The Blender camera is the point in space from which renders are created. The view we see in the 3D Viewport does not affect the view of the render. So, if you want to set the camera view to align with the current view in the 3D Viewport, here’s how.
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How to Align Camera to Viewport View in Blender
To set the active camera to the current view in the 3D Viewport, press Ctrl + Alt + NumPad 0.
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You specifically need to press the “zero” in the number pad to do this. By default, the zero on top of the keyboard will not set the camera to the current view.
How to Align Camera to View Without Number Pad
If you are working with a keyboard that doesn’t have a number pad, I highly recommend you invest in one. Many (like this keyboard on Amazon) are not very expensive.
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In the meantime, there is a way in Blender to set the numbers at the top of the keyboard to emulate a keyboard number pad. Go into the user preferences and navigate to the “Input” tab. Check the box “Emulate NumPad” at the top.
With this enabled, pressing Ctrl + Alt + 0 will set the camera to current view.
Here’s more about using Blender without a number pad.
How to Lock Camera to Current View
We can also lock the camera to the viewport view. When we do this, wherever we are viewing from in the 3D viewport will be our camera view.
This can be turned on to help place the camera and then turned off once the camera is set.
To lock the camera to view in Blender, press “N” to open the sidebar in the 3D viewport. Under the “View” tab, check the box labeled “Camera to View.”
Then press “0” (zero) on the numberpad to enter camera view. As you navigate the scene, the camera’s view will follow.
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