Movement and Camera
This page discusses the various ways you can move your avatar and control your view, the camera. As you will see, there are several ways of doing each, and different people have different personal preferences as to which works best.
The page only convers basic methods, and some of the options available. Further options concenering movement and camera are in Preferences -> Move & View, and subtabs.
Movement
Your avatar can be moved in-world in several ways.
Move Controls
Move controls are enabled via the top menu bar, Avatar → Move Controls. This opens a small window, as shown here, which can be moved on the screen and left where you find it most unobtrusive, by left clicking a corner and dragging it on-screen.
Arrow Keys
You can use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to move your avatar forward and backward. The left and right arrow keys turn your avatar in the corresponding direction, after which again use up and down to walk.
To walk to the left or right (called “strafing”), press and hold a Shift key, and while holding it down, press the left or right arrow key.
When standing, use the PgUp key to jump, PgDn to crouch. To fly, use the Home key, or press and hold PgUp 1). Press Home again to stop flying.
WASD
Those used to video games may wish to use the WASD keys on the keyboard for movement. To do this, go to Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement→ Pressing letter keys affects movement. This enables the following movement mappings:
| Key | Motion | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| W | Forward | Up Arrow |
| A | Turn Left | Left Arrow |
| Shift-A | Strafe Left | Shift-Left Arrow |
| S | Backward | Down arrow |
| D | Turn Right | Right Arrow |
| Shift-D | Strafe Right | Shift-Right arrow |
| E | Jump | PgUp |
| C | Crouch | PgDn |
| F | Fly | Home |
Note that if you have your cursor in any chat window (eg local chat, Neabyby, an IM window, etc), you will type instead of moving.)
NOTE 1: If you have enabled Preferences → Move & View → Movement → Use AZERTY keyboard layout, then WASD will not work correctly unless you actually have an AZERTY keyboard.
NOTE 2: If you have gestures active that use certain letter keys, this may interfere with your ability to use WASD.
Mouse Movement
It is also possible to move your avatar using your mouse.
First, you can left click your avatar to guide its direction, while using the arrow keys or WASD to walk.
However, you can also walk using only the mouse: left click your mouse button on your avatar or name tag. Keep the left mouse button pressed down, and then also click the right mouse button. Your avatar will start walking forward. Move your mouse to “pilot” your avatar.
Releasing either mouse button will stop walking.
This method also works while flying.
In Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement, you can enable Single click on land → Move to clicked point. Then if you left click somewhere on the ground, your avatar will immediately start walking to that point.
Running
One way to enable running is to press Ctrl-R. after pressing this, you will run instead of walking. Press Ctrl-R again to disable running.
In Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement, you can enable Tap-tap-hold to run. With this on, if you press the up arrow key twice, quickly, you will start running. You will stop running once you release the up arrow. 2)
You can also strafe-run left or right by using the above method: press left or right arrow twice, quickly.
When using Mouse Movement, you can run by double right-clicking on your avatar, while holding the left mouse button down.
If you get stuck in run mode, please refer to this page.
View
Camera Controls
Moving your camera around, separately from moving your avatar, is commonly called “camming.”
A good introductory video on using your camera can be found here.
Refer to this page for details on the camera controls window.
To move your camera around via the keyboard, see Camera Keyboard Shortcuts.
Arrow Keys
If your avatar is seated, you can use your keyboard to control your view. 3) The left and right arrows will rotate the camera around your avatar, while the up and down keys will zoom in and out. 4)
Mouse
Using the mouse to control the camera arguably gives the most precise control of it. This involves selecting something to focus the camera on, and then moving the camera view relative to that item.
To focus your camera on something (or someone), press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard (the viewer cursor changes into a mgnifying glass), then left click with your mouse. This, by the way, is also known as Zoom mode, and can be enabled with Ctrl-1 - which opens the toolbox in Zoom mode.
Camera control is then as follows:
| Key/Mouse Combination | Function |
|---|---|
| Alt-Left Click | Zoom: You can control the degree of zoom by left clicking the spot, then moving your mouse forward or back. Side-side motion on the mouse will rotate the camera round the selected spot. |
| Ctrl-Left-Click | Orbit: Rotates the camera around the selected spot on screen. |
| Shift-Ctrl-Left-Click | Pan: Move the camera laterally or front-back, but without zooming or rotating. |
| Shift-Ctrl-Alt-Left click | Pan: move the camera up or down. |
Camera Position
You can control the position of the camera relative to your avatar.
- Shift-Mouse Scrollwheel: controls the vertical height of the camera.
- Ctrl-Mouse Scrollwheel: controls the tilt (up/down rotation) of the camera.
Other controls in Preferences -> Move & View -> View:
- View Angle: Changes the camera field of view
- Distance: Changes how far away from you the camera is.
Other camera settings can be controlled via top menu, World -> Photo & Video→ Camera Tools.
Resetting Camera
If you have moved your camera around and wish to return it to your preferred position (as set above), press Esc.
This does not reset the camera to built-in defaults. To do that, instead, press Shift-Esc.
If you find that your camera is zoomed in or out too far, use Ctrl-9 to reset the zoom level.
If none of these help fix your view problem, refer to this page for more suggestions.
Mouselook
Refer to this page for details on enabling and using mouselook.