FlexiCam Blueprints Tutorial

Step-by-step example of how to create your own Character setup and Camera Mode

---

Prerequisites

• A character Blueprint with basic movement (the Third Person Template character, etc.)

---

Third Person Camera Mode

This section shows how to set up basic Third Person Camera Mode

1. Add SpringArmComponent to your Blueprint

   

2. Add FlexiCameraComponent

   

3. Make the FlexiCameraComponent a child of the SpringArmComponent

   

4. Add FlexiCameraModeManagerComponent to your Blueprint

   

5. Set Default Camera Mode Class in FlexiCameraModeManagerComponent to BP_ThirdPersonMode

   

   Warning

   If you don’t perform this step, the View Transform will be zero.

   You now have a basic Third Person camera set up.

---

FlexiCam Interface

To work properly with other plugin systems, such as Camera Mode Trigger our character need to implement FlexiCam Interface

1. Go to Class Settings menu on top of editor

   

2. Inside Details panel in Implemented Interfaces property click on add button and search for FlexiCamInterface

   

3. On the left side of the Editor find FlexiCamInterface and double-click on GetFlexiCameraModeManagerComponent function

   

4. Drag and drop Camera Manager Component from Components panel and place it to Return Value

   

---

Creating custom Camera Mode

1. Open Content Browser, press Right Mouse Button and select Blueprint Class menu

   

2. Press All CLASSES and search for FlexiCameraMode

   

   Create Blueprint and name in CM_SideScroller. Open this Blueprint.

3. In the Functions menu of your Blueprint select Override option and choose Update View function

   

4. Press Right Mouse Button inside of Event Graph and search for Get Pivot Location function !!! tip This function returns location of Actor that have FlexiCameraComponent and this mode applied.

5. Add two variables to the Blueprint as shown in the image.

   

   Drag and drop them into Event Graph (with Get option).

6. Drag pin from Default Rotation variable and search for Rotate Vector function

   

Connect Camera offset variable to it

![alt text](<resources/Rotate vector result.png>)

1. Drag Return Value pin of Get Pivot Location function and search for "+" sign

   

   Connect Rotate Vector result to add function

   

2. Now search for ModeView struct. Choose Set option

   

   Drag out Mode View pin and select Make FlexiCameraModeView

   

3. Connect pins as shown in the image below

   

4. Select Camera offset variable and set default value to -500.0 | 0.0 | 0.0

   

Now we have a fully functional Side Scroller mode. Let’s see how to activate it.

---

Camera Mode Trigger

1. In Content Browser create FlexiCameraModeTrigger Blueprint

   

   Call it CMT_SideScroller

2. Inside this Blueprint set Camera Mode Class variable to our CM_SideScroller

   

3. Place the trigger in your level and scale it to the desired size

   

Now when Character inside of CMT_SideScroller our new CameraMode is active.

Tip

You can change camera angle by change Default Rotation inside CM_SideScroller Blueprint

---

Blend Camera Modes

Let’s make the blending between our two CameraModes smoother.

1. Open CM_SideScroller Blueprint
2. Open Class Defaults menu

3. Set blending properties as shown below

   

See the difference.

Congratulations! Now you know how to set up your own Camera Modes.

Tip

To see how to change input by camera mode see BP_FlexiCamCharacter