OrthoLock Node

When you create a 3D camera move in your scene, notice that layers are treated as flat objects. That is, animation layers that are supposed to face the camera at all times will look like a flat sheet of rotating paper.

Use the Ortholock layer when mixing flat animation layers with a set built in 3D. Ortholock forces your drawing layer to always follow the Camera angle. It does not follow its position or zooming level, only the rotation. This prevents drawings from being distorted by the camera motion.

Connection

The OrthoLock node can be connected as a parent of the drawing or drawings which you want to face the camera.

Layer Properties

Parameter Description
Enable/Disable

Allows you to enable or disable the node. When disabled, a node has no visible effect on the rendered image, nor on the preview in the Camera, Perspective, Side and Top views.

Colour Swatch

Sets the colour of the layer in the Timeline view and of the node in the Node view.

Name Allows you to enter a name for the node.
Rotation Axis

The axes on which to rotate the input image to keep facing the camera.

  • X and Y Axes: The drawing will be rotated on the x and y axes to keep facing the camera regardless of its position in the 3D space.
  • X Axis Only: The drawing will be rotated on the x-axis when the camera is rotated in the x-axis. The drawing will keep facing the camera if it moves to a low or high angle view, but not if it moves around it while staying on the ground.
  • Y Axis Only: The drawing will be rotated on the y-axis when the camera is rotated on the y-axis. The drawing will keep facing the camera if it moves around it while staying on the ground, but not if it moves to a low or high angle view.
Max Angle

The maximum angle at which the drawings can appear to be relative to the camera angle, on both the x and y axes, in either direction.

For example, at the default setting, 0, the input image will always be facing the camera. If however you set this parameter to 30°, you can rotate the camera around the drawing up to 30° in either direction and the drawing will appear in perspective, but past 30°, the drawing will appear to rotate to keep its angle relative to the camera.