render or a layout. Cameras you create yourself are always perspective cameras.
The Thumbnail view
Alongside the standard views there is a special Thumbnail view, used to set up the picture saved as your groom's thumbnail preview - the small image shown for the groom in the Recent Files menu and the Grooms Browser. Choose it from the Default Views list in the view-name menu or the camera submenu; like the standard views it is created the first time you switch to it and is then remembered with the groom.
The Thumbnail view is an ordinary perspective view that you can orbit, pan, and zoom to frame the groom however you like. Because thumbnails are square, while you are in this view the parts of the viewport outside a centered square are darkened, so the bright area shows exactly what the thumbnail will contain.
Once you have set up the Thumbnail view, saving the groom captures its thumbnail from this view regardless of which view you are currently working in. If you never set it up, the thumbnail is taken from the current view as before. See Saving and Loading Grooms.
Framing your work
Press F to focus the current selection, fitting the selected geometry neatly inside the view. This works in both perspective and orthographic views.