Can You Rotate Cinemachine Camera Reddit

Then full disclosure! This isn't intended to be the like shooting fish in a barrel 1-off tutorial showing you how to make a particular thing. I want to go at that place, just this isn't it. Instead, this is an intro. An overview.

If you're looking for "How practise I make an MMO RPG RTS 2nd Person Camera" this isn't the tutorial for you. Merely! I learned a ton while researching Cinemachine (i.e. reading the documentation and experimenting) and I figured if I learned a ton then information technology might be worth sharing. Perhaps I'm right. Possibly I'm not.

Cinemachine. What is information technology? What does information technology do?

Cinemachine is a Unity asset that quickly and easily creates high-functioning photographic camera controllers without the need (only with the selection) to write custom code. In but a affair of minutes, you can add Cinemachine to your projection, driblet in the needed prefabs and components and y'all'll have a performance 2D or 3D camera!

It really is that simple.

Only!

If you're like me y'all may have just fumbled your way through using Cinemachine and never actually dug into what it can do, how information technology works, or the existent capabilities of the asset. This leaves a lot of potential functionality undiscovered and unused.

Like I said above, this tutorial is going to be a scrap different, many other tutorials cover the flashy bits or just a particular camera type, this mail service volition attempt to exist a brief overview of all the features that Cinemachine has to offer. Futurity posts will take a look at more specific use cases such as cameras for a second platformer, 3rd person games, or functionality useful for cutscenes and trailers.

If there's a particular camera type, game blazon, or functionality you'd like to see get out a comment down beneath.

How do you get Cinemachine?

Cinemachine used to be a paid asset on the asset store and every bit I remember it, it was one of the first assets that Unity purchased and made free for all of its users! Nowadays it takes just a few clicks and a fleck of patience with the Unity packet manager to add Cinemachine to your project. Slice of cake.

The Setup

Once you've added Cinemachine to your project the next step is to add a Cinemachine Brain to your Unity Photographic camera. The brain must be on the same object as the Unity camera component since it functions as the communication link between the Unity camera and any of the Cinemachine Virtual Cameras that are in the scene. The encephalon also controls the cutting or blend from i virtual camera to another - pretty handy when creating a cut scene or recording footage for a trailer. Additionally, the encephalon is too able to fire events when the shot changes like when a virtual camera goes alive - once once again specially useful for trailers and cutscenes.

Cinemachine does not add more than camera components to your scene, only instead makes utilise of so-called "virtual cameras." These virtual cameras control the position and rotation of the Unity camera - you can think of a virtual camera as a camera controller, not an actual camera component. At that place are several types of Cinemachine Virtual Cameras each with a different purpose and different use. It is also possible to program your ain Virtual Camera or extend 1 of the existing virtual cameras. For most of us, the stock cameras should be just fine and practise everything nosotros need with just a bit of tweaking and fine-tuning.

Cinemachine offers several prefabs or presets for virtual camera objects - you lot tin can discover them all in the Cinemachine card. Or if you prefer you can always build your own by adding components to gameObjects - the same fashion everything else in Unity gets put together.

As I did my research, I was surprised at the breadth of functionality, so at the take a chance of beingness wearisome, permit's quickly walk through the functionality of each Cinemachine prefab.

Virtual Cameras

Bare Basic Basic Virtual Photographic camera inspector

The Virtual Camera is the barebones base virtual camera component slapped onto a gameObject with no significant default values. Other virtual cameras apply this component (or extend it) but with different presets or default values to create specific functionality.

The Freelook Camera provides an out-of-the-box and gear up-to-go 3rd person photographic camera. Its nigh notable feature is the rigs that let yous to control and adapt where the camera is allowed to go relative to the role player graphic symbol or more specifically the Look At target. If you're itching to build a 3rd person controller - cheque out my earlier video using the new input system and Cinemachine.

The 2d Camera is pretty much what it sounds like and is the virtual camera to use for typical second games. Settings like softzone, deadzone and look ahead time are really easy to dial in and get a good feeling camera super quick. This is a photographic camera I intend to look at more in-depth in a future tutorial.

The Dolly Camera will follow forth on a track that can be hands created in the scene view. You lot can also add a Cart component to an object and simply like the dolly camera, the cart will follow a track. These can be useful to create moving objects (cart) or movement a (dolly) camera through a scene on a gear up path. Great for cutscenes or footage for a trailer.

"Composite" Cameras

The give-and-take "composite" is my word. The prefabs below use a controlling script for multiple children cameras and don't function the aforementioned as a single virtual camera. Instead, they're a blended of different objects and multiple different virtual cameras.

Some of these blended cameras are easier to fix than others. I plant the Blend Listing camera 100% easy and intuitive. Whereas the Clear Shot camera? I got it working but only by tinkering with settings that I didn't recall I'd need to adjust. The x minutes spent tinkering is still orders of magnitude quicker than trying to create my ain arrangement!!

The Blend List Camera allows yous to create a list of cameras and blend from one camera to some other later on a prepare corporeality of fourth dimension. This would be super powerful for recording footage for a trailer.

The State-Driven Camera is designed to blend between cameras based on the state of an animator. So when an animator transitions, from say running to idle, you might switch to a different virtual photographic camera that has different settings for damping or a different look-ahead fourth dimension. Talk about adding some polish!

The ClearShot Photographic camera tin be used to fix multiple cameras and and then have Cinemachine choose the camera that has the all-time shot of the target. This could be useful in circuitous scenes with moving objects to ensure that the target is always seen or at least is seen the best that information technology can be seen. This has similar functionality to the Blend Listing Camera, just doesn't need to take timings hard coded.

The Target Group Photographic camera component can deed every bit a "Wait At" target for a virtual camera. This component ensures that a list of transforms (assigned on the Target Group Camera component) stays in view by moving the photographic camera appropriately.

Out of the Box settings with Group Target - Doing its best to keep the 3 cars in the viewport

The Mixing Camera is used to set the position and rotation of a Unity photographic camera based on the weights of its children's cameras. This tin can be used in combination with animating the weights of the virtual cameras to movement the Unity camera through a scene. I think of this every bit creating a bunch of waypoints then lerping from ane waypoint to the next. Other properties besides position and rotation are mixed.

Ok. That'south a lot. Take a suspension. Get a drink of water, because that's the prefabs, and there's all the same a lot more to come!

Shared Camera Settings

In that location are a few settings that are shared between all or most of the virtual cameras and the cameras that don't share very many settings autumn into the "Composite Camera" category and have children cameras that Practise share the settings. So let'due south dive into those settings to go a amend thought of what they all practice and near importantly what we tin then practice with the Cinemachine.

All the common and shared virtual camera settings

The Condition line, I find a bit odd, it shows whether the photographic camera is Live, in Standby, or Disabled which is straightforward enough, but the "Solo" push next to the status feels like an odd fit. Clicking this button will immediately give visual feedback from that detail camera, i.eastward. treating this camera every bit if information technology is the only or solo camera in the scene? If you are working on a complex cutscene with multiple cameras I can see this feature being very useful.

The Follow Target is the transform for the object that the virtual camera volition move with or volition endeavor to follow based on the algorithm called. This is not required for the "composite" cameras simply all the virtual cameras volition need a follow target.

The Await At Target is the transform for the object that the virtual photographic camera will aim at or will try to keep in view. Often this is the aforementioned as the Follow Target, but non e'er.

The Standby Update determines the interval that the virtual camera volition exist updated. Always, will update the virtual camera every frame whether the camera is live or not. Never, will only update the camera when information technology is alive. Circular Robin, is the default setting and will update the camera occasionally depending on how many other virtual cameras are in the scene.

The Lens gives access to the lens settings on the Unity photographic camera. This tin let yous to modify those settings per virtual camera. This includes a Dutch setting that rotates the photographic camera on the z-centrality.

The Transitions settings allow customization of the blending or transition from i virtual came to or from this camera.

Torso

The Body controls how the photographic camera moves and is where we really become to showtime customizing the behavior of the photographic camera. The offset slot on the body sets the algorithm that will be used to movement the photographic camera. The algorithm chosen will dictate what further settings are available.

It'south worth noting that each algorithm selected in the Body works aslope the algorithm selected in the Aim (coming up side by side). Since these two algorithms work together no i algorithm will define or create complete behavior.

The transposer moves the camera in a fixed relationship to the follow target equally well as applies an offset and damping.

The framing transposer moves the photographic camera in a fixed screen-space relationship to the Follow Target. This is commonly used for 2D cameras. This algorithm has a wide range of settings to permit you to fine-melody the feel of the camera.

The orbital transposer moves the photographic camera in a variable human relationship to the Follow Target, simply attempts to align its view with the direction of movement of the Follow Target. This is used in the free-await photographic camera and amid other things tin can exist used for a 3rd person photographic camera. I could likewise imagine this existence used for a RTS way camera where the Follow Target is an empty object moving around the scene.

The tracked dolly is used to follow a predefined path - the dolly track. Pretty straightforward.

Dolly rails (Green) Path through a Low Poly Urban Scene

Hard lock to target merely sticks the camera at the same position as the Follow Target. The same effect equally setting a photographic camera as a child object - simply with the added do good of information technology being a virtual camera not an bodily Unity camera component that has to be managed. Peradventure you're creating a game with vehicles and you desire the histrion to be able to cull their perspective with one or more of those fixed to the position in the vehicle?

The "do nothing" transposer doesn't move the camera with the Follow Target. This could be useful for a camera that shouldn't motility or should be stock-still to another object simply might nevertheless need to aim or look at a target. Possibly for something like a security-fashion camera that is fixed on the side of a building but might still rotate to follow the character.

Aim

The Aim controls where the camera is pointed and is determined by which algorithm is used.

The composer works to keep the Expect At target in the camera frame. There is a wide range of settings to fine-tune the behavior. These include look-alee fourth dimension, damping, dead zone and soft zone settings.

The group composer works just similar the composer unless the Wait At target is a Cinemachine Target Group. In that case, the field of view and distance will adapt to keep all the targets in view.

The POV rotates the camera based on user input. This allows mouse control in an FPS style.

The "same as follow target" does exactly every bit a says - which is to set the rotation of the virtual photographic camera to the rotation of the Follow target.

"Hard look at" keeps the Expect At target in the center of the camera frame.

Do Nothing. Aye. This one does zippo. While this sounds similar an odd design option, this is used with the 2nd camera preset equally no rotation or aiming is needed.

Racket

The racket settings allow the virtual photographic camera to simulate camera shake. At that place are built-in noise profiles, only if that doesn't do the trick yous can also create your own.

Extensions

Cinemachine provides several out-of-the-box extensions that can add together additional functionality to your virtual cameras. All the Cinemachine extensions extend the grade CinemachineExtension, leaving the door open up for developers to create their own extensions if needed. In addition, all existing extensions can as well be modified.

Cinemachine Camera Offset applies an starting time to the camera. The first can be applied subsequently the body, aim, noise or afterward the last processing.

Cinemachine Recomposer adds a last adjustment to the limerick of the camera shot. This is intended to exist used with Timeline to make transmission adjustments.

Cinemachine 3rd Person Aim cancels out any rotation noise and forces a difficult wait at the target signal. This is a bit more sophisticated than a simple "hard expect at" as target objects tin be filtered past layer and tags can exist ignored. Also if an aiming reticule is used the extension will raycast to a target and motility the reticule over the object to indicate that the object is targeted or would be striking if a shot was to be fired.

Cinemachine Collider adjusts the final position of the camera to try to preserve the line of sight to the Expect At target. This is done by moving the camera abroad from gameObjects that obstruct the view. The obstacles are defined by layers and tags. You lot can also cull a strategy for moving the camera when an obstacle is encountered.

Cinemachine Confiner prevents the camera from moving outside of a collider. This works in both 2D and 3D projects. Information technology's a great way to forestall the player from seeing the border of the world or seeing something they shouldn't run across.

Polygon collider setting limits for where the photographic camera can movement

Cinemachine Follow Zoom adjusts the field of view (FOV) of the camera to keep the target the same size on the screen no thing the camera or target position.

Cinemachince Storyboard allows artists and designers to add together an image over the top of the camera view. This can be useful for composing scenes and helping to visualize what a scene should look like.

Cinemachine Impulse Listener works together with an Impulse Source to shake the camera. This can be thought of as a real-world camera that is not 100% solid and has some shake. A source could be set on a graphic symbol's anxiety and emit an impulse when the feet hitting the ground. The camera could then react to that impulse.

Cinemachine Post Processing allows a postprocessing (V2) profile to exist attached to a virtual photographic camera. Which lets each virtual camera accept its own style and character.

In that location are probably even more… merely these were the ones I found.

Decision?

Cinemachine is nothing brusk of amazing and a fantastic tool to speed up the development of your game. If yous're not using it, yous should exist. Even if information technology doesn't provide the perfect solution that ships with your project it provides a great starting indicate for quick prototyping.

If at that place'southward a Cinemachine feature you'd like to see in more detail. Leave a annotate down below.