Godot4 - To zoom further, change the camera's clipping planes

[GenOneCam]

I am working on my first project in Godot, following the" Complete Godot 3D: Develop Your Own 3D Games Using Godot 4" course and while building my level I am no longer able to zoom in closely on my level. When I try to I get the message from the topic title: To zoom further, change the camera’s clipping planes (view → settings…)

I am confused as I have not changed any of my settings and the issue came out of nowhere. I can not figure out how to fix it either. It is a shame because I do not want to lose the work I have done. This is the first project in the course and is therefore relatively simple. I could fix it easily by deleting the level and duplicating one of my other levels which are not experiencing this issue but I am hoping someone can help me to understand what has happened and why.

I am new to this all and have only been working with Godot for 3 days and have no prior experience with other engines.

Any help would be appreciated.

[CoreyKnecht]

I think all you need here is a rundown of the other camera controls, since zooming is not intended to be the main way of repositioning the camera:

• MMB + Mouse: Orbit Focal Point
• RMB + Mouse: Rotate Camera View
• Shift + MMB + Mouse: Pan
• Shift + F: Toggle Fly Mode, which enables these controls:
  • Mouse: Rotate Camera View
  • WASD: Move and Strafe
  • Shift (Hold): Increase Move and Strafe speed

The first three should be more than enough for this project, but Fly Mode is also fantastic and sometimes it just feels more intuitive to use/include that. This should get it sorted =)

[GenOneCam]

Thank you for the swift response. I am using those controls (though I will have to check out fly mode). But I also use the Scroll wheel to zoom in close when doing certain precise work in addition to the controls you listed. It has worked up until this point.

Another problem that the issue I am having causes is that Shift + MMB to Pan becomes extremely “slow” (not sure if there is a better word to use but essentially I can move my mouse all the way across my mouse pad and it will hardly pan the screen).

This has not been an issue up until this point. And it is not an issue in my other Level Scenes.

[CoreyKnecht]

@GenOneCam

But I also use the Scroll wheel to zoom in close when doing certain precise work in addition to the controls you listed. It has worked up until this point.

Yes, exactly; that’s why I listed the other controls =)

@GenOneCam

it is not an issue in my other Level Scenes.

This makes sense because the Viewport camera is unique in each scene - moving/zoming in one scene won’t affect the others. You will see this clearly later on if you decide to edit multiple levels in the same session.

@GenOneCam

Shift + MMB to Pan becomes extremely “slow”

This is because your camera is zoomed in to the max, which in turn is also creating the message you were seeing. Zoom out, use either [rotation and panning] or Fly Mode to get yourself closer to the area you want to work on, and then zoom back in without going all the way down to the bottom of the slider that appears on the left. This behaviour is actually common in other 3D programs, but it’s not always obvious how to work around it. No worries, these are just the growing pains that come with learning a brand new bit of software!

[GenOneCam]

Ok. I suppose it will just take some getting used to. Thank you for your help!

[OboShape]

Awesome thread and question/answers, Just chipping in another, F will focus or centre a highlighted node on screen.

Sometimes this sets the planes in relation to that node.

[CoreyKnecht]

Ah, now that one I didn’t know, thanks =)

@GenOneCam, this would be the easier solution when you can’t zoom in any further. Blender has something similar (Num Period) and I use that control all the time.

[GenOneCam]

Thank you. That will be a useful one to know

[GenOneCam]

I will put that one in my back pocket as I do plan on learning Blender as well.