Updated for Blender Version: 3.1
To the Point
- Add an empty to your scene with Shift+A > Empty > Plain Axes
- Select the scene camera
- In Object Constraints Properties
, click the Add Object Constraint Dropdown and choose Track To - In the Track To settings in the Target box, click the eyedropper tool and then select the Empty from step 1.
The Details
When animating a scene, it can be difficult to animate the camera while keeping it focused on the focal point of the shot. This is where a simple Track To constraint will help you out. To see how this works, start a new scene and add an Empty by pressing Shift+A > Empty > Plains Axes. We’ll use this empty as the tracking point for the camera. Now click on the scene camera. In the vertical toolbar on the right, click the Object Constraints Properties tab . At the top of the Constraints window, click the “Add Object Constraint” dropdown and select “Track To” under the “Tracking” heading.
In the “Target” field, either click on the eyedropper tool and select the object you wish to track to (in this case, it’s the Empty Plain Axes), or click in the field and select the name of the object from the dropdown. That’s all you need. Now if you select your Empty and press G to move it around the 3D scene, you’ll see the camera point at the empty the whole time. The “Track To” target doesn’t have to be an Empty. You can track to any object in the scene, though an Empty might give you more flexibility when animating.
More Track To Settings
Track Axis – This gives you the option to change which direction the camera is facing in relation to the Track To object. -Z is the default, meaning it will point towards the object.
Up – This changes which axis is “up” for the camera. It will rotate the camera accordingly.
Target and Owner – These two dropdowns allow you to change how the axes are used – either the World axes, Local axes, or custom.
Influence – This adjusts how closely the camera will track to your target object. 1.0 means the camera will perfectly track with the target object’s movement. Anything lower than 1.o will mean that the camera will lag behind the object slightly. This can be used to produce some pretty neat effects.