Cinemachine Virtual Camera jumping around

I'm making a 2D tactical RPG game.

I have the mouse followed by a virtual camera so that I can pan around the map (second screen shot). When I select a unit to move (first screenshot), the virtual camera "follows" that unit, but it jumps abruptly to it. Likewise, when I cancel the unit selection so I can select a different unit or pan around the map, the virtual camera "follows" the mouse again, abruptly jumping to its position, even if the unit and mouse are right next to each other.

When the enemy units move, the virtual camera "follows" each one in turn and abruptly jumps between them.

The jumping makes for really jarring gameplay.

How can I make it so that there is no abrupt jumping when following new objects if the first object and the following object in a sequence are within a certain distance of each other, or within a certain confining box? If the camera "follows" a new object within the same bounding area that the previous object is in, I think that the camera shouldn't move.

Thank you,

Nicholas

 

Thanks. Let me try that.

Will that also prevent the camera from moving to the new object if they are within a certain bounding area? Or will it move over to the new object, just smoothly?

 

Yes, that makes sense. Let me try to figure this out, based on what you said. I'll let you know by tomorrow afternoon if I'm still having troubles.

I appreciate your help.

Nicholas

 

I'm trying it out, but it stills bounces around between all the objects that are being followed. It smoothly blends between them, but it still moves around so much that it's likely to make people nauseated.

Here is a video of what it looks like:

Below is the code that I use to switch between following the mouse and following different units.

I must be doing something wrong.

public void CameraToFollowMouseTileCursor() {
GetNewCameraPriorityForSwitching();
newCamera.Follow = mouseTileCursor.transform;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_XDamping = 1f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_YDamping = 1f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_SoftZoneHeight = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_SoftZoneWidth = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_DeadZoneHeight = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_DeadZoneWidth = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_UnlimitedSoftZone = true;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_CenterOnActivate = false;
}

public void CameraToFollowUnit(Unit unit) {
GetNewCameraPriorityForSwitching();
newCamera.Follow = unit.transform.parent.transform;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_XDamping = 0f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_YDamping = 0f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_SoftZoneHeight = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_SoftZoneWidth = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_DeadZoneHeight = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_DeadZoneWidth = 0.7f;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_UnlimitedSoftZone = false;
newCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineFramingTransposer>().m_CenterOnActivate = false;
}

private void SetPriorityOfVirtualCameras(CinemachineVirtualCamera vcam) {
if (vcam.name == "CM vcam1") {
virtualCamera1.Priority = 100;
virtualCamera2.Priority = 0;
}
else if (vcam.name == "CM vcam2") {
virtualCamera1.Priority = 0;
virtualCamera2.Priority = 100;
}
}

private CinemachineVirtualCamera GetNewCameraPriorityForSwitching() {
if (virtualCamera1.Priority == 100) {
oldCamera = virtualCamera1;
newCamera = virtualCamera2;
newCamera.transform.position = oldCamera.transform.position;
SetPriorityOfVirtualCameras(newCamera);
return newCamera;
}
else {
oldCamera = virtualCamera2;
newCamera = virtualCamera1;
newCamera.transform.position = oldCamera.transform.position;
SetPriorityOfVirtualCameras(newCamera);
return newCamera;
}
}

 

That makes sense.

Sorry about the code.

In the video, when I click "End" to end my turn, the enemies move in sequence, and the vcam jumps back and forth smoothly between each unit. How do I make it so that it follows the units as it does, but does not blend to the location of each one until they are outside of the dead zone? In my mind, each of those units is close enough to each other that the vcam does not need to move around at all to see where each one goes. Does that makes sense? Is there a way to keep the camera still when they are so close to each other? I haven't figured out a way to do that successfully.

The constant moving back and forth even a little bit between units is still quite jarring after a while. It's not pleasant to look at for too long of a time.

 

I am using InheritPosition, yes.

Wow, that's a genius idea! I'll try that and see.

Thanks so much!

 

Quick question. What is the best way to figure out if a blend is finished or if it's still taking place? Is there a function I can call? Or is there a different way?

Thanks,

Nicholas

 

Nevermind. You answer here https://forum.unity.com/threads/how...ctive-virtual-cam-blend-has-completed.498544/ did the job for me.

I used the following and it worked great:

Code (CSharp):

1. public bool FinishedBlending() {
2.         if (!Camera.main.GetComponent<Cinemachine.CinemachineBrain>().IsBlending) {
3.             return true;
4.         }
5.         return false;
6.     }
7.  
8. yield return new WaitUntil(FinishedBlending);

 

I think all along you've been right about the InheritPosition solving what I had a problem with. I just upgraded from 2.3.3 to 2.4.0 and the camera now stays still as long as the new targets that it follows are within the bounds. What you suggested and what I implemented were right, but I was just on an old version, it seems.

Thank you for your help. My game is now very very smooth.