Resources discussing the use of Cinemachine with XR/Virtual Reality

Hi Folks,

Not really sure if this is better posted here or within the XR discussion forum. Rolling the dice.

I've been thinking a bit about how to combine the magic of Cinemachine with a VR game. A few things I'd like to be able to do is move through a few different perspectives: world overview, third person follow, first person.

Cinemachine brings so much to the table that if I were a non-VR game I would just set a few VCAMS at various points in the scene and adjust the cam-weight at runtime. The complication arises because of how integral that rig setup happens to be with respect to VR.

Typically in VR you'd see the "center eye anchor" as the main camera, but the left hand and right hand anchors are positioned relative to the C.E.A ... and then the "tracking space" is your safe play zone.

I think that essentially the entire OVRCameraRig would have to move from one VCAM to another ... but then how would you handle smooth blending between them?



I've actually got a million questions about leveraging cinemachine in VR - but - before I run through a couple of weekends doing prototyping and research (for example: do I make my VCAMs children of the CEA? Does that cause motion sickness?) Does head tracking break when you use a VCAM followcam? Maybe if I followcam while leaving LOOK CAM set to null? what if I want *some* player guidance with a set look cam, but I still want them to be able to move their head (effectively making the world at the center-eye update while the player retains full head movement within that guided movement)?

I'd like to know if there are any resources out there from people who have thought about and solved these problems before? Is there anyone on the internet who's got some insight into the scope of the problem here?

Is there any thought leadership out there on this topic?

 

Fantastic answer Gregoryl! Thanks so much I'm laughing a little. I did manage to find your other thread on this topic from a few years ago (https://forum.unity.com/threads/vr-follow-player-car.500018/). I'll be sure to turn up the damping on all axes

 

Hey @Gregoryl I'm trying the follow-cam configuration now and I've got a few questions. I think it's a strong first showing for what I'm *hoping* to get to - but I think there are some configuration things I'm missing. And maybe some odd behaviors from my non-standard config.

The first thing I've noticed is that the guide rails don't seem to be showing up anymore when working in editor. I think if they were still around I'd have an easier time getting the actual follow behavior I'm looking for.

When I get ingame on a VR headset
Here's a quick video of the actual activity - recorded from an Oculus Quest headset

I'm seeing that I'm not actually staying on one side of the character. I think Ideally I'd like to design for a seated experience where you, stay on the SOUTH side of the character. Notice how at the end of the video I actually have to turn my head 180 degrees to look at the character? And how it's possible to run out-of-frame? Are there settings that will let me always stay "below" the character?

this is my current VCAM configuration and hierarchy.

 

So I'm starting to fiddle with Cinemachine and VR as well, but my approach/question is different. I'd like to use Cinemachine as a spectator camera and be able to create a sequence of camera shots between the VR camera and other "cameras" around the player as the move about the world. At first glance it seems this is impossible because Cinemachine wants to take over the Main Camera. I tried adding a Brain to a second camera and then adding a Virtual Camera, but it took over the VR camera. Is it possible to use Cinemachine on another camera that's not tagged as the Main Camera?

 

Aww, sweet it worked! Thank you for such a quick response. I didn't realize a brain had been added to the VR camera. Once I removed it, and then created a Spectator Camera, added the Brain to it, and then created a dolly camera with track, it worked. I've wanted to use Timeline and Cinemachine for quite awhile. As a solo dev I finally reached a point where I want to demonstrate my Locomotion mechanic, Ninja Run, but its hard to describe with just the VR camera. The player has a fully rigged body, with Index Controller finger tracking, so Cinemachine should be a perfect fit for VR cinematic.

Do you have any tips that could help with switching between the Vcams and the Player camera. I know I need to do a little more research, but I'd like to setup my shots around the virtual world, and then use colliders to trigger camera transitions / cuts.

 

Hey there Gregory. My apologies but I am just seeing your response. It does indeed make sense. I will be looking to implement this is the next few days. I've been focusing on other areas of the project that will lead up to making full use of Cinemachine.