Phantom Cameras

1 - Stage Composition

A Phantom Camera’s behavior is the composition of one Body stage, one Aim stage, and zero-or-more Additive stages. The same GS_PhantomCameraComponent becomes a follow cam, an orbital cam, a tracking dolly, or a third-person shoulder cam depending on what is slotted from the editor’s type-picker.

This page is a concept primer for the composition model. For step-by-step recipes (third-person shoulder cam, orbital player cam, static showcase, first-person clamped look, tracking dolly, group-framing cam) see the recipes collection.

PhantomCam Configurations (Recipes) API

For the per-variant fields and kinematic models, see the Stage Pipeline API reference.

Contents

• The Pipeline at a Glance
• Where to Go Next
• See Also

The Pipeline at a Glance

Each tick, the cam runs:

Body → Aim → Reposition additives → Noise additives → Finalize

Each stage owns its own damping. There is no separate “smoothing” stage.

Where to Go Next

See Also

Recipes for stage composition:

• PhantomCam Configurations — the step-by-step builds.

For the full per-variant API and kinematic models:

• Framework API: Stage Pipeline
• Framework API: Body Stage Variants
• Framework API: Aim Stage Variants
• Framework API: Additive Stage Variants

Related basics pages:

• The Basics: Phantom Cameras — base component fields and lifecycle.
• The Basics: Blend Profiles — how transitions between cams are authored.

Get GS_PhantomCam

GS_PhantomCam — Explore this gem on the product page and add it to your project.

2 - Noise & Impulse

Camera shake comes in two flavors, both as Noise additives on a Phantom Camera’s stage list:

• PerlinNoise — continuous Perlin-noise displacement. Use for handheld feel, idle sway, low-frequency wobble. Always sampling.
• ImpulseNoise — event-triggered burst, gated by an ADSR envelope. Use for explosions, foot-stomps, gun kicks. Stays silent until you fire it.

Both consume the same .camnoiseprofile asset and the same six-axis Perlin layer model. Stack freely on the same cam — a baseline handheld profile plus an event-triggered impact profile is the canonical combination.

For step-by-step composition recipes (handheld baseline, event-triggered impact, stacked handheld + impact), see the recipes collection.

Camera Noise Configurations (Recipes) API

For the asset reference and per-axis layer details, see Noise Profiles (Framework API). For the stage variants’ authored fields and kinematic models, see Additive Stage Variants (Framework API).

Contents

• Preset Library
• Triggering an Impulse from Gameplay Code
• Stable vs Final Pose for Gameplay Readback
• Authoring a Custom Profile
• See Also

Preset Library

A starter library of .camnoiseprofile assets ships in gs_phantomcam/Assets/Noise Profiles/. Drop one onto a PerlinNoise or ImpulseNoise stage’s Profile slot to get an immediate baseline. Match the preset’s lens family to the cam’s lens for natural feel.

Handheld lens family — pair with PerlinNoise

All-axes shake family — pair with ImpulseNoise or aggressive PerlinNoise

Tuning intensity without re-authoring

Per-cam intensity is dialed on the additive stage’s AmplitudeGain (and FrequencyGain for speed). A single Normal_Mild profile can drive a subtle cutscene cam (AmplitudeGain = 0.3) and a frantic chase cam (AmplitudeGain = 1.8) without authoring new assets.

For project-specific characters — gunfire-tuned impulse profiles, ultra-mild cinematic sway, etc. — see Authoring a Custom Profile.

Triggering an Impulse from Gameplay Code

Fire TriggerCameraImpulse(strength) on the cam to play one burst of every ImpulseNoise additive on it.

C++

#include <GS_PhantomCam/Cameras/GS_PhantomCameraBus.h>

// Compute distance-based falloff.
const float strength = AZ::GetClamp(1.0f - distance / radius, 0.0f, 1.0f);

GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequestBus::Event(
    activeCameraEntityId,
    &GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequests::TriggerCameraImpulse,
    strength);

strength multiplies each stage’s AmplitudeGain for that specific burst. Pass 1.0 for full profile intensity, smaller for distance falloff, larger to boost.

Author pattern: distance-attenuated impact source

A typical “explosion at world position X” pattern:

const float distance     = (explosionPos - cameraPos).GetLength();
const float falloff      = AZ::GetClamp(1.0f - distance / kEffectRadius, 0.0f, 1.0f);
const float baseStrength = 1.5f;       // for the explosion's overall punch

const float impulseStrength = baseStrength * falloff;

GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequestBus::Event(
    activeCamId,
    &GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequests::TriggerCameraImpulse,
    impulseStrength);

Cams outside kEffectRadius receive strength = 0 and ignore. Cams at the explosion’s exact position receive full baseStrength.

Querying the active cam

TriggerCameraImpulse is per-cam, so you need a target cam id. The common pattern is to track the channel’s currently-active cam via SettingNewCam / SettingNewCamOnChannel and store it, or query CamManagerRequestBus::GetActiveCamCore() for the engine’s active view.

Stable vs Final Pose for Gameplay Readback

Cam pose snapshots come in three flavors:

The pitfall. If your character moves “where the camera is facing,” and you read GetFinalPose (or the entity’s TransformBus), every shake event will momentarily drag the character around. Use GetStablePose instead — the cam’s pose without noise displacement.

AZ::Transform stable;
GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequestBus::EventResult(
    stable,
    activeCamId,
    &GS_PhantomCam::PhantomCameraRequests::GetStablePose);

const AZ::Vector3 cameraForward = stable.GetBasisY();   // O3DE forward axis

Authoring a Custom Profile

When the shipped presets don’t fit, author your own:

1. Open the Asset Editor in O3DE.
2. Select New and choose CameraNoiseProfile.
3. For each axis where you want noise (typically translation X / Y and rotation pitch / yaw / roll), add 1–3 layers. Three layers per axis is the typical rhythm: one slow / large layer for sway, one mid layer for flutter, one fast / small layer for micro-jitter.
4. For each layer set:
   • Amplitude — in meters (position) or degrees (rotation).
   • Frequency — in Hz. Handheld typically 0.1 – 2 Hz; shake / impact 3 – 60 Hz.
   • Phase (optional) — decorrelates layers that share frequency.
5. Set the Description to record intent and tuning history.
6. Save the asset.
7. Assign it to a PerlinNoise or ImpulseNoise additive stage’s Profile slot.

See Noise Profiles (Framework API) for the full per-field reference.

See Also

Recipes:

• Camera Noise Configurations — handheld baseline, event-triggered impact, stacked.

Framework API:

• Noise Profiles — the .camnoiseprofile asset.
• Additive Stage Variants — PerlinNoise and ImpulseNoise kinematic models.
• Phantom Cameras — TriggerCameraImpulse and GetStablePose entry points.
• GS_Core Noise — the Perlin primitives the asset is built on.

Related basics pages:

• The Basics: Stage Composition — broader stage composition primer.
• The Basics: Phantom Cameras — base component fields and lifecycle.

Get GS_PhantomCam

GS_PhantomCam — Explore this gem on the product page and add it to your project.