How to save a project's opening camera view

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Frame your project in the 3D workshop, click Set opening shot in the Camera tool, and control the view visitors see first.

A good opening camera view immediately shows what your project is and how its main assemblies fit together. Saving an opening shot ensures that whenever you or a visitor opens the project, the 3D viewport starts from your chosen angle rather than a generic bounding-box fit.

1. Frame the build and click Set opening shot

  1. Open your project and scrub the timeline to the step you want to feature (usually the finished assembly at the final step).
  2. Orbit, pan, and zoom in the 3D viewport until the build sits clearly in frame with breathing room around its edges.
  3. Select the Camera tool in the top toolbar.
  4. Click Set opening shot in the Camera bar to save the current camera pose with the project.
Platform Bed project open in the 3D workshop with the Camera tool selected, showing Full view, Region, X-ray, and Set opening shot.

2. Inspect internal joinery with X-ray or reset the view

Your saved opening shot is stored independently from your everyday orbiting. You can rotate behind the project, zoom into a mortise, or toggle X-ray in the Camera bar to check internal tenons and fasteners without overwriting the saved opening view.

Platform Bed shown with the Camera tool's X-ray mode enabled, revealing internal rail and slat intersections.

To replace the opening view later, frame the new angle and click Set opening shot again. To return to automatic framing, click Clear next to the opening-shot control.

Continue with How to send your assistant a useful project screenshot and How to make a woodworking build-guide video in Sawdust.