Develop Reference

Unity Orthographic Camera Panning

(I'm relatively new to Unity) I'm making a scene where I want the camera to move in the opposite direction of the mouse movement when I hold down the right mouse button.
The scene is isotropic, which is why the camera is orthographic.
[SerializeField] private Camera cam;
private Vector3 dragOrigin = Vector3.zero;
public float speed = 10;
void Update(){
if(Input.GetMouseButtonDown(1)){
dragOrigin = cam.ScreenToWorldPoint(Input.mousePosition);
}
if(Input.GetMouseButton(1)){
Vector3 difference = cam.ScreenToWorldPoint(Input.mousePosition) - cam.transform.position;
Vector3 targetPosition = dragOrigin - difference;
//targetPosition.y = cam.transform.position.y;
cam.transform.position = Vector3.Lerp(cam.transform.position, targetPosition, speed * Time.deltaTime);
}
}
This works, but there is the problem that the y-value of the camera changes as well. It should always stay at the same height.
If I use
targetPosition.y = cam.transform.position.y;
the camera stays on the same y-position, but it moves slower when I move it up and down.
How can I rewrite the code so that only the x and z values change and that the camera moves with the same speed in all directions?
Thanks in advance.

Camera follow the player only on his Z axis Unity 3D

I made the script bellow for the camera to follow the player, but I don't want it to follow him on his X axis. So it should follow the player smoothly only on his Z axis. Any suggestions?
Camera Script:
public Transform Ball;
public float SmoothSpeed = 0.125f;
public Vector3 offset;
bool MoveCamera = true;
void Start () {
}
public void FixedUpdate () {
if(MoveCamera == true){
Vector3 desiredPosition = Ball.position + offset;
Vector3 SmoothedPosition = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, desiredPosition, SmoothSpeed);
transform.position = SmoothedPosition;
}
if (transform.position.z >= 2f)
{
MoveCamera = false;
}
}

What about only changing the z component?
public void FixedUpdate () {
if(MoveCamera == true){
Vector3 desiredPosition = new Vector3(0, Ball.position.y + offset.y, Ball.position.z + offset.z);
Vector3 SmoothedPosition = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, desiredPosition, SmoothSpeed);
transform.position = SmoothedPosition;
}
if (transform.position.z >= 2f)
{
MoveCamera = false;
}
}

public gameObject toFollow;
Vector3 camDistance;
public void Start(){
camDistance = toFollow.transform.position-Camera.main.position;
}
public void Update(){
Vector3 following = new Vector3(Camera.main.x,Camera.main.z,toFollow.transform.position.z-Camera.main.position.z);
Camera.main.transform.position = following;
}
i just threw this together so it may require a few tweaks, but it should get you where you need to go. alternatively.... you can add a rigidbody to the camera, and in the inspector tick the boxes for constraints on the x and y axis. this will allow it to move only on the z (if you go this route remember to turn of the gravity for the cameras rigidbody as well)

Anybody in 2019 need a camera to be offset a specific position from their 3d character? Here is an easy solution! Attach this script to the camera you want to follow the player. Select the player as your target in the Unity editor.
This script sets the new position of the camera to
(EDIT: Where did the LaTeX go?)
$v = <targetPosition.x + xOffset, targetPosition.y + yOffset, targetPosition.z + zOffset>$
Benefits of this script:
Camera orientation does not change, even if character turns (because camera is not parented to the player).
Works regardless of player position
Limitations:
- Because camera orientation is fixed, you need to make sure that your character is not obscured by scenery.
- This style of camera control is best-suited for a 3rd person orthographic projection.
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
public class CameraController : MonoBehaviour
{
public Transform target;
Vector3 targetPos;
void Update()
{
targetPos = target.position;
transform.position = new Vector3(targetPos.x + 10f, targetPos.y + 8.571067812f, targetPos.z - 10f);
// transform.LookAt(target.transform);
}
}
My use-case required an orthographic projection. Orthographic angles are usually at a 30 degree angle of declination, so my offset is back 10 units, over 10 units, and up half that hypotenuse (that is, up 10*sqrt2 * 1/2). I also bumped the y-position up by the character's height (1.5 units), which I thought would give a better center for the camera target. This gives a y-offset of about 8.571067812.

PlayerMovement And CameraFollow

I am making a thirdperson Unity game. I think that I'm almost done but I just can't figure out how to make so the WASD control is relative to the camera?
Right now when I'm moving with WASD it works, but if i start to rotate the camera by using mouse, suddenly my (W) button makes the player walk backwards and left button (A) goes right. All controls are just bugging.
This is my PlayerMovement.cs and CameraFollow.cs:
PlayerMovement:
public float speed = 6f; // The speed that the player will move at.
Vector3 movement; // The vector to store the direction of the player's movement.
Animator anim; // Reference to the animator component.
Rigidbody playerRigidbody; // Reference to the player's rigidbody.
int floorMask; // A layer mask so that a ray can be cast just at gameobjects on the floor layer.
float camRayLength = 100f; // The length of the ray from the camera into the scene.
void Awake ()
{
// Create a layer mask for the floor layer.
floorMask = LayerMask.GetMask ("Floor");
// Set up references.
anim = GetComponent <Animator> ();
playerRigidbody = GetComponent <Rigidbody> ();
}
void FixedUpdate ()
{
// Store the input axes.
float h = CrossPlatformInputManager.GetAxisRaw("Horizontal");
float v = CrossPlatformInputManager.GetAxisRaw("Vertical");
// Move the player around the scene.
Move (h, v);
// Turn the player to face the mouse cursor.
Turning ();
// Animate the player.
Animating (h, v);
Shooting ();
}
void Move (float h, float v)
{
// Set the movement vector based on the axis input.
movement.Set (h, 0f, v);
// Normalise the movement vector and make it proportional to the speed per second.
movement = movement.normalized * speed * Time.deltaTime;
// Move the player to it's current position plus the movement.
playerRigidbody.MovePosition (transform.position + movement);
}
void Turning ()
{
// Create a ray from the mouse cursor on screen in the direction of the camera.
Ray camRay = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay (Input.mousePosition);
// Create a RaycastHit variable to store information about what was hit by the ray.
RaycastHit floorHit;
// Perform the raycast and if it hits something on the floor layer...
if(Physics.Raycast (camRay, out floorHit, camRayLength, floorMask))
{
// Create a vector from the player to the point on the floor the raycast from the mouse hit.
Vector3 playerToMouse = floorHit.point - transform.position;
// Ensure the vector is entirely along the floor plane.
playerToMouse.y = 0f;
// Create a quaternion (rotation) based on looking down the vector from the player to the mouse.
Quaternion newRotatation = Quaternion.LookRotation (playerToMouse);
// Set the player's rotation to this new rotation.
playerRigidbody.MoveRotation (newRotatation);
}
}
void Animating (float h, float v)
{
// Create a boolean that is true if either of the input axes is non-zero.
bool walking = h != 0f || v != 0f;
// Tell the animator whether or not the player is walking.
anim.SetBool ("IsWalking", walking);
}
void Shooting ()
{
// Create a boolean that is true if either of the input axes is non-zero.
bool shooting = (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0));
// Tell the animator whether or not the player is walking.
anim.SetBool ("IsShooting", shooting);
}
CameraFollow:
// Camera target to look at.
public Transform target;
// Exposed vars for the camera position from the target.
public float height = 20f;
public float distance = 20f;
// Camera limits.
public float min = 10f;
public float max = 60;
// Rotation.
public float rotateSpeed = 1f;
// Options.
public bool doRotate;
public bool doZoom;
// The movement amount when zooming.
public float zoomStep = 30f;
public float zoomSpeed = 5f;
private float heightWanted;
private float distanceWanted;
// Result vectors.
private Vector3 zoomResult;
private Quaternion rotationResult;
private Vector3 targetAdjustedPosition;
void Start(){
// Initialise default zoom vals.
heightWanted = height;
distanceWanted = distance;
// Setup our default camera. We set the zoom result to be our default position.
zoomResult = new Vector3(0f, height, -distance);
}
void LateUpdate(){
// Check target.
if( !target ){
Debug.LogError("This camera has no target, you need to assign a target in the inspector.");
return;
}
if( doZoom ){
// Record our mouse input. If we zoom add this to our height and distance.
float mouseInput = Input.GetAxis("Mouse ScrollWheel");
heightWanted -= zoomStep * mouseInput;
distanceWanted -= zoomStep * mouseInput;
// Make sure they meet our min/max values.
heightWanted = Mathf.Clamp(heightWanted, min, max);
distanceWanted = Mathf.Clamp(distanceWanted, min, max);
height = Mathf.Lerp(height, heightWanted, Time.deltaTime * zoomSpeed);
distance = Mathf.Lerp(distance, distanceWanted, Time.deltaTime * zoomSpeed);
// Post our result.
zoomResult = new Vector3(0f, height, -distance);
}
if( doRotate ){
// Work out the current and wanted rots.
float currentRotationAngle = transform.eulerAngles.y;
float wantedRotationAngle = target.eulerAngles.y;
// Smooth the rotation.
currentRotationAngle = Mathf.LerpAngle(currentRotationAngle, wantedRotationAngle, rotateSpeed * Time.deltaTime);
// Convert the angle into a rotation.
rotationResult = Quaternion.Euler(0f, currentRotationAngle, 0f);
}
// Set the camera position reference.
targetAdjustedPosition = rotationResult * zoomResult;
transform.position = target.position + targetAdjustedPosition;
// Face the desired position.
transform.LookAt(target);
}

Your 'movement' vector should not be independent of camera forward vector, if you want a normal 3-rd person movement. Instead of moving in the 'h' or 'v' directions, move in camera.right and camera.forward directions, multiplied by 'h' and 'v' magnitudes respectively.
To be more accurate, if your camera is slightly inclined (so that its forward will go downward), you should first project camera.forward onto [player.forward, player.right] plane. Unity has a helper function just for that (Vector3.ProjectOnPlane()). If your camera also rotates around its forward direction (e.g. camera shake), you should also project camera.right on the same plane.
// Set the movement vector based on the axis input.
movement.Set (camera.right * h, 0f, camera.forward * v);

Creating a Google Earth like navigation for a sphere

This question is about Unity3D.
I want to create a navigation similar to Google Earth where you click and drag on a sphere and let the camera orbit accordingly. It is important that the point that was grabbed is always under the mouse position while dragging. The navigation should also work if I zoom close to the sphere. I do not want to rotate the sphere itself. Just exactly like Google Earth does it.
My attempt is to project the mouse position to the sphere if I start to drag. On the next frame I do the same and calculate the angle between the start drag and end drag position.
private void RotateCamera(Vector3 dragStart, Vector3 dragEnd)
{
// calc the rotation of the drag
float angle = Vector3.Angle(dragStart, dragEnd);
// rotate the camera around the sphere
Camera.main.transform.RotateAround(sphere), Vector3.up, angle);
}
I thought of using Unitys RotateAround method to rotate the camera with the calculated angle. Unfortunately I do not have the rotation vector (using Vector3.up in the example is obviously wrong).
Does somebody know how I can calculate this vector to apply it for the method? Am I on the right direction to implement the Google Earth navigation?
Thank You!
UPDATE
I am very close with a new solution. I project the drag vectors to a down and a right plane to get the angles. Afterwards I rotate the camera around up and left. This works well until I reach the poles of the sphere. The camera rotates a lot around itself if I reach a pole.
private void RotateCamera(Vector3 dragStart, Vector3 dragEnd)
{
Vector3 plane = Vector3.down;
var a = Vector3.ProjectOnPlane(dragStart, plane);
var b = Vector3.ProjectOnPlane(dragEnd, plane);
float up = Vector3.SignedAngle(a, b, plane);
plane = Vector3.right;
a = Vector3.ProjectOnPlane(dragStart, plane);
b = Vector3.ProjectOnPlane(dragEnd, plane);
float left = Vector3.SignedAngle(a, b, plane);
Camera.main.transform.RotateAround(_sphere, Vector3.up, up);
Camera.main.transform.RotateAround(_sphere, Vector3.left, left);
}

Turns out that is was easier than I expected. I thought about calculating the rotation axis and came to the conclusion that is must be the cross product of the start and end vector. Take a look at the solution. The RotateCamera method is where the math magic happens :)
public class GoogleEarthControls : MonoBehaviour
{
private const int SpehreRadius = 1;
private Vector3? _mouseStartPos;
private Vector3? _currentMousePos;
void Start () {
// init the camera to look at this object
Vector3 cameraPos = new Vector3(
transform.position.x,
transform.position.y,
transform.position.z - 2);
Camera.main.transform.position = cameraPos;
Camera.main.transform.LookAt(transform.position);
}
private void Update()
{
if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0)) _mouseStartPos = GetMouseHit();
if (_mouseStartPos != null) HandleDrag();
if (Input.GetMouseButtonUp(0)) HandleDrop();
}
private void HandleDrag()
{
_currentMousePos = GetMouseHit();
RotateCamera((Vector3) _mouseStartPos, (Vector3)_currentMousePos);
}
private void HandleDrop()
{
_mouseStartPos = null;
_currentMousePos = null;
}
private void RotateCamera(Vector3 dragStartPosition, Vector3 dragEndPosition)
{
// in case the spehre model is not a perfect sphere..
dragEndPosition = dragEndPosition.normalized * SpehreRadius;
dragStartPosition = dragStartPosition.normalized * SpehreRadius;
// calc a vertical vector to rotate around..
var cross = Vector3.Cross(dragEndPosition, dragStartPosition);
// calc the angle for the rotation..
var angle = Vector3.SignedAngle(dragEndPosition, dragStartPosition, cross);
// roatate around the vector..
Camera.main.transform.RotateAround(transform.position, cross, angle);
}
/**
* Projects the mouse position to the sphere and returns the intersection point.
*/
private static Vector3? GetMouseHit()
{
// make sure there is a shepre mesh with a colider centered at this game object
// with a radius of SpehreRadius
RaycastHit hit;
if (Physics.Raycast(Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay(Input.mousePosition), out hit))
{
return hit.point;
}
return null;
}
}

Basic rotation based on mouse drag, based on what you have:
Transform camTransform = Camera.main.transform;
if (Input.GetMouseButton(0))
{
camTransform.RotateAround(currentLookTargetTransform.position, -camTransform.right * Input.GetAxis("Mouse Y") + camTransform.up * Input.GetAxis("Mouse X"), 120 * Time.deltaTime);
}
You can multiply the relative direction by the mouse change value to get the axis. Then you can supplant your clamp points in; but the point was to rotate it relatively.

freezing the y position of the camera in unity3d

I am making a plat former game and I'm having a problem in the camera position of the game im imitating the camera movement of the 1st version of the super mario bros but every time I move my character the camera will go up until the character will disappear. How can I fix it?
public Transform playerPos;
public Transform rigthCamBoundary;
public Transform levelEnd;
Vector3 destination;
Vector3 velocity = Vector3.zero;
private void Start()
{
destination = Vector3.ClampMagnitude(levelEnd.position, 22.8f);
destination = new Vector3(destination.x, destination.y, 13.5f);
}
private void FixedUpdate()
{
if (Vector3.Distance(playerPos.position, rigthCamBoundary.position) < 13.7f)
transform.position = Vector3.SmoothDamp(transform.position, levelEnd.position, ref velocity, .14f, 8.5f);
}

To freeze the y-axis, get the y-axis value when the game runs. After using Vector3.SmoothDamp, change the y-axis to that variable you got before then apply it to your transform.
public Transform playerPos;
public Transform rigthCamBoundary;
public Transform levelEnd;
Vector3 destination;
Vector3 velocity = Vector3.zero;
float yPos;
private void Start()
{
destination = Vector3.ClampMagnitude(levelEnd.position, 22.8f);
destination = new Vector3(destination.x, destination.y, 13.5f);
//Get the default camera y pos
yPos = transform.position.y;
}
private void FixedUpdate()
{
if (Vector3.Distance(playerPos.position, rigthCamBoundary.position) < 13.7f)
{
Vector3 tempPos = Vector3.SmoothDamp(transform.position, levelEnd.position, ref velocity, .14f, 8.5f);
//Apply the default camera y pos
tempPos.y = yPos;
transform.position = tempPos;
}
}
Note that I don't know if this code is attached to the camera but this answer assumes it is. Otherwise the solution still remains the-same but you just have to change transform.position.y and transform.position to something else.