follow a vehicle with camera operator

[super-truite]

Is there a way to get a camera to follow a moving vehicle using the camera operator ?
I need players to be able to follow the status of a train which is moving when pressing F12.

[IckyATLAS]

Something I also have tried to find how to do but to no avail.

[jollyjack]

a vluki road testing mission Rapidus once sent me ... not even a player set:

 

roadtest v2.zip

[IckyATLAS]

I checked the roadtest v2. The camera is linked to the vehicle (as an external free camera) and at start of the mission and it will indeed follow the vehicle. As long as you do nothing that's fine. But if you say switch to another camera or do an F5 to go onto the cameras fixed on the vehicle or anything else that takes you away from that camera like an F11, you cannot come back to a moving camera. With F12 you will come back to the camera but in its fixed original position the link with the vehicle is lost.

 

The only way I know to have a camera attached to a moving object, vehicle, plane, train, ship is to select it with F5 and the do an Alt F2 and select the camera attached to the object. That's fine if you have a few objects, but if you have hundreds of them choosing the object with F5 is not an option.

 

In the end I find no perfect solution to this problem.

[jollyjack]

Yep, fact i have been testing your old Camera fly-by group last week.

It's great if you don't do anything. If you do the view switches back to the next showtime camera point running.

 

Is there not a way to set cameras with the ME? There are f.i. Camera drop downs menus under view

Edited December 1, 2022 by jollyjack

[IckyATLAS]

This way of using cameras with fly-by, travelling and various other modes most probably have been made for making cinematic videos.

They do not seem to be made for in-game play. You do set up your camera, the environment and the whole scene with the various objects (planes, vehicles, blocks, ships, trains whatever required), start the game record the scene, then stop. Build another scene etc. Then with a video editor you build your film. 

[JimTM]

20 hours ago, jollyjack said:

...

Is there not a way to set cameras with the ME? There are f.i. Camera drop downs menus under view

 

The "camera" items in the View menu refer to views in the editor only, not to in-game cameras.

 

In the editor manual see:

• Pg. 13, 4th paragraph
• Pg. 14:
    - Move to a Specified Location
    - Store a View
    - Manage Stored Views
    - Go to a Stored View

[DD_Friar]

Err..not so sure @JimTM, unless I have misunderstood

I recently built a V1 mission and added two camera MCUs, one facing Canterbury, the target for the V1's the other I got to be positioned INSIDE a command bunker, so any player when in game could hit the external camera key once for the view on Canterbury (as that was the most Western camera) hit it again and be inside the launch control bunker right by the launch site to watch them take off.

But I concur you can not set a camera to follow an AI train, unless you are cycling through the "next enemy" sequence if your position is close enough for the game to locate them.

[jollyjack]

That view above makes me think of that ole joke:

"How does a gynecologist paints his hall way? .. Through the mailbox."

Edited December 2, 2022 by jollyjack

[JimTM]

50 minutes ago, DD_Friar said:

Err..not so sure @JimTM, unless I have misunderstood

I recently built a V1 mission and added two camera MCUs, one facing Canterbury, the target for the V1's the other I got to be positioned INSIDE a command bunker, so any player when in game could hit the external camera key once for the view on Canterbury (as that was the most Western camera) hit it again and be inside the launch control bunker right by the launch site to watch them take off.

But I concur you can not set a camera to follow an AI train, unless you are cycling through the "next enemy" sequence if your position is close enough for the game to locate them.

...

 

I'm not referring to MCUs DD_Friar, rather I'm referring to views that you can set up for use only in the editor for convenience. These views allow you to jump around in the editor to different areas on the map instead of moving your view there manually. These views are called "cameras", which is confusing.

Edited December 2, 2022 by JimTM