First it was Maya, now it’s Blender. Discover VirtuCamera, an app that lets you control your 3D cameras in real time with just a smartphone.

Developed by Pablo Javier Garcia Gonzalez, VirtuCamera for iPad and iPhone is an app that lets you control your 3D cameras in real time. The plug-in was already available for Autodesk Maya software but now the developer has released the first version of its add-on for Blender, so Blender users can also benefit from this emerging technology.

With just a smartphone – a compatible one, that is! – you’ve access to the magic that VirtuCamera offers. Many users have already shared their experiences with the app on social media, highlighting how easy it’s to set up and start creating handheld camera animation in a natural and intuitive way. But this is more than a tool for social media. VirtuCamera is an essential tool for layout artists, animators and any 3D artist that needs to animate a camera.

VirtuCamera is very easy to use: move your Apple device in any direction, VirtuCamera will capture the motion and instantly send it over Wi-Fi to your camera in the 3D software Blender or Autodesk Maya. When you are ready, push the Rec button to store motion in keyframes.

60 frames per second

The app offers real time viewport streaming and lets you control the playback, animate the focal length, and scale camera movements to travel long distances. It can capture and record your movements with 6 degrees of freedom at up to 60 frames per second and has a camera stabilizer control to create smoother movements.

Here are some of the key features of VirtuCamera:

• Control the scene from the App
  Control the playback, choose from your scene cameras, animate the focal length or scale camera movements to travel long distances.
• Up to 60 FPS
  Device motion and viewport streaming are captured and sent at up to 60 frames per second. You can configure this parameter at your needs.
• Camera Stabilizer
  Remove unwanted hand noise and create smooth camera animations.
• Custom Scripts
  Create your own buttons that will call custom scripts directly from the App.

VirtuCamera is available on Apple’s AppStore for iOS and iPadOS devices with ARKit support for a single payment of $4.99 USD. Add-ons for Blender and Maya can be downloaded from virtucamera.com and are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems, for Blender 2.80 (and above) and Maya 2017 (and above). A stable Wi-Fi connection is also required for smooth operation.