/ue-gameplay-cameras

name: ue-gameplay-cameras
description: "Use when building or fixing Unreal Engine cameras — spring-arm third-person rigs, first-person cameras, view-target blends, camera shakes, camera modifiers, cine cameras, or the Gameplay Camera System plugin. Also use when the user mentions 'APlayerCameraManager', 'USpringArmComponent', 'TargetArmLength', 'bUsePawnControlRotation', 'SetViewTargetWithBlend', 'UpdateViewTarget', 'CalcCamera', 'UCameraModifier', 'camera shake', 'UCameraShakeBase', 'FMinimalViewInfo', 'UGameplayCameraComponent', 'camera rig', 'camera director' or 'ShowDebug Camera'. For Sequencer shots, see ue-sequencer-cinematics; for the classes that own the camera, see ue-gameplay-framework; for input, see ue-input-system."
metadata:
  version: "2.0.0"
  engine: "5.8"

UE Gameplay Cameras

Target engine: **UE 5.8**. APIs below are verified against the 5.8 headers; older forms are listed under "Deprecated — do not use".

Two camera stacks ship in 5.8. The classic stack lives in the `Engine` module (`Classes/Camera`, `Classes/GameFramework/SpringArmComponent.h`) with shake patterns in the `EngineCameras` plugin and film-style cameras in `CinematicCamera`; the data-driven Gameplay Camera System lives in the `GameplayCameras` plugin (Experimental in 5.8, but enabled by default). Build.cs needs `"Core"`, `"CoreUObject"`, `"Engine"`, plus `"CinematicCamera"` for cine cameras, `"EngineCameras"` for shake patterns, and `"GameplayCameras"` for the plugin.

Context

Read `.agents/ue-project-context.md` if it exists (module names, conventions, enabled plugins, GAS/networking setup). Do not stop if it is missing.

Identify the area from the request and the codebase. Ask only when two plausible readings would produce different code.

| Request is about… | Go to | |---|---| | Choosing between the two stacks | [Classic Stack or Gameplay Camera System](#classic-stack-or-gameplay-camera-system) | | Who computes the final view each frame | [How the Classic Pipeline Runs](#how-the-classic-pipeline-runs) | | Third-person boom, camera lag, collision probe | [Third-Person Spring Arm Camera](#third-person-spring-arm-camera) | | First-person camera, eye height, view rotation | [First-Person Camera](#first-person-camera) | | Switching cameras, blending between actors | [View Targets and Blending](#view-targets-and-blending) | | Pitch clamps, FOV, fades, custom camera logic | [Custom APlayerCameraManager](#custom-aplayercameramanager) | | Persistent post-effects on the camera (lean, recoil, lock-on) | [Camera Modifiers](#camera-modifiers) | | Explosions, hits, world-space rumble | [Camera Shakes](#camera-shakes) | | Focal length, aperture, focus, rails and cranes | [Cinematic Cameras](#cinematic-cameras) | | Camera assets, rigs, directors, blends, control rotation | [Gameplay Camera System](#gameplay-camera-system) | | Writing a new camera node and evaluator | [Custom Camera Node in C++](#custom-camera-node-in-c) | | Nothing renders, wrong camera, jitter | [Debugging Cameras](#debugging-cameras) |

Full classic API surface (post-process on cameras, `FMinimalViewInfo` fields, shake pattern catalogue, cine camera settings): [references/classic-camera-stack.md](references/classic-camera-stack.md). Node/director/service catalogue, camera variables, evaluation contexts and CVars: [references/gameplay-camera-system.md](references/gameplay-camera-system.md).

Classic Stack or Gameplay Camera System

| Need | Classic stack | Gameplay Camera System | |---|---|---| | Ship-today stability | Yes — production API | Plugin is Experimental in 5.8 (`IsExperimentalVersion` in `GameplayCameras.uplugin`), API still moving | | Enabled out of the box | Always (Engine module) | Yes — `"EnabledByDefault": true` | | One camera per pawn, small number of modes | Best fit | Overkill | | Many camera modes with authored blends and transitions | Hand-rolled state machine in `UpdateViewTarget` | Built in: camera rigs + transitions + blend stack | | Designers author cameras without C++ | Blueprint subclasses only | Camera assets, rig graphs, State Tree directors | | Per-mode post-process, framing, collision push | Write it yourself | Shipped camera nodes | | Camera shakes | `UCameraShakeBase` + patterns | `UCameraShakeAsset` + shake camera nodes |

Mixing is supported: `AGameplayCamerasPlayerCameraManager` is an `APlayerCameraManager` subclass, so classic view targets, fades and modifiers still work while the plugin runs the evaluation.

How the Classic Pipeline Runs

1. `APlayerController` holds `PlayerCameraManager` (spawned by `virtual void SpawnPlayerCameraManager()` from `TSubclassOf<APlayerCameraManager> PlayerCameraManagerClass`). 2. `APlayerCameraManager::UpdateCamera(float DeltaTime)` → `DoUpdateCamera(float DeltaTime)` → `UpdateViewTarget(FTViewTarget& OutVT, float DeltaTime)`. 3. `UpdateViewTarget` fills `OutVT.POV` (an `FMinimalViewInfo`). An `ACameraActor` target uses its camera component directly; any other target gets `Target->CalcCamera` (`PlayerCameraManager.cpp:354`), whose base `AActor` implementation uses the first active camera component when `bFindCameraComponentWhenViewTarget` is true, else the actor's eyes viewpoint (`Actor.cpp:3688-3706`). 4. `ApplyCameraModifiers(float DeltaTime, FMinimalViewInfo& InOutPOV)` runs every `UCameraModifier` in `ModifierList` by `Priority` (0 = highest). 5. The result is cached; `GetCameraLocation()`, `GetCameraRotation()` and `GetCameraCacheView()` read it, and `APlayerController::GetPlayerViewPoint(FVector& out_Location, FRotator& out_Rotation)` returns it.

`bAutoManageActiveCameraTarget` on `APlayerController` (default true) makes possession call `virtual void AutoManageActiveCameraTarget(AActor* SuggestedTarget)`, which is why a freshly possessed pawn becomes the view target with no code.

Third-Person Spring Arm Camera

// MyCharacter.h
#pragma once

#include "CoreMinimal.h"
#include "GameFramework/Character.h"
#include "MyCharacter.generated.h"

clas