Clean, Helpful Camera Angles | Forums

[rlmergeuser]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a track, and it's easy to get so familiar with your track that you forget what it would be like for people who are riding it for the first time. Something I am trying hard to implement are clean yet subtle camera angle changes that help the rider with what is in front of them, typically when there are corners/curves in the track.

I am having a tough time with one obstacle on my course and I was wondering if anyone here who is talented enough could provide some insight:

I have a ramp/obstacle that you use to jump a decent high almost vertically to a platform, when you start on the ramp, the platform is pretty high and it's not clear how high the platform is, etc. I want to change the camera a bit in advance to show the height of the platform to give the player a better chance to gauge the obstacle.

I find that a lot of camera angles interfere with the playability and the controllability of the rider, and this is what is happening with the current obstacle. If I place it showing height, I need to be somewhat behind the rider, and this makes it difficult to see how your rider is leaning, which is a crucial technique to get up and over the platform.


I guess the broad question to those who have the experience is; what camera angles are best and the least intrusive when trying to show the rider something above and ahead of them, similar to a hill climb I guess, where they might need to know in advance what is higher up on the hill?


I could just leave it to the stock camera for this obstacle, and players might have to take a few runs as a learning curve, but Ideally I would be able to fix this another way.


Thanks in advance.

[sparkierjonesz]

play some of the tracks that redlynx made in evo and hd and see how they do it

[rlmergeuser]

You could zoom out and aim up slightly. This vid ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uDpuTcnjfU ) will show you how to zoom Good luck

[Euphoric Fusion]

Use as many cameras as you need but for each one go into advanced settings and reduce the interpolation a bit. Start from 50 and work your way up til it feels right.

Reducing interpolation mixes your custom camera with the game camera and can really help smooth the transitions between cameras.

[rlmergeuser]

@ everyone replying around the same time.

Anyways, what I'd try (at least to see if it works out) is to have a brief wide-angle view of the obstacle as you approach, with a smooth transition to the camera so it doesn't throw the player off. I'd also have a somewhat calm approach to the obstacle, so the player doesn't have to go immediately from technical stuff to this wide-angle shot mid-jump to having to tackle the climb. It's kind of a chance to see what's about to happen before being thrown into doing it. And of course, as the player learns the course they could just speed right past that moment and attack the hill.

And sorry if I imagined the wrong thing in my head.

If it's a blind jump to a platform somewhere off-camera, it might also help to have an arrow pointing right at it. So the player can at least know where they're aiming.

[rlmergeuser]

Very seldom do I beat a hard track on first try. Once they know its there, its not a big deal. Your aim should be to build a track with high replayability. If its only good enough for a once over, then you wasted your time worrying about one camera. Just my 2 cents frim my experience. Make a track people remember and wanna keep.

[willyums]

i think in 90% of cases (at least at the moment) on track central, custom cameras are for the worse and only impact the track in a negative way.

i would seriously consider leaving the game camera at 'default'. youre far more likely to annoy people by putting custom cams in and getting them wrong than by an obstcale thats tricky to judge first time.

just my advice, good luck with it

[rlmergeuser]

I couldn't get a good camera angle to work, so I left it at default. As someone above said, Hard tracks are replayable and I think mine easily falls into that category, so there will just be a small learning curve.

If anyone is interested in the track I made which was going to use said camera, it's up on Track Central now! Either click the link in my signature for the thread (feedback appreciated) or

search my gamertag: BMTBMX
Track name : Junkyard Tech

Thanks for all the insight guys!

[rlmergeuser]

You could try adding a camera event tied to a delay filter and splitter. Basicly you would set 1 camera just a little back from the default position and then another further back each time angeling closer to your preferred position. Then set your splitter to a delay for each camera probably about .150 seconds per camera. You can scroll out while angeling up each time then reverse the effect to bring the camera angle back to default after your ramp. Hope this was helpful.