The Camera Path Trajectory can be editing in a way which is quite similar to that of the vehicle trajectories. There are some key differences however, which the user should be aware of:
i) There is only one camera path trajectory per ScriptAI Editor session. ii) The camera path trajectory contains rotational information along its path, which can differ from the direction of travel. iii) The camera path trajectory waypoints are edited in a different way (using the World Editor’s translational and rotational gimbals). iv) The camera’s progress along the camera path trajectory is smoothed in space-time, in a very particular way.
The illustration below shows how a small typical Camera Path Trajectory appears, along with its corresponding Scene Camera Window.
There are 4 waypoints, a camera guide box, and waypoint 2 is selected, which is why we see gimbal controls there on the trajectory.
In order to create a Camera Path Trajectory, the user should work through the scenario time interval from start to finish, and move in increasing order of time. The camera itself needs to also be physically moved into position so it can be recorded. Using the ‘Add’ button on the Scene Camera Window, a new waypoint will be created with the camera position and the selected time (in the time transport slider).
As more waypoints are added, the trajectory can be examined. Like the vehicle trajectories, the Camera Path Trajectory also has a guide box for use in the Scenario Guide. This time, it is shaped more like a camera than a cuboid. This is to highlight the direction in which it is pointing, which may differ from its direction of travel. A typical view of the camera guide box is shown below.
Spatial Editing:
To editing the position of a Camera Path Trajectory waypoint, we do so using the translation gimbal on the world editor. This can be found on the top row of buttons near the middle. This gimbal will appear at the selected node, or the user can select different nodes in which to change it.
Since Camera Path Trajectories are typically not near the ground, this is a more appropriate way of editing (without the ground or a surface, it is difficult to see on a 2D screen where it is being moved to).
Temporal Editing:
Editing the time-stamps of the Camera Path Trajectory waypoints can be done manually through the Scene Camera Window, or the camera guide box can be moved in a similar way to the vehicle trajectory guide boxes (see the page on vehicle trajectory editing for more information and a discussion of some of the related considerations). Using this method, camera cues can be set up fairly easily to coincide with vehicle cues.
