[Documentation WIP]
Control, capture, and recall exactly what you see in your viewport.
ViewPilot gives you precise control over your 3D viewport and lets you save views as navigable bookmarks with thumbnail previews.
- Allow camera manipulation without having to select them.
- Minor: Global space. Local space. Turntable. Back Up to Wall.
- Create cameras: that replicate what your see exactly, down to the sensor framing
- History: Trace your steps back
- Views: Remember what you were looking at, where you were looking at it from, how you were looking at it
- Emphasize: Scenes + ViewLayers!
- Panels: Customize how and where you wanna access ViewPilot. Customize the panels themselves!
- Transform Controls — Manipulate location, rotation, and zoom with precise numeric input
- Screen-Space Transforms — Shift X/Y for dolly-style camera moves
- Orbit Mode — Turntable-style rotation around selection
- Perspective Toggle — Quick switch between perspective and orthographic
- Lens Controls — Adjust focal length, field of view, clip start/end
- Save unlimited views — Capture viewport position, rotation, zoom, and lens settings
- Thumbnail Gallery — Visual filmstrip overlay showing all saved views
- One-click navigation — Jump to any saved view instantly
- Ghost indicators — See when your current view differs from a saved view ( View Name )
Each saved view can selectively remember:
- Perspective — Camera position and orientation
- Shading — Viewport shading mode and settings
- Overlays — Overlay visibility states
- Composition — Active Scene and View Layer
- Create camera from view — Instantly create a scene camera matching your current viewport
- Auto-naming — Configurable camera naming with prefixes
- Camera collection — Optionally organize cameras in a dedicated collection
- Automatic history tracking — Navigate back and forward through viewport changes
- Configurable history size — Control how many states to remember
ViewPilot is available in four locations (all configurable):
| Location | Access | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Popup | Shift+Z (customizable) |
Quick access anywhere |
| Header Popover | Click ViewPilot button | Persistent access while working |
| N-Panel | View tab → ViewPilot | Full panel integration |
| Topbar | Next to Scene/View Layer dropdowns | Saved views quick access |
The filmstrip overlay provides:
- Visual preview of all saved views
- Click to navigate — left-click any thumbnail
- Right-click menu — rename, delete, update, toggle "Remember" options
- Action buttons — Refresh all, Reorder views, Close gallery
- Auto-start option — Gallery can open automatically on file load
ViewPilot is highly customizable through addon preferences:
- Enable/disable each access point independently
- Show/hide individual panel sections (History, Lens, Transform, etc.)
- Configure popup width
- Set which "Remember" toggles are enabled by default
- Choose default lens unit (Field of View vs Focal Length)
- Custom camera name prefix
- Use dedicated camera collection (on/off)
- Passepartout opacity
- Show/hide passepartout
- Maximum history size
- Settle delay before recording
- Start gallery automatically on file load
- Maximum thumbnail size
- Create cameras efficiently — Use ViewPilot to compose your shot, then instantly create a matching camera
- Organize presentations — Save key views for client presentations or animation planning
- Fast iteration — Jump between saved views to compare compositions
- Non-destructive — Saved views don't modify your scene; they're just viewport bookmarks
- Blender 4.0+
- Download the addon
- In Blender: Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install...
- Select the downloaded file
- Enable "ViewPilot" in the addon list
Default shortcuts (customizable in Blender Keymap settings):
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open ViewPilot Popup | Shift+Z |
| Previous/Next Saved View | Alt+Left/Right |
| Save Current View | Ctrl+Alt+Down |
| Create Camera from View | Ctrl+Alt+Up |
| History Back/Forward | (Unset by default) |
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Created by Faruk Ahmet