Camera

Main Camera, also called the Game Camera, is one of the default units of every scene in MANU. Each project in MANU includes the Main Camera that is available in the Scene tree. The Main Camera represents the player's point of view and how the player sees the world in the Game mode. This section introduces an overview of the main camera properties, postprocessing and its variables.

Properties

With a Main Camera selected in the Edit mode, you will notice that the Properties panel on the right hand side of the screen becomes populated with settings that pertain to the Main Camera. Below is an overview of each section in the Properties panel for a Main Camera.

Transform

In MANU, the modification of parameters for the position of Main Camera is unavailable because the Camera Follow option (see below) is ON by default. However, you can modify the settings for rotation by entering the appropriate numeric values for each axis to define the angle of the camera.

Camera Follow

This subsection represents general properties for the main camera follow, as well as offsets and camera limits settings.

By default, the main camera follow is enabled. When it’s enabled, you can animate the Main Camera Follow in the animation timeline by adding Follow Enabled into the camera animation track. To learn more about how to animate the position and rotation of the main camera, go to Animating Main Camera.

To disable the Camera Follow setting, turn the toggle OFF in the properties tab to unapply all settings for camera follow, including settings for offsets. When the Follow is disabled, the Transform settings for Main Camera position become available along with rotation. Please note, that there is an interdependence between the availability of settings for Camera Follow and Transform properties, where the settings for Transform work only when Follow is disabled, and vice versa.

The properties for camera follow include settings for target, smooth speed, control pitch, and control yaw. The description of each is introduced below.

Target

The target represents the object in the scene the main camera is set up to follow in the Game mode. By default, it is set up to follow the Main Character. You can modify the default target object by selecting the one you want the camera to follow in the game. There is a drop-down list of objects in your scene you can assign as a target object.

Smooth Speed

The smooth speed allows you to tune the smoothness of the main camera's follow speed. The value for this setting is represented in percentages and varies from 0 to 100%. If you set 0% for smooth speed, it would stop the camera's follow movement, and at 100% there would be no delay in it’s movement at all.

Control Pitch and Yaw

Control Yaw and Control Pitch describe the rotation of the camera in the 3D space around one of the axes. Think of yourself as the camera and look around. Control Yaw is the angle when moving the head left ↔ right (rotation around Y-axis). Control Pitch is up and down (rotation around X-axis).

These settings are disabled by default, you can enable them by turning the toggle ON in the properties tab.

Control Pitch

Control Yaw

Control Pitch + Control Yaw

Offsets

Offset is the distance between the main camera and its target object. Enter a numeric value for each axis to specify the offsets that should be kept during the game. Also, you can toggle On and OFF the offset for each axis.

When the Offsets are ON, the Main Camera’s position is calculated based on the offset values of Position X, Y, and Z. The parameters in the Transform section will NOT be taken into account.

Limits

The Main Camera Limit represents the boundaries for camera movements. With these parameters set up, the main camera displays what it presently “sees” on the screen. As the target object moves, the displayed view will also move accordingly. Settings for camera limits can be modified in the Limits section of the Properties tab in the Edit mode.

By default, the main camera limits are enabled. You can disable it by turning the toggle OFF. Disabling the camera limits option will have the camera follow the target object while keeping it in the center of the screen in the Game mode.

In MANU, Main Camera limits can be set up for X and Y axes. Enter the numeric value for X-axis to limit the horizontal movement around the target follow object, and for Y-axis - to limit the vertical movement.

Other Settings

This section allows you to select the camera type Projection and set up the related settings, including Field of View, Near Plane, and Far Plane. Note that these settings may change depending on what type of projection is selected.

Projection

There are two main types of projections in MANU: Perspective and Orthographic. The perspective projection is a 3D window into the game world. The Orthographic projection - are 2D window that represent one of the main axes (XY, YZ, or XZ).

Field of View

The field of view (FoV) is the extent of the observable game world that is seen at any given moment in the Game mode. This setting is only available if the perspective type of camera projection is selected. The higher the number, the farther away the camera is, so the larger the field of view becomes.

In other words, when the perspective projection is used, objects appear to diminish in size as the distance from the camera increases. It means that the width and height of the viewable part of the scene grows with increasing distance.

Near and Far Plane

Near Plane is the closest point relative to the camera. Far Plane is the furthest point relative to the camera that drawing will occur. In MANU, you can specify the maximum and minimum distance of objects in a 3D scene that are drawn by the rendering engine to balance performance and visuals. In general, to get better precision you should move the Near plane as close as possible.

Postprocessing

The term Postprocessing is commonly used in real-time 3D rendering to add additional effects. Postprocessing options can greatly improve the appearance of your game with little set-up time. Use these effects to simulate a physical camera and create stylised visuals. In MANU, postprocessing effects include depth of field, chromatic aberration, and bloom. The description of each parameter is introduced below.

Depth of Field

The Depth of Field (DoF) effect blurs the background of your game scene while the objects in the foreground stay in focus. Essentially, it applies a blur to a scene based on the distance in front of, or behind, a focal point. This effect can be used to draw the player's attention to a specific subject of the shot based on depth and adds an aesthetic to make the rendering appear more like a photograph, or film. In MANU, the DoF effect is determined by the settings of Focal Range and Focal Distance.

Focal Range

Focal range is the area of the sensor that captures the focus area image of the game scene. The larger the value is, the more objects appear in focus, and vice versa.

Focal Distance

Focal Distance is the distance from the Main Camera to the focus point. It determines the vertical field of view. Smaller focal lengths result in a larger Field of View, and vice versa. Lower values of focal distance result in a wider Field of View, and vice versa.

Chromatic Aberration

The Chromatic Aberration effect disperses colors along the boundaries between dark and light areas of the image. The scale determines the degree of dark and light areas of color dispersion.

Bloom

The Bloom effect makes bright areas in your image glow. Set the strength of the Bloom filter, in a range from 0 to 1. The default is 0, which means that the Bloom effect is disabled. If you enable the Bloom effect, you would be able to adjust it’s Cascade settings and Mixer.

Cascade Low/Mid/High

The Cascade settings control the tint and brightness of the shadows (Low), midtones (Mid), and highlights (High) in your image.

Mixer

The Mixer allows you to tweek the balance of each input color. The Mixer effect modifies the influence of each input color on the overall mix of the output. For example, if you increase the influence of green on the overall mix of red, all areas of the final image that are green (including neutral/monochrome) tint to a more reddish hue. The Mixer includes Origin Saturation, Origin Intensity, Bloom Saturation and Bloom Intensity.

Origin Saturation

Origin Saturation is the strength or purity of the color and represents the amount of gray in proportion to the hue. The larger the value, the higher portion of the hue you will see in the original image.

Origin Intensity

Origin Intensity refers to the degree of color brightness. A highly intense color is bright and a low-intensity color is more neutral or muted. The larger the value of intensity, the lighter your origin image will be.

Bloom Saturation

Bloom Intensity refers to the magnitude of bloom effect applied to highlights in the rendered scene. The larger the value of intensity, the lighter the bloomed image effect will appear.

Variables

To learn about Variables, go to the Object Variables article.

Animatable parameters

• Position

• Rotation

• Follow Enabled