To change the perspective of the camera in the Unity editor's Scene view, you need to locate and click on a specific icon in the top right corner of the Scene window.
The process for switching between perspective and isometric (also known as orthographic) view in the Unity editor is straightforward and done directly within the Scene window.
Here are the steps:
- Go to your Scene window: Ensure that the Scene view is currently visible and active in your Unity editor layout.
- Locate the Axis Gizmo: Look at the top right corner of the Scene window. You will see the axis handles (Red, Blue, Green) representing the X, Y, and Z axes.
- Find the Perspective Toggle: Below the axis handles, you will see a text label and icon that indicates the current perspective mode.
- If you are in Isometric view, you will see three lines that say Iso.
- If you are in Perspective view, you will see a triangle that says Persp.
- Click to Toggle: Click on that text label (either "Iso" or "Persp") to toggle between Isographic (Isometric/Orthographic) and Perspective view modes for the Scene camera.
Understanding Perspective vs. Isometric View
Changing the scene view perspective alters how objects are displayed, which is crucial for different tasks during development.
- Perspective View (Persp): This is the default view and mimics how humans see the world. Objects that are further away appear smaller, and parallel lines converge towards a vanishing point. This view is best for visualizing how your game will look to the player and for tasks involving depth perception.
- Isometric/Orthographic View (Iso): In this view, all objects appear the same size regardless of their distance from the camera, and parallel lines remain parallel. There is no sense of perspective or vanishing points. This view is extremely useful for precise alignment of objects, measuring distances accurately, and working with 2D assets or UI elements, as it eliminates distortion caused by perspective.
Being able to quickly switch between these two modes allows you to work more efficiently and accurately on different aspects of your scene layout and object placement.
