tools-unity-cinemachine

Unity Cinemachine

Overview

Cinemachine is Unity's camera system for dynamic, procedural camera behavior. This skill covers common patterns for gameplay cameras, cutscenes, and camera effects.

When to Use

• Third-person cameras
• Combat camera behavior
• Cutscene cameras
• Camera shake effects
• Multi-target framing
• State-driven camera transitions

Basic Setup

Virtual Camera Configuration

using Cinemachine;

public class CameraController : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private CinemachineVirtualCamera _mainCamera;
    [SerializeField] private Transform _followTarget;
    [SerializeField] private Transform _lookAtTarget;
    
    private void Start()
    {
        _mainCamera.Follow = _followTarget;
        _mainCamera.LookAt = _lookAtTarget;
    }
    
    public void SetFollowTarget(Transform target)
    {
        _mainCamera.Follow = target;
    }
    
    public void SetLookAtTarget(Transform target)
    {
        _mainCamera.LookAt = target;
    }
}

Third Person Camera

public class ThirdPersonCameraSetup : MonoBehaviour
{
    [SerializeField] private CinemachineVirtualCamera _virtualCamera;
    
    private Cinemachine3rdPersonFollow _bodyComponent;
    private CinemachineComposer _aimComponent;
    
    private void Awake()
    {
        _bodyComponent = _virtualCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<Cinemachine3rdPersonFollow>();
        _aimComponent = _virtualCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineComposer>();
    }
    
    public void SetCameraDistance(float distance)
    {
        if (_bodyComponent != null)
        {
            _bodyComponent.CameraDistance = distance;
        }
    }
    
    public void SetShoulderOffset(Vector3 offset)
    {
        if (_bodyComponent != null)
        {
            _bodyComponent.ShoulderOffset = offset;
        }
    }
    
    public void SetDamping(float damping)
    {
        if (_bodyComponent != null)
        {
            _bodyComponent.Damping.x = damping;
            _bodyComponent.Damping.y = damping;
            _bodyComponent.Damping.z = damping;
        }
    }
}