My journey becoming a Unity game developer: Beginning Cutscene-Animate 3 more virtual cameras

Objective: Animate 3 virtual cameras to show what Darren has to go through in order to make it to the vault.

Look at Guards virtual camera animated.

Look at Security Cameras virtual camera animated.

Darren Anything Else virtual camera animated.

Now we see in the Director’s notes that Oliver is telling Darren to look for the security guards, and how to avoid being seen by the security cameras. The last shot will be Darren asking Oliver if there is anything else he should know before he makes his move.

We will start by joining the Look at Guards virtual camera to Darren See Guards in the Cinemachine Track timeline. Then we will create an Animation Track for the Look at Guards game object to be added into it. Make sure to add the Animation Track into the Virtual Cameras Track Group with the other virtual cameras.

Look At Guards virtual camera added to a new animation track in Timeline.

Next, click the REC button, select the Look at Guards game object in the Hierarchy, and move the Timeline pointer to the beginning of the camera’s duration. Create the 1st keyframe by retyping the Transform position value in any axis you choose. Move the Timeline pointer to the end of the duration shot, and move the camera’s position to show the 3 guards from a little bit above the middle display case either by moving the camera itself or in Scene View using CTRL+SHIF+F.

Look at Guards virtual camera animated to show the guards on patrol.

Looking at the storyboard, we see the Director wants the camera to come from Darren’s point of view to see where the guards are located. We adjusted the camera to come from the edge of the glass case slightly behind Darren’s face. Also, to add a little more intensity to the moment we clicked on the Look at Guards game object, then click on Solo to show everything within the camera’s view. Come down to the Noise setting and select Basic Multi Channel Perlin. Afterwards, choose the Handheld Normal Mild selection to make the camera shake subtly.

Look at Guards virtual camera adjusted to pan from Darren’s view with a subtle shake.

Let’s connect the Look at Security Cameras virtual camera inside the Cinemachine Track timeline next. Create another Animation Track and place the Look at Security Cameras game object inside its slot.

Look at Security Cameras virtual camera positioned in Cinemachine Track and added into an Animation Track.

Move the Timeline pointer to the beginning of the Look at Security Cameras, then we will set the 1st keyframe by moving the camera slightly closer to the Security Cameras and rotating the camera down slightly to see the floor which will allow the camera to rotate properly through the rest of the shot. Move the Timeline pointer to the end of the duration shot, and position the camera directly facing from above to see both Security Cameras aiming down on the floor where they will be observing.

Look at Security Cameras virtual camera animated to show the 2 cameras placement in the scene.

We can see the final animation of the virtual camera rotating around to show both Security Cameras securing the area.

Look at Security Cameras final animation.

The next virtual camera we will need is the Darren Anything Else. Connect this camera in the Cinemachine Track timeline, and create a new Animation Track for this as well.

Darren Anything Else virtual camera connected in the Cinemachine Track and an Animation Tracked created for it as well.

Since the Director didn’t add any animation desires in their notes, this shot can remain static. But, if we want to add a little drama to the shot, just click on Darren Anything Else game object, click on Solo to see it in the Game View, and go to the Noise setting to add the Handheld Normal Mild camera shake.

Mild camera shake added to the Darren Anything Else camera.

We have just a couple of virtual cameras to animate, then we can add a voice over track.