[RELEASED] Pro Camera 2D - The definitive 2D & 2.5D Unity camera plugin

That's awesome, thanks Luis! Quick work too. Will be in touch with the invoice number, thanks

 

@archwaykitten
You can do this by turning off the gizmos in your scene view. If you use the drop down you can turn off individual gizmos for different objects in your scene.

 

Hola Luis!
Thanks for all your efforts, this asset has been extremely useful

I’m having an issue with resetting the camera when the player dies to the right position/zoom state.

I can get the camera back to the initial position and even zoom but the issue is that the Speed Based Zoom component keeps the previous speed of the targets so after I reset the camera, the momentum that the camera had before, starts to apply even after the MoveCameraInstantlyToPosition is set, so it gives me a jolt either up or down if the player was previously going vertically in a different speed and respawns to the starting position.

Would love to have a method on the ProCamera that would set the camera to the “final” position based on the assigned targets so when I move a target’s position, I can reset the camera, for example if my main player dies and respawns in the starting point I would call that method and it would automatically jump there based on the rest of the ProCamera values I assigned and have the Zoom speed momentum and other variables reset so it starts from zero.

 

@Rodiaz89 I can see what you're saying and your request makes total sense. I'll definitely solve it in the next update (1.6.2) but I need some time to think the best way to do it. Since it would involve resetting the "Core" and an "Extension" we need a clean way to do it.
I'll keep you posted on this, but rest assured it will be taken care soon!

 

@tinkergames I've included a fix to your issue in the v1.6.1.

This version was just submitted to the store but it might take a few days to get approved. If you want to get it sooner, please send me your invoice number and I'll send you an updated package.

Here are the updates for v1.6.1:

• The camera is only parented if using the Shake extension
• Fixed an issue where deleting Cinematic camera targets could throw an (harmless) error to the console
• When using the Cinematics extension, if a target has a Hold Duration less than 0, the camera will follow it indefinitely
• Added a method (GoToNextTarget) to the Cinematics extension that allows you to skip the current target
• Prevent the Game Viewport size on the Pixel Perfect extension to go below (1, 1)
• Fixed a bug where the TriggerBoundaries would have a missing reference if instantiated manually

 

Awesomeness! Yeah I know how it is, I'm one of the owners of Gamestrap UI and you have to make sure it all works well. Really good job on the asset, I rarely buy assets and this one turned out even better than I expected!
We were looking for a Camera asset and you just happened to be on sale as well, lucky us

 

Hey, so I finally got the asset and got some time to tinker with it, and I must admit, I'm having difficulties configuring the pixel perfect settings properly... It's easy to get it to be pixel perfect with 1 resolution and it's proper multiple, but when you try other resolutions it's not on the same zoom level and on some resolutions it's not pixel perfect. So I must have not grasped everything properly.

Can I get a rundown of exactly what I need to do to configure everything properly?

Cheers

 

@Shadeless You can find all the information about the Pixel Perfect extension here: http://www.procamera2d.com/user-guide/#pixel_perfect

Assuming you already went through that, would you mind contacting me directly (by email or PM) with some more specific details about the issues you're getting?

 

@Rodiaz89 Just to let you know that unfortunately I haven't had the time yet to add your feature request but I'll handle it as soon as possible. This means that it won't make the cut into 1.6.2 but it will be part of the next one.

 

Alright, so I purchased this asset and I can definitely see where it shines, but... urgh....

It creates its own object and has it destroyed when you switch scenes. I get it and I could try to make it not destroy between scenes, but after one failure I just gave up as I didn't think it was going to do what I needed anyhow. Suggestion to add an option to keep the camera between scenes.

I was thinking, oh 2.5D that's me that's me! But I guess I do 2.5D in a different way. It's not overlapping layers, my sprites are standing up (90 degrees) and the camera is a 45 degree angle. The most annoying thing I had to do with my camera was rotate it around the character (since it's actually a 3D scene) and so perhaps I'm more 3D-wishing-I-was-2.5D.

Great tool for 2D. Very sad I bought it and can't use it for what I need. Maybe later for something else.

 

@Yukichu Thanks for purchasing ProCamera2D!

In regards to the camera being automatically parented, this behaviour was fixed in version 1.6.1 (released a few hours ago). Now the camera is only parented if you're using the Shake extension. If you intend to keep the camera between scenes you basically just have to do it like you would on any other normal Unity GameObject.

As for 2.5D, not sure what you mean with overlapping layers (maybe parallax?) but my understanding of it is when a game despite being in 2D, the camera is in 3D (perspective).

I'm sorry to hear ProCamera2D won't fit your current needs, but hopefully you'll be able to use it in a future project.

Cheers!

 

No worries, we still have a couple of months before publishing the game so we are good!

 

I really need the same feature that @Rodiaz89 need.. :/

 

@Mr.Stein No worries. It should be ready in the next few days. As soon as it's ready I'll send you both emails with the updated package so you don't have to wait for it to be approved.

 

awesome!!! thanks @luispedrofonseca

 

@Mr.Stein @Rodiaz89 I've added a new method - Reset - which, like the name says, resets the camera and its extensions to their initial values and also instantly moves to the targets position. If a false is passed, the camera will reset but it won't move to a new position.

If you'd like to test this, please send me your invoice number and I'll send you an updated package. Thanks!

P.S.: This is something very useful that was clearly missing from the Core API so thanks for the suggestion!

 

woww excellent @luispedrofonseca
via PM or via mail?

 

@Mr.Stein via email would be easier but PM works too.

 

Hi there,

Just found this thread so maybe easier than using the support email, but not sure?

Anyway I seem to have run into another bug. The Zoom trigger doesn't appear to work correctly with a perspective camera. It zooms by physically moving the camera, which is actually fine for me (though an option to move OR change FOV would be cool), but the problem is it never "settles" in to the proper position. It moves in, gets real close (like within 0.001 or so) and then snaps back out a few units then goes in again, repeating over and over.

It appears to operate fine on an orthographic camera, where it just changes the size instead of moving the camera.

 

@jwvanderbeck Thanks for the bug report.

The zooming happens by moving the camera instead of changing the FOV because it's the correct way of zooming when using a perspective camera. In an earlier version it was done by changing the FOV but that made things look distorted. I guess I could have an option to choose the method so I'm going to give it some thought.

Regarding the approximation error you're getting, I'll take a look and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Cheers!

 

Well technically the "correct" way of zooming is to change the focal length, which in Unity is a FOV change. That is technically a Zoom. Sure it may cause distortion but that is how a camera works

What you are currently doing is what is more often called a Dolly, where you physically move the camera to get closer to a subject but retain the same focal length.

You can also, in cinematography, do both at the same time which is known as a Dolly Zoom and it produces a rather distinctive effect which you may have seen in films. Typically you do them in opposition to each other so you would say zoom out while dollying in, or the other way. By doing this you can keep the subject the same relative size while changing the field of view.


Just some food for thought it you want to expand your camera's abilities

Anyway as for my bug, I am using the XZ axis but it appears to have the same issue in XY as well.

 

Ok so some more information from my own debugging of the issue.

First off, the error is different depending on whether I have "Set size as multiplier" set.

If it is NOT set, then my debugging shows that each time the coroutine is run, ProCamera2D determines a slightly different target, but never actually settles on one, this leaves the camera constantly moving all over and the actual camera position never reaches the calculated one (because the calculated one is constantly shifting) and thus the zoom wobbles and never ends.

If it is IS set, the each run of the coroutine properly calculates the SAME value and everything works properly with no camera wobble. The bug I was seeing where the camera pops back a bit then zooms again seems to be caused by this piece of code:

// If the camera is bounded, reset the easing
if (_previousCamSize == ProCamera2D.ScreenSizeInWorldCoordinates.y)
{
_targetCamSize = ProCamera2D.GameCameraSize;
_targetCamSizeSmoothed = _targetCamSize;
_zoomVelocity = 0f;
}

So in that case it may be a setting issue? I am not sure what it meant by ":If the camera is bounded" but that is exactly what is happening. Before the camera reaches the target position, it hits this code and bounces back and them tries to move down again, constantly looping over and over.

 

@jwvanderbeck Thanks for the clarification regarding the zoom. Learnt a new thing today!

Regarding the bug (thanks for digging in) you're experiencing I'm going to have a look tomorrow and get back to you as soon as possible. I know what might be happening and shouldn't be hard to fix.

Cheers!

 

Hi - What a great asset. I have what is perhaps a bug when exiting full screen playmode while using a procamera with mouse follow extension on a UI canvas. Always seems to hang unity on a re-paint. MacOS10.10.5.

 

@bigSky Thanks! Can you please explain further or provide me a sample project that replicates the issue?

 

@jwvanderbeck I've fixed the issue you reported with the Trigger Zoom and I've also added the option to zoom by changing the FOV instead of actually moving the camera.
Please send me your invoice number if you'd like to access an updated package so you don't have to wait until it's approved by the Asset Store.

 

Hi Luis,
Well - to set it up, all you have to do is to make a UI panel, make a ProCameraCamera (by dropping prefab), make canvas World space, add a pointer move extension, toggle "maximize on Play" in the game tab, then noodle about for a bit, then hit stop - then it hangs.
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if this is from my side - or Unity's - I'm pretty impressed by ProCamera so far (though I do have some suggestions ) so I'm not really expecting it to be your bug - but nevertheless, it's pretty a reliable hang.

 

@bigSky I can't replicate that error. Does it happen also if you do it on the included "Examples -> Pointer Influence" scene?
What Unity version are you using?

 

Hi Luis - If I add a UI Panel to the pointer influence scene, and make the canvas world space, then, yes, it does hang or Unity crashes. I'm using 5.2.0f3. It does not happen with Overlay mode.

 

@bigSky I believe that's crashing in your case, but I really don't see why it would have anything to do with ProCamera2D. ProCamera2D doesn't mess with UI in any way and it really shouldn't affect it.
Here's a video of how it's working in my case: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/883485/ProCamera2D/pointer_influence_bug_test.mp4

I'm using OSX 10.11.1 and Unity 5.2.2f. Maybe you could update to the latest OSX and Unity?

If someone else could try this out would be great.

 

Hi Luis - New unity update did the trick. Thanks for your patience.

 

Hi guys, just wanted to show you a sneak peek of the new extension coming in v1.7.0 - The Rails extension.
It allows you to define a path that the camera will follow based on your targets position. It's AWESOME for those situations where you want that extra control over your camera position but still allow the player to move it.

Here's a quick video:
https://twitter.com/lpfonseca/status/667413955250360320

 

Great addition. In fact, that's exactly how my custom camera works right now. Here are some of the things I've done with my camera rail you might consider useful:

- Each node has certain 'override' settings that are interpolated between the two closest nodes. For instance, Zoom. I can assign a zoom of 4 in one node and 3 on the next and as the character walks by these nodes the camera zooms in/out accordingly.
- I can also 'hang' certain events and callbacks on my rail that are triggered as the camera goes by. For instance, I can activate/deactivate objects based on where the camera is along the rail giving me great control over culling. Another example is foreground parallax objects which I interpolate in between two nodes of the rail.

 

@Manny Calavera Thanks for the suggestions!
You can actually already accomplish that. Since, like the others, you can combine the Rails extension with any other extension / trigger.
I actually don't have a trigger to activate/deactivate objects as part of the package because I don't think it's a common use, but that's super easy to do using the provided API.

Please keep those suggestions coming!

 

Hey @luispedrofonseca , I assume you're the developer right?
First thing, I want to say thanks for creating this plugin. saved me a TON of time creating a 2D camera, and now I can use this time to work on my game instead.

second of all, I want to report a bug. The geometry boundaries extension doesn't work with boundaries created at runtime. I assume it only registers boundaries on awake\start?

 

@DoctorShinobi Yes, I'm the developer.
The geometry boundaries work independently if they are created at runtime or not. As long as they're on the correct layer and at depth 0 (Z = 0 if you're on XY axis), everything should work just fine.

 

Will try that, thanks.

 

Just submitted v1.7.0 which brings the new Rails extension and also a Rails trigger. Sneak peek here:

https://twitter.com/lpfonseca/status/671669975648755712/video/1

As always, if you'd like access to this version before it's approved by the Asset Store please send me your invoice number.

 

Hi @luispedrofonseca, I have some problem when I try to run the example scene "TopDownShooter", well when I open the scene I an error "NavMesh asset format has changed. Please rebake the NavMesh data.".
And when I try to run the TopDownShooter scene then my Unity stop working.
This is happening to me in Unity 5.2.1f1 and 5.1.3f1

 

Hi @Mr.Stein, I've had people complain of that issue before. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it seems the navmesh data gets corrupted somehow.
To fix it, with the TopDownShooter scene open, go to Window > Navigation. Then, click the "Bake" button on the bottom-right corner.

 

Oh!, ok, thanks you @luispedrofonseca

 

v1.7.1 is now up! Adds a few tweaks to the Rails extension.

See the change-log for more details: http://www.procamera2d.com/about/#changelog

 

v1.7.2 is now up! Support for Unity 5.3.0.

See the change-log for more details: http://www.procamera2d.com/about/#changelog

 

great asset @luispedrofonseca

i have the same problem with trigger boundaries, like @AlbertStr. It's overwrite my default camera boundaries when i exit the trigger.

Maybe its a good solution

Thanks!

 

Hi @garrot, not sure I understood exactly your issue. Can you please be more specific or if possible, share a project that replicates the problem?

 

Is there any way for ProCamera2D to detect user-made extensions, without having to manually modify the ProCamera2DEditor file? I don't know if it's possible, but if so that'd make it really sleek for user extensions (sharing etc, since people could just import them, and it'll show in the enable plugins menu)

Edit: And if not, then maybe there's a more extensible way to modify that menu, perhaps in another source file, to avoid manually merging the editor script anytime ProCamera gets updated

 

Hi @Async0x42, currently the extensions and triggers that appear on the editor are still manually added.
I am, however, planning to solve that very soon! I'll keep you posted!

 

Great news! The extensions and triggers section of the editor are now dynamically populated.
This allows you to easily see your own custom extensions/triggers and also for users to share their own code. I'm planning to create a GitHub repo to handle all that soon.

To make sure your extension/trigger appears on the menu all you have to do is add this to your class:

Code (CSharp):

1. public static string ExtensionName = "!!! My Custom Extension";
2. // OR
3. public static string TriggerName = "!!! My Custom Trigger";

[EDIT]
P.S.: This is coming in v1.7.4. Currently v1.7.3 is still in review so it might take a few days for this to go live. As always, if you want to get access earlier just email me your invoice number.

 

This is very cool!

 

So when using the NUMERIC BOUNDS, the camera instantly snaps to the nearest bound when it reaches it. Is there a way to smoothly do this stopping of the camera when using bounds (The camera should lerp to the bound position or even overshoot the bound a lil bit and then come back) ?
Thanks.