Hello There!
Moving the discussion to the ask-section.
I wonder if there are a few concepts / best practices to keep in mind when animating the camera?
I played around with these.
Curves
My preferred method is to use a curve as path for the camera to follow, while pointing at an empty.
Like this:
Result >>>
Two Curves
For a dungeon flythrough, I used a different approach - two curves. One curve to control the camera (red), and a 2nd one to guide the empty (orange) - which is a modified copy of the camera curve.
The position of the empty is 2-5 frames ahead. This works fine, until the path for the empty differs too much from the camera’s curve. There is a chance the camera overtakes the empty.
This became handy for the part where the camera flew into the dungeon, and for a moment the camera focuses on the anime character at the entrance (see video below).
Key Frames
The moment the ogre became visible for the 1st time, I used key frames. I used the WASD controls to move the camera. Which contributed to the 1st person effect. It worked fine.
Result >>>
Question time:
Is there some guidance / common logic when to use which approach when animating the camera?
Both had their advantages. e.g. 2 curves allowed for a smooth fly trough. The key frame approach became useful for the 1st person part (when the ogre became visible for the 1st time).
Cheers,
Ray.