This How to Move in Blender tutorial teaches you everything a beginner needs to know to move and control the camera inside Blender. We show several options. When making a scene in a 3D environment – one of the most important things is the camera work. Similarly to the real world, camera settings and their positions can make the final result much better.
In this article we are going to introduce ways of how you can control the Camera in Blender and place it however you like. If you want to learn moving around the 3D space instead – we have a How to Move in Blender article just for you.
Blender How to Move Camera
There are a bunch of methods on how to control Cameras in the Blender. We will look into them and teach you how to utilize them.
Moving Camera with Transforms
The first way and the most classic one is using transforms. Meaning that you can control the camera as any other objects in 3D space – using the Move [G] and Rotate [R] tools or corresponding shortcuts.
Alternatively you can just set the values for the location of your camera right into the object properties in the Properties Editor.
And you even can use this method right from the Camera view and see changes right away. Though you are not able to use tool gizmos this way. But moving and rotating Camera on its local axis helps a lot. To do that you need to press [G] for Move or [R] for Rotate and press the axis button twice. For example pressing [G] and then [Z] twice will allow you to zoom in and out with the camera right from its view.
Moving Camera in First Person
There is a way to move a camera in first person. There are even two ways of doing that. To activate it you need to find it in the View > Navigation > Walk.
This will enable the first person controls. Which are basically the same as to any first person game that you might know. [W], [A], [S],[D] to move around, moving the mouse also moves your view, [Q] and [E] for up and down movement and holding [Shift] will speed you up. Also Spacebar will teleport your view to wherever you are looking.
This way you can move as Camera around your scene and position it anywhere you want. Then just press the left mouse button to apply or the right mouse button to cancel and return to wherever you have been before entering the Walk Navigation.
Alternatively there is a Fly Navigation option near Walk Navigation. It is really similar, but controls in a bit different way that is a lot smoother but a bit hard to describe and you need to try it for yourself. All the shortcuts are still the same.
Moving Camera with View Controls
There is also a method of moving the camera by using the same controls as when you move your view around the 3D viewport in Blender. Meaning that you can use all the default ways of controlling the view such as navigation control buttons on the right and shortcut keys.
To enable this feature you need to open the info menu on the right by dragging it out or by pressing [N]. There open a View tab and enable “Camera to View” setting.
And now if you go into the Camera View [Numpad 0] – you will see a red rim around the camera view. This means that Camera to View controls are enabled. All that is left is to try moving around – for example zoom in with the mouse wheel or pan around with the [Shift+MMB].
Though you need to be careful when using this setting, because if you forget that it is active – you can easily mess up your camera positioning. That is why I always recommend turning this setting on, positioning your camera and then turning it off again, so you don’t forget that it is active.
Move Camera to View
The last method that we are going to cover. It is really similar to the last one, but it is inverted. Instead of moving the camera as you move your viewport – you move the camera to where the viewport view is.
First you need to align your view to where you want to place the camera – then find the Align Active Camera to view option in the View settings[Ctrl+Alt+Numpad0].
After that the camera will be teleported to the exact position where your view was situated.
Conclusion How to Move the Camera in Blender
We have introduced plenty of ways for you to move the Camera in Blender. Now you can choose any way that you like or combine methods depending on the purpose and situation. So you can place Cameras exactly where you want them and render your scenes easier.
If you want to learn Blender more – try our other Blender Basics Tutorial that not only teaches you more Blender, but also helps to get your first own renders.