9.5.2

316 • CHAPTER 7
OBJECTS MENU • CAMERAS • 317
Link Active Object
You can view a scene through any object, not just through a camera. In the Object manager, select
the object that you want to use as the viewport’s camera. In the desired viewport, choose Cameras
> Link Active Object.
Sometimes it’s useful to view the scene through particular objects. For example, when creating hair
using the separately available Shave and a Haircut for CINEMA 4D plugin, you need to ensure that
a light’s shadow cone just covers the hair (otherwise you’ll lose shadow denition). This is easy to
check if you use the light as the camera. You can then re-size the shadow cone accurately so that it
encompasses the hair.
When using the separately available Shave and a Haircut for CINEMA 4D, use the light as a camera when
setting the shadow cone. This makes it easy to ensure the shadow cone just encompasses the hair, as
required for best shadows.
When using an object as a viewport camera, the object’s Z-axis denes the
viewing direction (as is the case with Camera objects).
Editor Camera
When you start a new scene, the viewports initially use the editor camera — an internal camera that
you can’t see in the Object manager. If you’ve changed cameras to one of your own and want to switch
back to the Editor Camera, use this command.
Target Camera
In principle, a target camera (Objects > Scene > Target Camera )is no different from the standard
camera described above, except that a Target tag is assigned to the camera automatically and a target
object (a null) is created. If you move the target object, the camera will rotate to follow it. Similarly,
if you move the camera, the camera will rotate at the same time so that it continues to point at the
target object.