Camera Path Animator 3.0 - Animate in Unity with Ease

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Create, edit and preview camera animation within the editor and avoid having to compile the scene to see every change. Animate a Camera or GameObject in Unity with ease and no need to touch code. Perfect for creating cutscenes, architectural visualisations, fly throughs and cinematics.
Preview your camera animation within the Unity editor, no need to press play. Custom made GUI to assist you creating your camera/gameobject animation. Powerful implementation of Bezier and Hermite curves, fully normalised for complete control.

• Suitable for mobile and 2D
• Includes an integrated C# event system
• Multiple modes including mouse look,
• track target, loop, ping pong
• Mature, stable codebase. No DLLs, full source included

The package provides you with all the tools to build, edit, and preview the animation spline within the editor.



What's New?
New Camera Path System - Everything is separated so you can freely add orienations or speed events at any point on the path
Brand new GUI system written making it easier to create your animation
New control point system - You can now split control points for more control over the curves
Interpolation options - Hermite, Smooth Step, Linear and Not Interpolated join Bezier interpolation for curve calculations
Event Points - Specify events that either broadcast C# events or call a monobehaviour method (Send Message)
Speed Points - You can now control the speed of your animtion within Camera Path natively
Ease Curves - You can now edit custom ease curves
Camera Path linking - you can link two camera paths and now interpolate between them like a single path.
Camera Path automatically registers if you're animating a camera or another GameObject and changes behaviour accordingly

 

@jasperstocker

Is there an export option to create .anim files?

 

Dear Lod3,
It doesn't, but I've never considered it.
I'll look into it but I'll need to find a specification on the .anim file in order to export it... you don't happen to have one handy?

 

@jasperstocker

Afraid I do not. But glad you're looking into it

 

Is there a way to update my camera path2 to 3 without breaking all the existing paths? I'm getting missing mono scripts on all my paths.
I tried a standard update but only 1 graphic would update..stil campath2. I deleted the camerapath2 folder and re-imported after forcing a re-download.

thanks!

 

Hi Headtrip,
A few people are asking about this so i'm going to look into how easy it is. Not possible at the moment but I'll get back to you on this.

 

Thank you! Is there a way to have them both installed, leaving the original paths intact? I dont mind two systems

 

Hi jasperstocker. purchase now and greate asset!
Excuse me. I have a trouble in my work.

I created two camera path (each for "New Camera Path" and "New Camera Path Next" has two path point)
and I set "New Camera Path Next" in the Link Camera Path of the Camera Path component on the "New Camera Path".
and check the Interpolate.
But Unity said few errors such as the following...


NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
CameraPath.RecalculateStoredValues () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Scripts/CameraPath.cs:941)
CameraPath.set_interpolateNextPath (Boolean value) (at Assets/CameraPath3/Scripts/CameraPath.cs:372)
CameraPathEditorInspectorGUI.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditorInspectorGUI.cs:152)
CameraPathEditor.OnInspectorGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditor.cs:60)
UnityEditor.InspectorWindow.DrawEditors (Boolean isRepaintEvent, UnityEditor.Editor[] editors, Boolean eyeDropperDirty)
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()

The targets array should not be used inside OnSceneGUI or OnPreviewGUI. Use the single target property instead.
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()



Could you tell me the solution?
Thank you!

 

@arcmohudragon i will look into that problem right away and get back to you...

 

@jasperstocker

Excuse me. I have forgotten to present the screenshot of this problem.

 

Dear Arcmohudragon,
PM'd you with the fixed version - should be live in the store mid week I guess.

 

@jasperstocker
I checked. wonderful work!

 

Hi

am I doing something wrong with delays?

I have set a delay for say 5 secs towards the start of the path, the subsequent delays seem to be ignored.

Also when editing delays or events when selecting the point on the path to change/move/edit it always jumps to the last one. Goto changes to Select.

Is possible to daisy chain paths?

Thank you for a great product.

Cheers

 

@unclebob301
Thanks.
I'll look into the delay problems. Sounds like a bug of some sort.
You can daisy chain paths by selecting a next path in the camera path component.

 

Cheers Jasper

Really quick response, much appreciated.

Can we launch the next camera path on an event? Taking your on the rails example one camera path to the first scene, clear first scene, send flag to listener to trigger next camera path... A little like old school FPS tutorials I suppose... It would be good for character creation passing decisions to playprefs or the like.

Thats what I am trying to achieve.

Bob

 

To daisy chain camera paths. Useful pointer.

 

Hi jasper

it was my error re delays. I had two targets set in scene1 but only one in the scene, The delay got ignored,

Still experiencing the point moving to about halfway along the path if reselected once established and then I try to adjust its position using the red arrows.

Cheers for you help mate.

Bob

 

@unclebob301, I'm having no joy replicating this issue /
Could you pm or email me with more details? An example scene, videos, any errors or things you see in the console will help...

 

H jasper thank you for looking into this

So here is my delay point over a lake


I select it and it goes yellow and red arrows appear


Select a red arrow to adjust its position and it disappears


Here it is about two thirds of the way down my path.


Can't see any reason for it to do this there is nothing set at this position on the path and its a pain to drag it back especially as its fine adjustments that seem to be needed for a professional finish.

Also how do you call or set off a camera path from a triggered event. The on the rails shooter example calls events from within the path, but not the other way round, is there an example in the example code?

Thanks for your help

Bob

 

I did a re-install since version 2.0 was incompatible. Now I see a big empty window in my inspector, looks like its the control point menu with the new icons. Its broken, just a large blue window. Also, I can no longer move the control points, only their handles. When I select a point the camera auto zooms, can we disable this?

 

@Headtrip,
The "big empty window" is the point preview. It's probably the colour of the default Unity scene background. You can disable it using the button above called "hide".
You say you can't move the control points, only their handles? Do you mean the handles move but the point stays where it is?
I'll add an option about disabling the auto zoom in the next release.

 

I'll check that out. When I select the point, I literally can't move it. Yes, I can move the handles to control the spline, but not the actual point. I'll try it again tonight with a fresh install.
Also, why does it create a u shaped spline on first creation? I'm used to one initial point from cam2
I can't seem to close the spline loop automatically, I've selected loop...

Thanks!!

 

@HeadTrip are you in the right mode? Path Point mode will allow you to move the point and Control Point will allow you to move the control nodes.
It creates a curved 'U' shape for now as I didn't really have a good idea on what to start with. I thought at least it shows a curved path for new users. A few initial points from where the camera is sounds like a good idea. I'll look into implementing that. Any suggestions though are welcome...
You can close the spline by selecting the loop, though there might be a bug still lingering in 3.03 that is fixed in 3.04. This is why the forum is substandard for support requests, if you contact me through email, you'd have access to 3.04 which is still unreleased )

 

Hi jasperstocker - thank you for your wonderful work!! - I just purchased today, and am enjoying Camera Path Animator *VERY* much!!

I do have a question for you.

1.) I laid down a New Camera Path, with 4 Control Points
2.) I created an Empty Game Object that I added your 'CPEPlayer Path Follow' script to
- Player: 1st Person Controller (my default character controller)
- Cam: Main Camera (that comes with my default character controller)
- Path: New Camera Path
3.) The camera follows my 1st Person Controller as expected (Hooray!)

Here's where I'm having some weirdness...

4.) the 'Mouse Look' script on my Main Camera is turned OFF
5.) the 'Mouse Look' script on my First Person Controller is turned ON
6.) I do this so that I can continue to orient my First Person Controller with my mouse while in-game

7.) however, the 'Mouse Look' script on my First Person Controller will trump the orientation of the Main Camera that is attached to the New Camera Path (when I provide input via the mouse)
8.) once I stop providing 'Mouse Look' input with the mouse, the Main Camera will spring back to the orientation specified on the New Camera Path

This causes jerkiness because the orientation dictated by the New Camera Path is continuously interrupted by the mouse input I provide while reorienting my player in-game.

I assume my setup is simply wrong, and I am hoping you might be able to provide me some direction.
Thank you so much in advance!!

-kropcke

[UPDATE_001]

I pulled the 'Main Camera' out of the First Person Controller, and 'Mouse Look' input NO LONGER trumps the orientation defined in the New Camera Path. However, my movement became very jerky, so I don't believe this is the optimal solution.

 

@kropcke
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying your purchase.
What mouse look scripts are you using? Could you email/pm me some code or something, I don't know how it might be affected by that script.

 

Hi!! Thank you for your quick response!!

The 'Mouse Look' script I'm using is what comes with: Assets/Standard Assets/Character Controllers/First Person Controller:

-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

/// MouseLook rotates the transform based on the mouse delta.
/// Minimum and Maximum values can be used to constrain the possible rotation

/// To make an FPS style character:
/// - Create a capsule.
/// - Add the MouseLook script to the capsule.
/// -> Set the mouse look to use LookX. (You want to only turn character but not tilt it)
/// - Add FPSInputController script to the capsule
/// -> A CharacterMotor and a CharacterController component will be automatically added.

/// - Create a camera. Make the camera a child of the capsule. Reset it's transform.
/// - Add a MouseLook script to the camera.
/// -> Set the mouse look to use LookY. (You want the camera to tilt up and down like a head. The character already turns.)
[AddComponentMenu("Camera-Control/Mouse Look")]
public class MouseLook : MonoBehaviour {

public enum RotationAxes { MouseXAndY = 0, MouseX = 1, MouseY = 2 }
public RotationAxes axes = RotationAxes.MouseXAndY;
public float sensitivityX = 15F;
public float sensitivityY = 15F;

public float minimumX = -360F;
public float maximumX = 360F;

public float minimumY = -60F;
public float maximumY = 60F;

float rotationY = 0F;

void Update ()
{
if (axes == RotationAxes.MouseXAndY)
{
float rotationX = transform.localEulerAngles.y + Input.GetAxis("Mouse X") * sensitivityX;

rotationY += Input.GetAxis("Mouse Y") * sensitivityY;
rotationY = Mathf.Clamp (rotationY, minimumY, maximumY);

transform.localEulerAngles = new Vector3(-rotationY, rotationX, 0);
}
else if (axes == RotationAxes.MouseX)
{
transform.Rotate(0, Input.GetAxis("Mouse X") * sensitivityX, 0);
}
else
{
rotationY += Input.GetAxis("Mouse Y") * sensitivityY;
rotationY = Mathf.Clamp (rotationY, minimumY, maximumY);

transform.localEulerAngles = new Vector3(-rotationY, transform.localEulerAngles.y, 0);
}
}

void Start ()
{
// Make the rigid body not change rotation
if (rigidbody)
rigidbody.freezeRotation = true;
}
}


-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------


In my Inspector (on the First Person Controller), I set my 'Mouse Look Axes' to 'MouseX'... which enters this portion of the code...

else if (axes == RotationAxes.MouseX)
{
transform.Rotate(0, Input.GetAxis("Mouse X") * sensitivityX, 0);
}



[UPDATE_002]

"I pulled the 'Main Camera' out of the First Person Controller, and 'Mouse Look' input NO LONGER trumps the orientation defined in the New Camera Path. However, my movement became very jerky, so I don't believe this is the optimal solution."

I solved for the jerky motion by doing the following:

In the Inspector... First Person Controller > Character Motor (Script) > Use Fixed Update: UNCHECKED

As of now, 'Mouse Look' input NO LONGER trumps the orientation defined in the New Camera Path AND the motion is smooth. I'm not exactly sure why it works, but it does. I could speculate from here to the moon, but it wouldn't be worth anyone's time

Thank you again jasperstocker for this amazing toolset!!!

-kropcke

 

Cool - glad you solved it!

 

I purchased this today after trying the demo and seeing the 5 star reviews. So far I'm less than impressed.

First problem is the lack of documentation. When I need to go digging through the code to find exactly where the custom event is (not on the main CameraPath behaviour, but on the animator), you have problems. Either put is somewhere sensible, like on the CameraPath component, or clearly state where that is. Don't tell me to use the broadcast event, then not tell me how to attach something to it.

This is not enough detail
http://support.jasperstocker.com/ca...era-path-gui/camera-path-animator-events-gui/

This is worse
http://support.jasperstocker.com/camera-path-animator/documentation/code/

There are misleading error messages - I was confused as to why I wasn't getting a camera preview in the editor. I had the error message "Not available in play mode", even though I wasn't in play mode. After digging into the code (again) I found that it was because I was running unity free without render to texture support. It had nothing to do with being in play mode.

Editor crashes when I try to use prefabs. New project, new scene, add a path, try to create a prefab out of that path and the editor will crash. I spent a good couple of hours debugging someone else code to find out why I was getting cryptic error messages with _path containing null values, even after I'd removed all CameraPath game object from my scene. The problem was I'd turned it into a prefab.

These are the issues I've run into after about 4 hours work, so I shudder to think of what I'll run into next. On paper the project looks great, but as soon as I tried to use it, it all fell apart. Unless I grossly misunderstand how I'm meant to use this, or I've missed something critical, I'm pretty disappointed with the state of this library.

 

@Time Jockey
Wow - that's a lot of issues to have for one person. I'm really sorry and I'm working on it.
I think it will be a good idea to have a specific custom events example - there are good examples included in the Basic Example and On Rails Shooter scenes, but something more specific would help out I think. In my opinion, it makes sense in the Animator class as it triggers the events itself and the Camera Path class is a bit hefty already.
Have no idea what's happened to the code documentation, it was there but now it's gone. I'll get that back up.
I'll fix that error message too, simple one that.
Prefabs are not supported right now. The Unity documentation leads you down a dark corner with ScriptableObjects when they aren't very well supported by the serialisation in the end. I'm planning on rewriting a large chunk of CPA so that prefabrication is supported and I'll be ditching SOs. Annoyingly this will break direct upgrade paths but there will be an option to upgrade, with a little more leg work though
Anyway, I do hope your future adventures with Camera Path are more fun and less rocky.
Don't hesitate to email me with your comments, suggestions and problems.
I appreciate your patience!

 

Has this been tested with Unity in DX11 mode? It keeps crashing my editor and it appears that DX11 mode is the culprit. Recreate the bug: Start new project, set player settings to DX11 on, import cam path package, GameObject/Create New Camera Path....crash.

 

I already had Camera Path Animator 2.0 and 3.0 seems to be huge improvement!

One question, is there any way to add delay to the start point? Start point is visible in Delay section (GUI) but I didn't find a way to add delay to this point.

 

@Operator23, I've finally managed to replicate the bug - you have a have the camera path selected to crash Unity. I think this is a core issue with Unity and RenderTextures so I've submitted a bug report to UT. Can't think there is anything I can do but you might want disable the in inspector preview if you're using DX11. I'll keep you informed on the progress.

@mk1978 thanks! There isn't but I can see that would be a good idea. I'll look into making the start point delay-able.

 

Hi jasperstocker,

First off, thank you again for your wonderful work on Camera Path Animator.
I'm having some difficulty creating a LOOPING camera path, for a Third Person Camera (imagine a level that is doughnut shaped). Here are my repro steps:

1. Create a new project
2. Include the 'Character Controller' and 'Camera Path Animator' unitypackages.
3. Game Object > Create New Camera Path
4. Select 'New Camera Path' in my Hierarchy
5. In the Inspector, check 'Is Looped'

It generates the following 3 errors:

01.
IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
CameraPath.StoredArcLength (Int32 curve) (at Assets/CameraPath3/Scripts/CameraPath.cs:297)
CameraPathEditorSceneGUI.OnSceneGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditorSceneGUI.cs:107)
CameraPathEditor.OnSceneGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditor.cs:49)
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)
Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:232)
System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MethodBase.cs:115)
UnityEditor.SceneView.CallOnSceneGUI ()
UnityEditor.SceneView.HandleSelectionAndOnSceneGUI ()
UnityEditor.SceneView.OnGUI ()
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)

02.
The targets array should not be used inside OnSceneGUI or OnPreviewGUI. Use the single target property instead.
UnityEditor.DockArea:OnGUI()

03.
IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
CameraPath.StoredArcLength (Int32 curve) (at Assets/CameraPath3/Scripts/CameraPath.cs:297)
CameraPathEditorSceneGUI.OnSceneGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditorSceneGUI.cs:107)
CameraPathEditor.OnSceneGUI () (at Assets/CameraPath3/Editor/CameraPathEditor.cs:49)
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)
Rethrow as TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:232)
System.Reflection.MethodBase.Invoke (System.Object obj, System.Object[] parameters) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MethodBase.cs:115)
UnityEditor.SceneView.CallOnSceneGUI ()
UnityEditor.SceneView.HandleSelectionAndOnSceneGUI ()
UnityEditor.SceneView.OnGUI ()
System.Reflection.MonoMethod.Invoke (System.Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, System.Reflection.Binder binder, System.Object[] parameters, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/monoAndRuntimeClassLibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.Reflection/MonoMethod.cs:222)


NOTES:

01. Path Length approx *DOES* update and increase after checking 'Is Looped'
02. However, the Path Points never connect in editor
03. And the camera jumps between the points in game

Please let me know if there's something I'm missing in my setup, or if you can even help steer me in the right direction, I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you again so much!!

Sincerely,
-kropcke

 

Thanks for the detailed report kropcke!
I can't replicate this but i have this feeling it's an old/fixed bug.
Could you check you're on the latest version? 3.05
There actually is a new version in the approval stages that has looping rewritten so it should be more stable and solid...
Ping me an email/pm with your invoice number and I can give you access to the latest one.

 

Hi jasperstocker!

Thank you so much for your ongoing work! Your support is incredibly appreciated.

First off, the latest build of Camera Path Animator in fact completes the loop in-editor AND in-game. Awesome! Thank you!!

However, when my character and the 3rd person chase camera reaches 'Point 0' (where the camera loop is completed), I get a very jarring camera motion. If I had to guess, it looks as if the orientation of the camera rotates 360 degrees whenever it passes 'Point 0'. Maybe the camera is updating its orientation at 'Point 0' (like you would expect it to anywhere along the path), but rotates 360 degrees to get there at the 'loop complete' junction.

My repro steps:

1. Create a new project
2. Include the 'Character Controller' and the latest 'Camera Path Animator' unitypackages.
3. Game Object > Create New Camera Path
4. Select 'New Camera Path' in my Hierarchy
5. In the Inspector, check 'Is Looped'
6. Create a third person camera (following your 3rd person camera tutorial)
7. [PLAY]
8. Move the character across 'Point 0' where the loop is completed
9. You should see what appears to be a 360 degree rotation

Please let me know if you would like me to provide further details.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
kropcke


[UPDATE 01]

1. If 'Play On Start' is selected
2. And I set 'Animation Mode' to LOOP
3. I don't get the jarring camera motion I described above
4. So far, it only occurs if within a 3rd person camera

 

@Kropcke, I've sent you an email with a fix and will roll it into the next update. Thanks

 

Hello
I made several paths to animate a camera, but I want to transfer them in my other project. Would that be possible, because I exported a prefab containing all of them and imported it in the other project but it didn't work?

 

@apromarinov, this is a known issue and it's just about to get patched. PM/Email me with your invoice number and I'll hook you up with the latest build.

 

Hi,

Bought this a while ago and just recently had a need for it. Great tool, keep up the good work!

I have an issue with the events though. If I do the following, the "Finished" event does not get called the second time around. It seems to be an issue with the 'percentage' value not reaching actual '0':

1. Play Camera Path forward with mode set to 'once'
2. Get callback when the animation has finished fine
3. In the callback, set the camera path to go into reverse and play it again
4. NEVER get the callback when the animation is finished

Hopefully you can replicate this, and spot the issue. I believe I put a hack into place for now by using the following line of code to check for the reverse finished callback:

Code (csharp):

1. if (_percentage <= 0.1f) {

If you need anything else, or a sample project let me know and ill try knock something together for you.

Adam

 

Thank you so much jasperstocker.
Your work and support is clearly praiseworthy!

All the best to you.
-kropcke

 

Dear Adam, I'm not able to reproduce this, could you send me an example scene or the path xml? I'll take a look and get back to you
Thanks

 

Hi,

Sure, ill try and get the path XML for you if thats ok? Let me grab this today and send over.

Thanks

 

does this asset works like matinee?

 

The OSX ripped DVD player software? No
What's Matinee?

 

no. matinee is a cinematic camera director in ue3.

 

having a quick look - I don't know. Can't find a short video on it's process
You can check out this video I made going over the way Camera Path Animator works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJLdGjuLJI

 

ok ill check it out

 

Are there plans to allow for 2D camera support (namely: tk2d)?
Would love to be able to use this for setting vertical and horizontal constraints in certain areas of a level that isn't just a flat left->right sidescroller.
However, the camera auto-orientation is making it completely un-usable for 2D and at least on 4.3.4, the editor scripts are extremely buggy still.
It looks like it could be very promising and useful though. Cheers!

 

Editor scripts are buggy? Is that just in 2d? What bugs? You've not told me about them.
I think a new orientation mode is needed called fixed or none where orientation is not modified.
I know someone is using CPA for 2D. There were a few issues because the 1 pixel = 1 unit created a path about 65 km long and I never thought there would be a path that long! Haha. that should be fixed in the newest version.
I'll have a go at creating a 2D demo though - sounds like something I need to support!

 

The bugs I ran into ranged from minor to major (possibly from 2D settings). I just bought the asset today and would have documented them if I knew I was going to post here Either way, it's a great asset!

2D (or "None") orientation would be excellent. There is also a "pixels per meter" measurement in tk2d camera (http://www.unikronsoftware.com/2dtoolkit/docs/2.4/tutorial/tk2dcamera.html) that would possibly need to be accounted for as well; tk2d is quite a popular asset still, even with Unity's native 2D support.

Cheers~