Cylindrical Camera
Updated: 4 Dec 2023
Places a camera for generating a 360 degree panoramic render of the scene.
Cylindrical Camera
Method #
This node uses cube mapping to generate a 360 cylindrical render of the scene - rendering the scene six times based on a cube map, and then stitching those faces together. Useful for extreme FOV effects and rendering content for a curved screen.
This camera has an internal resolution set by the Cube face resolution property, aka, the resolution per face of the cube map. Higher resolutions will increase the render quality, but will only be noticeable when rendering at high resolutions, so dial in this value as soon as an output resolution is decided.
Cube Map resolutions higher than 4096 are not supported, as that will break the 16k GPU hardware limit set by DirectX. It’ll also be extremely heavy to process, so you will need a powerful GPU to process that high resolution.
Nodes parented to this node will generally follow the standard parent-child relationship with nodes in Notch, with a couple exceptions:
- Most Post-FX nodes will only run when viewed through a camera when connected to the camera.
- The Camera Focus Target controls the focus position and attributes for the camera.
Parameters
These properties control the 3D transforms of the node. Transforms will generally be inherited by child nodes, although they can be ignored through the Inherit Transform Channels attributes.
Parameter Details Position X
The objects position along the local x-axis.
Position Y
The objects position along the local y-axis.
Position Z
The objects position along the local z-axis.
Rotation Heading
The objects rotation around the local y-axis.
Rotation Pitch
The objects rotation around the local x-axis.
Rotation Bank
The objects rotation around the local z-axis.
Scale X
The objects scale along the local x-axis.
Scale Y
The objects scale along the local y-axis.
Scale Z
The objects scale along the local z-axis.
Control the inheritance of the transforms from the parent.
Parameter Details Position
Toggle inheritance of the Position from the parent.
Rotation
Toggle inheritance of the Rotation from the parent.
Scale
Toggle inheritance of the Scale from the parent.
World Position Only
Inherit the world position from the parent only, rotation and scale will be ignored. Overrides above properties.
Inherit Time
Toggle inheritance of time from the parent.
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
Parameter Details Near Clip
The closest distance that will be rendered. WARNING: Reducing this value too low can reduce the accuracy of aspects of the render.
Far Clip
The furthest distance that will be rendered by this camera. WARNING: Increasing this value too high, without increasing the Near Clip can reduce the accuracy of aspects of the renderer. Generally best left untouched.
Camera Priority
Change the priority of the camera. If two or more cameras have the same priority, the highest camera node in the nodegraph heirarchy is used.
Cube Face Resolution
Resolution of the cube used to generated the 360 cylindrical render. Higher values improve quality, but increase performance cost exponentially. Be careful when using this as a slider, as regenerating the cube faces many times quickly can cause instability.
The properties control the time at which the node is active. See Timeline for editing time segments.
Parameter Details Duration
Control the duration of the node’s time segment.
- Composition Duration : Use the length of the composition for the node’s time segment duration.
- Custom : Set a custom duration for the node’s time segment.
Node Time
The custom start and end time for the node.
Duration (Timecode)
The length of the node’s time segment (in time).
Duration (Frames)
The length of the node’s time segment (in frames).
Time Segment Enabled
Set whether the node’s time segment is enabled or not in the Timeline.
Inputs
These properties control the 3D transforms of the node. Transforms will generally be inherited by child nodes, although they can be ignored through the Inherit Transform Channels attributes.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Position X | The objects position along the local x-axis. |
| Position Y | The objects position along the local y-axis. |
| Position Z | The objects position along the local z-axis. |
| Rotation Heading | The objects rotation around the local y-axis. |
| Rotation Pitch | The objects rotation around the local x-axis. |
| Rotation Bank | The objects rotation around the local z-axis. |
| Scale X | The objects scale along the local x-axis. |
| Scale Y | The objects scale along the local y-axis. |
| Scale Z | The objects scale along the local z-axis. |
Control the inheritance of the transforms from the parent.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Position | Toggle inheritance of the Position from the parent. |
| Rotation | Toggle inheritance of the Rotation from the parent. |
| Scale | Toggle inheritance of the Scale from the parent. |
| World Position Only | Inherit the world position from the parent only, rotation and scale will be ignored. Overrides above properties. |
| Inherit Time | Toggle inheritance of time from the parent. |
These properties control the core behaviours of the node.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Near Clip | The closest distance that will be rendered. WARNING: Reducing this value too low can reduce the accuracy of aspects of the render. |
| Far Clip | The furthest distance that will be rendered by this camera. WARNING: Increasing this value too high, without increasing the Near Clip can reduce the accuracy of aspects of the renderer. Generally best left untouched. |
| Camera Priority | Change the priority of the camera. If two or more cameras have the same priority, the highest camera node in the nodegraph heirarchy is used. |
| Cube Face Resolution | Resolution of the cube used to generated the 360 cylindrical render. Higher values improve quality, but increase performance cost exponentially. Be careful when using this as a slider, as regenerating the cube faces many times quickly can cause instability. |
The properties control the time at which the node is active. See Timeline for editing time segments.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Duration |
Control the duration of the node’s time segment.
|
| Node Time | The custom start and end time for the node. |
| Duration (Timecode) | The length of the node’s time segment (in time). |
| Duration (Frames) | The length of the node’s time segment (in frames). |
| Time Segment Enabled | Set whether the node’s time segment is enabled or not in the Timeline. |
| Name | Description | Typical Input |
|---|---|---|
| Included Objects | Select nodes will be included in the final rendering from this camera. Once a node is connected, all unconnected nodes will be treated as excluded. | 3D Object |
| Excluded Objects | Select objects to be ignored by this camera. These objects will not be rendered, but will otherwise be generated and impact performance. Once a node is connected, all unconnected nodes will be treated as included. | 3D Object |
| Transform Modifiers | Apply the transforms of another node to this node. | Null |
| Target Node | Modifiy the rotations of the node to always direct the z axis towards the input. | Null |
| Local Transform Override | Apply the transforms of another node to this node, relative to its parent. | Null |
