Camera Shift Sync
Compose-preserving camera moves around a world-fixed target.
Camera Shift Sync lets you move a perspective camera freely while shift_x / shift_y are recalculated in real time, so the center of the frame always stays locked on a world-fixed target plane. Build and refine compositions by moving the camera — not by re-aiming it.
How it works
- Select a camera and open the Camera Shift Sync tab in the 3D Viewport sidebar (N-Panel)
- Enter the distance to your subject in Target Distance, or click the subject in the viewport with Get Distance from Click
- Enable Initialize — a target plane is fixed in world space at that distance
- Move the camera with the panel sliders: lens shift follows automatically and the frame center never leaves the target
Features
- Camera Position: move the camera along the target plane's local axes (Delta X / Y / Z, straight-line trajectories) or toward / away from the target (Radial Distance) — the two views stay in sync
- Plate Transform: edit the target plane's location / rotation and the camera follows rigidly, carrying the whole composition while
shift_x/shift_ystay unchanged - Live sync: changing focal length or FOV recalculates the shift instantly; editing
shift_x/shift_ymoves the target accordingly - Plate overlay: a translucent plate visualizes the target plane in the viewport (fill / edge color, edge width, and depth test configurable per camera)
- Safe bake-out: editing the camera transform externally, deactivating the camera, or saving the file automatically de-initializes — the camera keeps its current position, shift, and lens, so the result is effectively baked
Limitations
- Perspective cameras only (
Camera.type == 'PERSP'). The panel is grayed out for orthographic / panoramic cameras.
What's New
0.2.2 June 12th, 2026
Reworked handler usage based on reviewer feedback:
- The add-on no longer registers anything at enable time: no application handlers, no msgbus subscriptions, no draw handler. The depsgraph watch and msgbus subscriptions exist only while a camera is in the Initialize state, and the plate overlay draw handler only while Show Plate is on.
- Removed save_pre / save_post / load_post entirely: the session-only Initialize state now lives outside the .blend data and is never written into the file.
- Lighter external-edit detection: direct transform comparison for the initialized camera instead of scanning depsgraph updates and objects.
- Behavior change: Show Plate is now session-only and resets to off when a file is reopened.