Search Unity

  1. Megacity Metro Demo now available. Download now.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Unity support for visionOS is now available. Learn more in our blog post.
    Dismiss Notice

Camera Path Animator 3.0 - Animate in Unity with Ease

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by jasperstocker, Feb 10, 2014.

  1. tinyanimations

    tinyanimations

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2013
    Posts:
    4
    Thanks, I will take a look.
    Guess i was being lazy and looking for a simple answer.

    Cheers.
     
  2. PixelArtist

    PixelArtist

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2012
    Posts:
    14
    Thanks for building this asset, jasperstocker! I've integrated it with the Cinema Director plugin and can now scrub along camera paths while creating my cutscenes. Super helpful!!!
     
  3. PixelArtist

    PixelArtist

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2012
    Posts:
    14
    I'm also using it to animate movement for all the other objects/characters in my cutscenes. Is this a terrible idea performance-wise on mobile or am I good, since the paths are not made at runtime. Generally speaking, of course.
     
  4. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    It should be fine to animate any gameobject.
     
  5. CunningGrayFox

    CunningGrayFox

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2014
    Posts:
    24
    I really like your asset and would love to purchase it, however, I have one question about it's usage. I've been looking at the documentation and it seems fairly straight forward but as usual what I'm trying to do isn't straight forward.

    I have a 3D story based game in which the user experiences the character walking a path and at some point the game prompts the user to make a decision to go right or left. I'm really interested in your tool because it seems easy to setup this kind of camera movement along a path, however, how can I handle the single path turning into two possible paths?

    I saw in the documentation that I could generate an XML of the path then overwrite the current path with the generated XML. So I figured I could generate two possible XML strings and when the user makes a selection then load the corresponding XML. Will this provide the solution I need or is there a better way of doing this with your tool? Does loading the XML cause any camera jump, or reset , etc.?
     
  6. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    You can have more than one path in a scene.
    How about you have all your paths laid out with play at start unticked and use a script to start the ones you want based on that user choice.
     
  7. CunningGrayFox

    CunningGrayFox

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2014
    Posts:
    24
    Sounds good to me, thank you very much.
     
  8. huynhke

    huynhke

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    I've been having a lot of trouble with the 'Speed' portion of this plugin. The other parts are working well, which is awesome! But the speed ramp up and slow down in random spots where there are no points. There's a spot on my path that has no points nearby, but the path slows down almost to a stop, then continues back to normal speed. I un-enabled the speed node and the camera didn't slow down at that weird spot, so it definitely looks like something about speed is affecting it, but there's just nothing there.. :(
     
  9. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Eek - that sounds weird. Could you email me your path as XML so I can take a look at this issue.
    Thanks
     
  10. eco_bach

    eco_bach

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2013
    Posts:
    1,601
    ditto speed issues, definitely something wonky is happening. Setting a speed point and value doesn't necessarily mean your tracked object will have that speed as it passes thru.
     
  11. eco_bach

    eco_bach

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2013
    Posts:
    1,601
    Hi Jasper
    Trying to do something I don't recall seeing in the documentation.

    I have 2 paths, Path1 and Path 2.


    When Path 1 is partially finished, I want it to pause and to send an event that will trigger the start of Path 2.

    When Path 2 is complete, I want it to send an event that will cause Path 1 to resume.

    Possible?
     
  12. eco_bach

    eco_bach

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2013
    Posts:
    1,601
    One additional question
    Is it possible to change the Orientation of a gameObject on a animation path via code at runtime?

    I am simply trying to rotate a game object that is paused on a animation path and don't want to have to rotate the entire path.
     
  13. huynhke

    huynhke

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2014
    Posts:
    15
    How can I export as an XML file?
     
  14. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Head to options > export to xml
     
  15. eco_bach

    eco_bach

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2013
    Posts:
    1,601
    Hi jasper
    I know how to use basic events to Call another gameObject, but how do you Start another path from an existing path?

    Path A plays on Start and has an Event at 90% that should start path B

    Path B has 'Play on Start' toggled off.

    I've tried simply targeting Path B and the 'Start' method from the Path A event but that doesn't work.
     
  16. klund

    klund

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2011
    Posts:
    33
    Major issue with version camerpath 3.43c. I just update a major project with 3 combined paths from version 3.35 under unity 5.2f1 mac.

    The paths speed settings are intact after the update but the speed has slowed down by a factor of 10 or more in most places. I other places it too fast ??
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2015
  17. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Looking into this - should have a fix shortly.
     
  18. bilke

    bilke

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2012
    Posts:
    54
    Any news on this? We have this problem too. Seems to happen when you have a camera with heterogeneous distances between path points. We need this fix urgent, would be cool if you come up with a solution by tomorrow, I would really appreciate it!
     
  19. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Should be fixed as of version 3.43e on the store.
     
  20. bilke

    bilke

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2012
    Posts:
    54
    No it is not fixed for me. I was already using 3.43e. Check this path: even before reaching path point 0 the path already hit the 3 speed points although two of them should be hit later on.

    Edit: I meant path point 1
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2015
  21. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Okay - I'll take a look.
     
  22. bilke

    bilke

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2012
    Posts:
    54
    I am sorry to bother you, but did you had a look at the path?

    Edit: Take your time, for now I switched to an old version (3.32).
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2015
  23. calculmentor

    calculmentor

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2014
    Posts:
    11
    same problem here with speed interpolation...any news??
    where find the 3.32?
    thx!
     
  24. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    There should be a new version in the store shortly to fix this issue.
     
  25. mobadu

    mobadu

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2015
    Posts:
    18
    Unbelievable. After pressing Camera Multi View.. something, whole project is broken now. I have hundret thousands draw calls, 80M tris and other weird stuff. Unity is slow and almost unusable now. In profiler it looks like some New Game Objects (cameras) are created but ther are hidden, so no way to get rid of them....
     
  26. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    I check it out but any further information would be appreciated. Did you receive any errors? What version of Unity are you using?
     
  27. mobadu

    mobadu

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2015
    Posts:
    18
    Newest with patch 5.2.1p3.
    I fixed it by removing whole Camera Animator directory. But all camera paths are corrupted. Thanks to backup I got it back.
    There were some errors concerning CameraPathDualControl script and RenderPreviews() function.
     
  28. lightmax7

    lightmax7

    Joined:
    May 25, 2013
    Posts:
    3
    I tried to update to 5.2 also but my app was completely broken. So reverted back, and it is working again but now a receive this error relating to your product.

    NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
    CameraPathController.Start () (at Assets/Scripts/CameraPathController.cs:30)

    I have updated to 3.44 also.

    any help here would be great. Thanks!
     
  29. Vulkanheart

    Vulkanheart

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2015
    Posts:
    1
    Hi there, I was wondering how you integrated the former into the latter. I've been working with both, and as you say, being able to control the path from within Cinema Director would be awesome! Would appreciate any information you could share :)
     
  30. solarholic

    solarholic

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2013
    Posts:
    10
    HI,
    I have a problem for camera path animator after updating to version 3.44.
    The object can't show correctly when I set the orientation mode to "target" and the object's position is not set to x:0, y:0, Z:0, but it show correctly in older version. Any solution?
    Thanks.
     
  31. Mark_T

    Mark_T

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2011
    Posts:
    303
    I just discovered Camera Path Animator and I want to ask if it`s possible to implement a feature I need, or maybe it`s already possible, by using your asset, to do what I need. What exactly I want to do? I need to move the camera, or an object in the scene along a spline/bezier curve/path by using finger gestures. The camera/object needs to move up and down along the spline, not based on a time line, but moving according to finger swipe (or click&mouse move on desktop) from left to right or the other way around, from right to left depending on the swipe direction. I`m not sure if this can already be done inside Camera Path Animator, or it can be implemented, or it needs integration with another Unity asset, like InControl, Easy Touch or Finger Gestures. I have to mention that my main target platform is windows desktop, but I would love to have this working for any kind of touch screens too, mobile or not.
    Also, I have to mention that I have no scripting knowledge, and a no scripting solution will be great, or using Playmaker actions will do too.
    Thank you in advance for your time and answer.
     
  32. iivo_k

    iivo_k

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2013
    Posts:
    314
    Why are the icons in a resources folder now and loaded with Resources.Load? That means the icons are included in builds, where they're not needed.
     
  33. mk1978

    mk1978

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2009
    Posts:
    276
    I started to use this asset after a while and it was nice to see that the tool has developed quite a lot over the time!

    One suggestion for the future development in case that other users would see this beneficial. It would be nice to be able to add new Camera Path Nodes in the end of the current path by moving scene view to correct position/view and clicking Add Node. I believe this would speed up the Path Node placement quite a lot.
     
  34. mk1978

    mk1978

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2009
    Posts:
    276
    Is there easy way to rotate the Camera Path Object?

    Now when creating a new path the alignment may not be correct and it is hard to rotate the overall orientation of the path. For example, if I wanted to rotate the path 90 or 180 degrees it is not possible rotate the Camera Path Object with Object transform values.
     
  35. Seith

    Seith

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2012
    Posts:
    755
    Hello, is that asset still supported? Does it work with Unity 5.3?
     
  36. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Of course - the last version release is not even two months old for a 5 year old asset. It supports all Unity versions from 4.6.x onwards.
     
  37. NateJC

    NateJC

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    58
    I have a game 'on rails' with checkpoints that get cleared as the player progresses. If they die, I want to have the camera path play in reverse at a high speed, until the checkpoint is reached, and then resume playing forward afterwards. The spawn points for the player are different than the path of the camera. So I want my level designer to be able to position the spawn boxes, and not also have to add Events along the camera path. I have everything setup and working so far except for one detail: knowing when to stop playing in reverse and start playing forward once again. I know the percentage along the path that the checkpoint is. Can I add an event at a percentage during runtime? Or do you have any other suggestions?

    I love this toolset and use it in all of my projects. Thanks for making it jasperstocker!
     
  38. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    You could track the percentage on update in the Animator component.
    Or as you thought I would think you could access the Event class list in Camera Path and add an event at that point.
    Glad it's helped you out!
     
  39. NateJC

    NateJC

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    58
    I started with checking the percentage on Update originally, but because I'm stopping the current path, assigning a new one, calling Reverse() and then Play(), something in that combination is causing it to return percentage = 0 every update (even though the camera is clearly moving along the path).

    I tried adding an Event to the event list, but AddEvent takes a CameraPathControlPoint parameter, rather than a percentage. Is there a way to add an event at a percentage?
     
  40. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Hmm - that percentage thing looks like a bug. I'll check it out.
    With the event there is an override for accepting the Event and a fixed percentage float.
    path.eventList.AddPoint(myEvent, atFixedPercent);
    Or does this not work for you?
     
  41. NateJC

    NateJC

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2012
    Posts:
    58
    The code you wrote would work perfect for me, but the method signature doesn't support that:
    public void AddPoint(CameraPathPoint newPoint, float fixPercent)

    Ideally, I'm looking for this method (which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist):
    public void AddEvent(CameraPathEvent newEvent, float fixPercent)
     
  42. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    You could use AddPoint but just remember that you need to create the Event yourself by adding it as a component.
    I'll be looking into adding a proper AddEvent(float percent) in the next release...
     
  43. alebasco

    alebasco

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2014
    Posts:
    5
    We've been having an interesting issue... We have about 50 camera paths in the scene. (I think overall, its a great tool!) When using the editor, after we stop playing, it hangs for about a minute before we can do anything in the editor. If we delete these 50 paths, then the scene starts and stops instantly...

    Note: Only 1 path is ever played at a time.. Even if we exit without playing ANY of the paths, it still hangs for a minute before giving us control back.
     
  44. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    Hmm - yeah - sounds like they're all doing something kooky at that point. I'll check it out. Thanks for reporting.
     
  45. alebasco

    alebasco

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2014
    Posts:
    5
    Also, rebuilding scripts takes significantly longer with the camera paths in the scene. Like a looot longer. If we delete most of them from the scene, it builds quickly.
     
  46. alebasco

    alebasco

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2014
    Posts:
    5
    Ended up making all camera paths into prefabs, and instantiating them before they are used.

    (And then deleting them after they are done)
     
  47. Eyehawk

    Eyehawk

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2012
    Posts:
    288
    Hi All, I'm pretty new to this asset, which is great by the way! Just wondering if there is a way to simulate walking with the camera path, e.g. make it bob as you walk?
     
  48. jasperstocker

    jasperstocker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2010
    Posts:
    429
    I would suggest using an external script - Camera Path can animate a parent gameobject and the bob script modify the child where the camera sits upon.
     
    Eyehawk likes this.
  49. Eyehawk

    Eyehawk

    Joined:
    Dec 24, 2012
    Posts:
    288
    That's a fantastic idea - thanks Jasper!
     
  50. TheGamedevGuru

    TheGamedevGuru

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2015
    Posts:
    10
    Hi, we've just bought the plugin and noticed issues when rotating a the path's parent objects.
    We need to rotate the main object dynamically for visual reasons and surely keep the path position/orientation settings of the camera path. But after rotating one of the parent objects, the paths seems to be working incorrectly.
    Any workaround?
    The same happens when setting the global orientation to a transform. New rotations are not being handled well.
    Thanks