Camera System

Camera Systems in Godot 4.3+

All examples target Godot 4.3+ with no deprecated APIs. GDScript is shown first, then C#.

Related skills: player-controller for first-person camera setup, state-machine for camera state transitions, godot-optimization for camera culling and performance, physics-system for physics interpolation and camera smoothing, 2d-essentials for canvas layers, parallax scrolling, and coordinate conversion, math-essentials for smoothstep and lerp-based interpolation, tween-animation for camera shake and cinematic transitions, phantom-camera for a Cinemachine-style camera addon.

1. Camera2D Basics

Key Properties

Set limits to match your tilemap or level bounds so the camera never shows outside the world. Limits are in world pixels, not tiles.

2. Smooth Follow

A manual follow camera gives more control than the built-in smoothing — you can add look-ahead, offset, and custom easing.

GDScript

gdscriptCopy code
extends Camera2D

## Target node to follow (assign in Inspector or via code)
@export var target: Node2D

## How quickly the camera catches up to the target (higher = snappier)
@export var follow_speed: float = 8.0

## How far ahead the camera leads in the movement direction
@export var look_ahead_distance: float = 80.0

## How quickly the look-ahead offset responds to direction changes
@export var look_ahead_speed: float = 4.0

var _look_ahead_offset: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO
var _previous_target_pos: Vector2 = Vector2.ZERO

func _ready() -> void:
    # Disable built-in smoothing — we handle it manually
    position_smoothing_enabled = false
    if target:
        _previous_target_pos = target.global_position
        global_position = target.global_position

func _process(delta: float) -> void:
    if not target:
        return

    # Compute movement direction from last frame
    var move_delta: Vector2 = target.global_position - _previous_target_pos
    _previous_target_pos = target.global_position

    # Smoothly steer look-ahead offset toward movement direction
    var desired_ahead: Vector2 = move_delta.normalized() * look_ahead_distance if move_delta.length() > 0.5 else Vector2.ZERO
    _look_ahead_offset = _look_ahead_offset.lerp(desired_ahead, look_ahead_speed * delta)

    # Lerp camera position toward target + look-ahead
    var desired_pos: Vector2 = target.global_position + _look_ahead_offset
    global_position = global_position.lerp(desired_pos, follow_speed * delta)

C#

csharpCopy code
using Godot;

public partial class SmoothFollowCamera : Camera2D
{
    [Export] public Node2D Target { get; set; }
    [Export] public float FollowSpeed { get; set; } = 8.0f;
    [Export] public float LookAheadDistance { get; set; } = 80.0f;
    [Export] public float LookAheadSpeed { get; set; } = 4.0f;

    private Vector2 _lookAheadOffset = Vector2.Zero;
    private Vector2 _previousTargetPos = Vector2.Zero;

    public override void _Ready()
    {
        PositionSmoothingEnabled = false;
        if (Target != null)
        {
            _previousTargetPos = Target.GlobalPosition;
            GlobalPosition = Target.GlobalPosition;
        }
    }

    public override void _Process(double delta)
    {
        if (Target == null)
            return;

        float dt = (float)delta;

        Vector2 moveDelta = Target.GlobalPosition - _previousTargetPos;
        _previousTargetPos = Target.GlobalPosition;

        Vector2 desiredAhead = moveDelta.Length() > 0.5f
            ? moveDelta.Normalized() * LookAheadDistance
            : Vector2.Zero;

        _lookAheadOffset = _lookAheadOffset.Lerp(desiredAhead, LookAheadSpeed * dt);

        Vector2 desiredPos = Target.GlobalPosition + _lookAheadOffset;
        GlobalPosition = GlobalPosition.Lerp(desiredPos, FollowSpeed * dt);
    }
}

3. Screen Shake

A trauma-based system produces more natural-looking shake than a simple sine wave. High trauma = violent shake; trauma decays over time; offset scales with trauma^2 so small trauma values feel subtle.

GDScript

gdscriptCopy code
extends Camera2D

## Maximum pixel offset during maximum trauma
@export var max_offset: Vector2 = Vector2(20.0, 15.0)

## Maximum rotation offset in degrees during maximum trauma
@export var max_roll: float = 3.0

## Rate at which trauma decays per second (0–1 range)
@export var decay_rate: float = 1.5

var _trauma: float = 0.0  # 0.0 = no shake, 1.0 = maximum shake

# Optional: use noise for smooth, organic shake
var _noise: FastNoiseLite
var _noise_time: float = 0.0
@export var use_noise: bool = true
@export var noise_speed: float = 60.0

func _ready() -> void:
    _noise = FastNoiseLite.new()
    _noise.noise_type = FastNoiseLite.TYPE_SIMPLEX
    _noise.seed = randi()

## Call this from any node to trigger a shake (amount in 0–1 range; can stack)
func add_trauma(amount: float) -> void:
    _trauma = minf(_trauma + amount, 1.0)

func _process(delta: float) -> void:
    if _trauma <= 0.0:
        offset = Vector2.ZERO
        rotation = 0.0
        return

    # Decay trauma over time
    _trauma = maxf(_trauma - decay_rate * delta, 0.0)
    _noise_time += delta * noise_speed

    var shake: float = _trauma * _trauma  # squaring gives subtle feel at low trauma

    if use_noise:
        offset.x = max_offset.x * shake * _noise.get_noise_2d(_noise_time, 0.0)
        offset.y = max_offset.y * shake * _noise.get_noise_2d(0.0, _noise_time)
        rotation = deg_to_rad(max_roll) * shake * _noise.get_noise_2d(_noise_time, _noise_time)
    else:
        offset.x = max_offset.x * shake * randf_range(-1.0, 1.0)
        offset.y = max_offset.y * shake * randf_range(-1.0, 1.0)
        rotation = deg_to_rad(max_roll) * shake * randf_range(-1.0, 1.0)

Triggering shake from another node:

gdscriptCopy code
# Any node that can reach the camera
func on_explosion() -> void:
    var cam := get_viewport().get_camera_2d() as ScreenShakeCamera
    if cam:
        cam.add_trauma(0.6)

C#

csharpCopy code
using Godot;

public partial class ScreenShakeCamera : Camera2D
{
    [Export] public Vector2 MaxOffset { get; set; } = new Vector2(20f, 15f);
    [Export] public float MaxRoll { get; set; } = 3.0f;
    [Export] public float DecayRate { get; set; } = 1.5f;
    [Export] public bool UseNoise { get; set; } = true;
    [Export] public float NoiseSpeed { get; set; } = 60.0f;

    private float _trauma = 0f;
    private float _noiseTime = 0f;
    private FastNoiseLite _noise;

    public override void _Ready()
    {
        _noise = new FastNoiseLite();
        _noise.NoiseType = FastNoiseLite.NoiseTypeEnum.Simplex;
        _noise.Seed = (int)GD.Randi();
    }

    public void AddTrauma(float amount)
    {
        _trauma = Mathf.Min(_trauma + amount, 1.0f);
    }

    public override void _Process(double delta)
    {
        if (_trauma <= 0f)
        {
            Offset = Vector2.Zero;
            Rotation = 0f;
            return;
        }

        float dt = (float)delta;
        _trauma = Mathf.Max(_trauma - DecayRate * dt, 0f);
        _noiseTime += dt * NoiseSpeed;

        float shake = _trauma * _trauma;

        if (UseNoise)
        {
            Offset = new Vector2(
                MaxOffset.X * shake * _noise.GetNoise2D(_noiseTime, 0f),
                MaxOffset.Y * shake * _noise.GetNoise2D(0f, _noiseTime)
            );
            Rotation = Mathf.DegToRad(MaxRoll) * shake * _noise.GetNoise2D(_noiseTime, _noiseTime);
        }
        else
        {
            Offset = new Vector2(
                MaxOffset.X * shake * (float)GD.RandRange(-1.0, 1.0),
                MaxOffset.Y * shake * (float)GD.RandRange(-1.0, 1.0)
            );
            Rotation = Mathf.DegToRad(MaxRoll) * shake * (float)GD.RandRange(-1.0, 1.0);
        }
    }
}

4. Camera Zones / Rooms

For room-based games (metroidvanias, top-down dungeons): an Area2D per room with a script that, on body_entered, tweens the active Camera2D's limit_left / limit_right / limit_top / limit_bottom to the room's bounds. Smooth transitions when the player crosses room boundaries.

See references/camera-zones.md for the full GDScript + C# CameraZone implementation.

5. Camera3D Patterns

Three canonical 3D camera setups: third-person follow with SpringArm3D (handles wall collision), orbit camera with mouse-drag rotation, first-person with mouse-look-from-camera.

See references/camera3d-patterns.md for full GDScript implementations of each pattern.

6. Camera Transitions

Async camera transitions via Tween + await ToSignal. The pattern: tween the next camera's position/zoom from the current camera's, then call make_current() on the next camera. Works for both 2D and 3D.

See references/transitions.md for the full CameraTransitionManager implementation (2D and 3D).

7. Split Screen (Local Multiplayer)

Render multiple cameras to separate SubViewports, then arrange SubViewportContainers in a layout (HBoxContainer, VBoxContainer, or GridContainer). Each player's camera is set as current for its viewport.

See references/split-screen.md for the SubViewport scene-tree setup and a 2-player split-screen example.

8. Implementation Checklist

• Camera2D limits match level/tilemap bounds so no out-of-world edges are visible
• Smooth follow uses _process (visual interpolation), not _physics_process
• Screen shake resets offset and rotation to zero when _trauma reaches 0.0
• add_trauma() clamps to 1.0; it does not exceed maximum shake
• Camera zone Area2D collision layers are set so only the player triggers them
• SpringArm3D collision mask includes all environment layers for wall avoidance
• Camera transition awaits tween completion before calling make_current()
• Split screen SubViewport sizes are updated on window resize (get_tree().root.size_changed signal)
• Only one SubViewport has audio_listener_enable_2d or audio_listener_enable_3d set to true