How to Move the Field of View With Blender

Blender's default setting mimics a standard, 35mm camera lens.

Blender, a free 3-D graphics rendering program, allows you to place and configure one or more camera objects in a scene. When you render your 3-D scene, Blender creates images from the perspective of the camera. You can alter the rendered scene’s field of view by modifying the camera object’s lens settings. Each camera in Blender uses a field of view equivalent to a 35mm lens by default. You can set a different lens thickness or set an exact value for the field of view in degrees.

Instructions

1. Click the “Camera” object under Scene at the top right corner of the blender window to view the camera object’s properties.

2. Click the camera-shaped “Object Data” icon under the same pane from which you selected the Camera object.

3. Click “Perspective” in the Lens section. Field of view requires using a perspective camera; an orthographic rendering is a flat image without a modifiable field of view.

4. Click the drop-down box reading “Millimeters” and select “Degrees” to enter a precise field of view.

5. Click the box with the number inside it and type a new value for your field of view. Enter a larger number for a wider field of view or a smaller number for a narrower field of view.

Tips & Warnings

• Leave the unit box set to “Millimeters” to set a lens thickness instead of an exact field of view.

• Press the “F12” key to render your scene and see a preview of how your field of view appears.

Resources

• Blender: Home Page