Perspective

Summary

The perspective function is used to move the camera so it looks at one or more assets.

You can nominate the name (or ARDI asset ID) of the asset, or one or more special names that allow you to look at multiple assets simultaniously.

You can also choose which angle to view the asset(s) from, or allow ARDI to choose a suitable perspective for you.

It takes approx. 1 second for the camera to move from its current position to the new location.

Parameters

Target

Type: Text Default: everything

Specifies the name or ARDI ID of the asset you would like to view. If using an asset ID, begin the target with the '#' character.

You can also use the following parameters instead of nominating a specific asset…

ParameterMeaning
everythingView everything in the scene, including any environmental objects (this doesn't include environmental objects that are currently hidden).
allAll assets in the scene. This normally won't include any mobile assets. See remarks for more details.

Angle

Type: Text Default: auto

Specifies the angle from which to view the asset(s). This value should be one of the following…

ParameterMeaning
autoARDI calculates the angle. This is usually roughly 20 degrees to the right and above the asset, looking to the front. This function is aware of neighbouring objects and will attempt to avoid them.
frontLooking back at the object directly from the front.
backLooking at the object from directly behind it.
aboveLooking at the object from directly above it.
belowLooking at the object from directly below it.
leftLooking at the object from the left to the right
rightLooking at the object from right to the left
WholeObject

Type: Boolean Default: false

If the target is a sub-component of a much larger object, view the object as a whole rather than focusing on just the sub-part.

Lock

Type: Boolean Default: false

If possible, lock the camera to the object so that the camera will move if the target moves.

Distance

Type: Float Default: -1

The distance the camera should stop from the asset(s).

If this value is -1 (or not specified at all), the system will automatically attempt to calculate the ideal distance from the asset.

lroffset

Type: Float Default: 20

ARDI will generally try to pick a location to look at the asset that is based on it's front. However, sometimes that's not the ideal location to view your asset from.

Left-Right Offset allows you to enter a number of degrees (from 0-360) to rotate around the asset in the left/right direction. If you find that the perspective function ends up looking at the back of the item, a lroffset value of “180” will turn you right around.

udoffset

Type: Float Default: 20

ARDI will generally try to pick a location to look at the asset that is based on it's front. However, sometimes that's not the ideal location to view your asset from.

Up-Down Offset allows you to enter a number of degrees (from 0-360) to rotate around the asset in the up and down direction. If you find that the perspective function ends up looking at the front of the item and you'd prefer to view it from the top, you can add an udoffset of 90.

Children

Type: Boolean Default: true

If true, the center and distance from the target is made up of the component itself, plus all children of that component.

If false, only the component itself is focused on - any parts within it are ignored.

Remarks

The behaviour of this function can be influenced by the Autofocus effect. Please read the documentation on the autofocus function for more details.

See Also

Examples

<perspective target="all"/>
This is the function called when you don't have a default camera and you open an ARDI environment. The camera is moved so that all assets are in view.
<perspective target="everything" angle="above"/>
Provides a top-down view of your entire environment.
<perspective target="Pump A" angle="auto"/>
Focuses on the asset named 'Pump A'.