Cinemachine Aim Settings in Unity

Michael Hatfield
3 min readMar 2, 2023

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Be your own director.

Cinemachine is a powerful camera system in Unity that allows developers to create dynamic camera movements and transitions during gameplay. The AIM section of the Cinemachine inspector provides a range of settings for controlling the behavior of the camera’s aim, including the aim point, damping, and target tracking. In this article, we’ll cover each of the settings in the AIM section of the Cinemachine inspector and explain how they can be used to create dynamic camera movements in Unity.

Tracked Target Offset: This changes the focal point of the virtual camera of of the game object setup in the Look At setting.

Look At: This setting controls the point that the camera is aiming at. By default, the Look At point is set to the target object that the camera is following. However, this can be changed to any point in the scene, allowing for more flexible camera movements.

Follow Offset: This setting controls the offset between the camera’s position and the Look At point. This allows for the camera to follow the target object from a distance, providing a more dynamic view of the gameplay.

Damping: This setting controls how quickly the camera adjusts to changes in the target’s position. A higher damping value will result in a smoother camera movement, while a lower damping value will result in a more responsive camera movement.

Bias: This setting controls the offset between the Look At point and the camera’s center. This can be used to create more dynamic camera movements, such as following the player character from a side view.

Dead Zone: This setting controls the size of the dead zone around the target object. This can be used to prevent the camera from following small movements of the target object, resulting in a more stable camera view.

Soft Zone: This setting controls the size of the soft zone around the target object. This can be used to control the camera’s response to movements of the target object, resulting in a more natural camera movement.

Max Speed: This setting controls the maximum speed of the camera movement. This can be used to create more dynamic camera movements, such as quickly following a fast-moving object.

Target Tracking: This setting controls whether the camera should track the target object’s movement or stay fixed on a specific point. This can be used to create more flexible camera movements, such as panning to follow a moving object while still keeping the camera centered on a specific point.

To summarize, the AIM section of the Cinemachine inspector provides a range of settings for controlling the behavior of the camera’s aim in Unity. By using these settings, developers can create dynamic camera movements and transitions that add a cinematic feel to their games. Whether it’s for creating cutscenes, tutorials, or gameplay sequences, Cinemachine provides a powerful and flexible toolset for creating immersive and engaging experiences for players.

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