6. Scenes

1. Go to MODE | SCENE from the dropdown menu.

• Use SCENE | PROPERTIES and name this as "Saucer PhotoShoot"

2. ADD YOUR SAUCER

• Use BUILD | ADD OBJECT and choose your "Saucer" from previous exercises.

• Note - THIS is why it's important to name every object intelligently!

3.ENTER QUAD VIEW

• Press the PERIOD KEY (.) on your numeric keypad (on the right side of your keyboard)

• You can now see your virtual "set" from four angles.

• The ugly checkerboard "floor" will be removed in the next step!

4. LOAD a BACKGROUND

• Use SCENE | PROPERTIES | ENVIRONMENT and change the following:

  • Background should be "IMAGE"

  • Find a suitable image from the internet that is (ideally) 1280x720 pixels (You could crop one with photoshop)

  • Look for the File - LOAD button and choose the image

  • Set the Ground Grid to OFF. Click OK

• FIX the FRAMING

• Use SCENE | PROPERTIES | MOVIE IMAGE and choose an "Aspect Ratio" of 16:9 (HDTV), then set the resolution to 1280 x 720 pixels

5. TILT your CAMERA

• SELECT the little virtual CAMERA in one of the windows

• ROTATE the camera's view using the ROTATE function and the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON so that it is level with the desired background. There is a green virtual "frame" in the camera view window to show the precise framing; the background borders should be outside this frame

6. LOWER your CAMERA

• Use the MOVE tool to lower the camera down to the saucers level - you'll see the camera's view look much better.

• COMPOSITION TIPS

  1. TRY moving the camera closer to the saucer as well to FILL THE FRAME

  2. Your "picture" should feature YOUR SAUCER, not the background

  3. Use the RULE OF THIRDS to leave noseroom in front of your saucer

7. POSE your SAUCER

• Select the Saucer and use ROTATE and MOVE to give it a good pose

• BTW: Do NOT try to use ARC-ROTATE in the camera view - your corrections won't "stick"