Camera
Capture a still camera frame and position it over the workspace.
The Camera panel manages a fixed workspace camera and its still-image canvas overlay. The camera selection, mapping, and alignment are stored with the active machine profile.
Opening it
- Default dock zone:
floating - Visible by default: no, open it from the Window menu
- Hotkey: no default
Before selecting a camera
An active machine profile is required. Without one, the Device dropdown is disabled and the panel asks you to select or create a profile.
Click Refresh to ask the operating system for the current camera list. Choose a camera from Device, then click Update Overlay to request permission if needed and capture a frame.
Status and preview
The panel shows:
- Overlay: no frame, auto-fit preview, adjusting, unsaved changes, Camera Mapping, or saved alignment.
- Frame: captured dimensions.
- Camera Mapping: saved mapping quality, or
none. - Alignment: corrected solve quality,
Manual,Preview, ornone. - Latest capture: a still preview of the current frame.
The Overlay checkbox controls visibility. Opacity changes how strongly the frame appears behind the design.
Overlay controls
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Adjust Overlay | Show move, scale, and rotation handles on the canvas. The button changes to Done Adjusting while active. |
| Fit to Bed | Center and uniformly scale the frame inside the configured workspace. |
| Save Alignment | Save the current preview or adjusted transform to the active machine profile. |
| Discard Preview | Remove an unsaved auto-fit preview when no saved mapping or alignment exists. |
In adjustment mode, drag inside the frame to move it, drag a corner to scale it, and drag the handle above the frame to rotate it. Done Adjusting exits without saving the current changes.
Setup and reset controls
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Refresh Overlay | Reload camera overlay state without capturing a frame. |
| Reset Mapping | Clear the saved Camera Mapping. |
| Reset Alignment | Clear the saved Camera Alignment. If a mapping exists, the overlay falls back to it. |
| Map Camera | Open the Camera Mapping dialog. |
| Align Camera | Open the Camera Alignment dialog. |
Behavior worth knowing
- Update Overlay captures a still frame. It is not a continuous live-video view.
- Selecting another camera clears the previous camera's frame, mapping, and alignment for the active profile.
- Capturing at a different resolution clears saved transforms that were solved for the old dimensions.
- A saved alignment takes precedence over a saved mapping.
- Without a saved transform, Beam Bench creates a centered fit-to-bed preview after capture.
- Manual adjustment supports uniform scale, rotation, and translation.
- Camera Alignment can correct perspective with 4 points and estimate radial lens distortion with 6 or more well-spread points. The recommended layout uses 9 points.
- Camera Alignment does not correct a mirrored camera feed.