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Setting Up Cameras

The main camera functions are available via the Camera panel of the Editor Viewport: you can switch between cameras, add new cameras to the current world, open the Camera Settings window, and toggle the flashlight attached to the camera.

Camera Panel

By default, there are 2 cameras in the world:

  • Engine Camera created from the world script. The view from this camera is rendered in a separate Engine Viewport, and you cannot change its settings via UnigineEditor. This camera represents the current player. Engine Camera can be changed via the script.
  • Editor Camera created from the editor script. This is the default camera in UnigineEditor.

    Notice
    Both Engine Camera and Editor Camera always exist in the world.

You can also add new cameras. Such cameras can be used as watchpoints in the world: you can position cameras at different points of the world and then switch between them via the Camera panel of the Editor Viewport, when necessary.

Notice
The number of cameras is unlimited.

Adding a New Camera#

To add a new camera to the current world:

  1. Change the position and orientation of the current camera by using the navigation controls.

    Notice
    Position, orientation, and settings of the current camera are copied for the new camera.
  2. On the Camera panel, click . A new camera will be added to the list of the available cameras with the PlayerDummy name.

    A new available camera

    At the same time, the camera will be added to the world as a PlayerDummy node.

    A new PlayerDummy node
  3. Change the default camera settings to the required ones.

Positioning the Camera#

To set a new position and orientation for the camera, place the camera to the required position and adjust its orientation as necessary by using the navigation controls.

Notice
All camera movements are immediately saved. Consider that when positioning cameras.

You can also position the camera by selecting it in the World Hierarchy window and directly changing its transformation via the Parameters window.

Setting Up the Camera#

As settings of a new camera are simply copied from the current camera, you may need to change them via the Camera Settings window.

To open the Camera Settings window, choose the required camera and click on the Camera panel.

Camera Settings#

The list of available camera settings depends on the camera mode:

  • Perspective mode
  • Orthographic mode

Moreover, the Editor Camera has additional settings.

Perspective Camera Settings
Orthographic Camera Settings
Notice
Settings of the perspective camera, in turn, depend on the Mode of the camera field of view: parameters defining the camera's viewing frustum differ.
Option Description
Name Name of the current camera. If you change the camera name, the name of the node (PlayerDummy) will be also changed.
Projection mode

Camera projection mode. The available values are:

Perspective mode
Orthographic mode
Height

Height of the viewing volume which is represented in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped. The width of the viewing volume will be equal to its height.

Notice
The option is available only in the orthographic camera mode.
Field of View (available only for the perspective mode)
Mode

FOV mode. The available values are:

  • Vertical FOV is used for the standard camera. In this case, the FOV is set in degrees.
  • Physically-Based Camera is used for the physically-based camera with the horizontal FOV. In this case, the FOV is calculated depending on the film gate and focal length of the camera according to the formula:

    FOV = 2 * atan(film_gate / (2 * focal_length)) * UNIGINE_RAD2DEG

Vertical FOV Settings
Physically-Based Camera Settings
Degrees

Camera's vertical field of view in degrees. This is the area that can be seen in the viewport (how many degrees the camera covers).

Notice
Available for the camera with the vertical FOV only.
Focal Length

The focal length of the physically-based camera lens.

Notice
Available for the physically-based camera only.
Film Gate

The film gate for the physically-based camera with horizontal FOV.

Notice
Available for the physically-based camera only.
Clipping Planes
Near Distance to the camera near clipping plane.
Far Distance to the camera far clipping plane.
Notice
An extremely big difference between the Near and Far Clipping Planes can cause black screen. Therefore, if the required Far Clipping Plane value is outside the range, adjust the Near Clipping value proportionately.
Masks
Viewport A Viewport bit mask for the camera that enables to selectively display objects, decals and lights in the camera viewport. If at least one bit matches, the object, decal or light will be rendered. The mask can be edited.
Reflection Viewport A reflection viewport bit mask for the reflection camera that enables selective display of reflections from objects. The mask can be edited.
Reverberation A reverberation mask for the camera determines what reverberation zones can be heard. At least one bit of this mask should match the reverb mask of the sound source and the reverb mask of the reverberation zone. The mask can be edited.
Sound A sound mask for the camera that what sound channels can be heard. If at least one bit matches the sound source mask, the sound can be heard. Each bit of the source mask specifies a sound channel. The mask can be edited.

Editor Camera Settings#

In addition to the settings described above, the Editor Camera has some specific settings that allow you to change its transformation and then save it as the default one to the world meta file along with the other settings.

Notice
If the world meta file doesn't store Editor Camera transformation, the transformation of the main or any other user camera will be applied by default.

Option Description
Position Position of the Editor Camera.
Rotation Orientation of the Editor Camera.
Save Editor Camera Parameters to World Metadata Forces to save the Editor Camera settings to the .world.meta file. The Editor Camera settings of each Editor Viewport should be saved separately.
Notice
The saved Editor Camera transformation will be used as the default one. So the Editor Camera will be configured according to it when a new user will open the world for the first time.

Rendering the Camera Viewport in a Separate Window#

The view from each camera can be rendered into a separate Editor Viewport window.

To render a view from a camera to a separate viewport, perform the following steps:

  1. Add a new Editor Viewport window, choose Windows -> Add Editor Viewport.

    A new viewport named Editor Viewport 2 will open.

    New Editor Viewport
  2. Select the required camera to render the view from in the drop-down list of the Camera panel.

    Notice
    You can change the camera at any time, if necessary.

The total number of viewports that can be opened simultaneously is not limited. Each new viewport window has the same functionality as the main Editor Viewport window.

Notice
Each new viewport requires to render the scene one more time, which may lead to a performance drop. Don't forget to hide a viewport when it is not used, or remove it, when it is no longer needed.

You can use several Editor Viewports to operate with several nodes located far away from each other, or to view different orthographic projections of the scene (Top, Front, and Side views).

Hiding and Showing Viewports#

You can hide the Editor Viewport window and show the one that is hidden. To toggle the Editor Viewport window, select its name in the Windows menu and choose Show or Hide.

Hide the Editor Viewport 1
Show the Editor Viewport 2

Removing Viewports#

You can remove an Editor Viewport window when you no longer need one. To do so, select the name of the Editor Viewport window, that you want to remove in the Windows menu and choose Remove.

Last update: 2024-08-16
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