Perspective Views

Perspective view of the ice-cream shop

Perspective views most closely resemble human vision. Objects appear to recede into the distance, creating a sense of depth and space. For most 3D computer graphics, this is the view used in the final output that the client sees onscreen or on the page.

There are three ways to create a perspective view in a viewport: perspective view, camera view, and light view.

A perspective viewport, labeled Perspective, is one of the default viewports. You can change any active viewport to this eye-like point of view by pressing the keyboard shortcut P.

A camera view requires that you first create a camera object in your scene. The camera viewport tracks the view through the perspective of that camera. As you move the camera (or target) in another viewport, you see the scene swing accordingly. If you alter the camera's field of view on the Modify command panel, you see the changes as they are applied.

The light view works much like a targeted camera view. You first create the spotlight or directional light and then set the viewport to that light. What you see in the viewport is the view from the light looking into the scene. This is very useful for adjusting the correct distances of hotspot and falloff for the light.