Camera types

In addition to the normal thin-lens camera model, Indigo supports two additional camera types: orthogonal/parallel, and spherical.

Please note that these additional camera types are professional visualisation features and are only available in Indigo Renderer, and not Indigo RT.

Thin-lens perspective camera

This is the default camera mode, with many familiar settings from standard photography. For more information please see the parent Camera page.

Concrete House scene by Axel Ritter (Impulse Arts)
Concrete House scene by Axel Ritter (Impulse Arts)

Orthogonal/parallel projection camera

In this mode, there is no foreshortening due to perspective, i.e. objects far away appear the same size as those near to the camera. This is commonly used in architectural visualisation for building plans.

Please note that since there is no perspective in this camera mode, the sensor width needs to be very large in order to be able to image large objects; this can lead to somewhat implausible (though not unphysical!) circumstances in which you have building-sized sensors.

For more information please see the SkIndigo orthographic camera tutorial.

Garden Lobby scene by Tom Svilans (StompinTom)
Garden Lobby scene by Tom Svilans (StompinTom)

Spherical projection camera

The spherical projection camera renders a complete 360 degree view at once, which is useful for making environment map renders (for example to use as High Dynamic Range images for illuminating other scenes). It can also be used to render images for 360 degree panorama viewing applications.

Because spherical maps cover twice as many degrees in longitude as latitude, it is recommended to make your spherical renders with aspect ratio 2:1 in X and Y.

Weekend House scene by Axel Ritter (Impulse Arts)

Weekend House scene by Axel Ritter (Impulse Arts)