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    【Unity】Unity Camera Revolution: Cinematic Camera Work with Cinemachine

    Created: 2025-12-07

    No more hand-coded camera scripts. Unity's powerful Cinemachine package enables complex, smooth camera work for 2D and 3D with no coding—from basic follow cameras to multi-camera blending.

    Overview

    Camera control—following players, looking at targets, dramatic cutscene transitions—is crucial for game immersion and feel. Traditionally, these movements were hand-coded scripts adjusting transform.position in LateUpdate, requiring extensive tuning for smooth, natural motion.

    Cinemachine modularizes complex camera control, enabling even non-programmers to intuitively build highly sophisticated camera work. For both 2D and 3D, it offers everything from simple follow cameras to automatic composition with multiple targets, camera shake effects, and smooth blending between cameras—all the tools for cinematic camera work.

    This article covers Cinemachine's basic concepts and the most common use case: Follow Cameras.

    Cinemachine Architecture

    To start, install the Cinemachine package from Package Manager (Window > Package Manager).

    Cinemachine consists of two main elements:

    1. Cinemachine Brain: Component attached to the main camera. The "brain" that determines which Virtual Camera is active and applies its state to Unity's main camera. Automatically added when placing a Virtual Camera in the scene.

    2. Virtual Camera: Cinemachine's star. A Virtual Camera doesn't render anything itself—it defines "how to position and move the camera." Place multiple Virtual Cameras in scenes and change their Priority to switch active cameras. The highest-priority Virtual Camera is selected by Cinemachine Brain and its settings are applied to the main camera.

    Creating 2D/3D Follow Cameras

    Follow cameras tracking player characters are the most common camera setup. Cinemachine enables high-quality follow cameras in just a few clicks.

    Step 1: Create Virtual Camera

    Select GameObject > Cinemachine > Virtual Camera from the menu. A new Virtual Camera is created, and Cinemachine Brain is automatically attached to the main camera.

    Step 2: Set Target

    Select the created Virtual Camera. In Inspector, drag and drop the Transform of the object to follow (player character, etc.) into these two key properties:

    • Follow: Camera position follows this target, maintaining relative position.
    • Look At: Camera always faces this target. Use in 3D games to keep characters centered on screen.

    Step 3: Adjust Behavior

    Virtual Camera Inspector has many properties for fine-tuning camera behavior:

    • Body Section: Defines camera "position" behavior relative to Follow target.

      • Framing Transposer: Powerful mode for both 2D and 3D. Maintains target's screen position (Screen X, Screen Y). Setting Dead Zone keeps camera stationary while target stays within that area, reducing unnecessary camera shake.
      • Damping: Sets follow "smoothness." Higher values make camera follow more slowly and smoothly. 0 follows instantly with no delay.

    • Aim Section: Defines camera "orientation" behavior relative to Look At target. Like Follow, set Damping to smooth turning.

    • Noise Section: Adds pseudo camera shake using Perlin Noise. Effective for cutscenes or tense moments.

    Switching and Blending Multiple Cameras

    Cinemachine's true power shows when handling multiple Virtual Cameras.

    • Priority-Based Switching: Place multiple Virtual Cameras with different behaviors (normal camera, zoom camera, fixed camera). From script or events, set the desired Virtual Camera's Priority higher than others—Cinemachine Brain automatically switches cameras.

    • Smooth Blending: When cameras switch, Cinemachine Brain smoothly transitions (blends) from previous to next camera based on Default Blend settings. Instead of abrupt cuts, cameras move and rotate smoothly like in films.

    Summary

    Cinemachine is essentially the de facto standard for camera control in modern Unity development.

    • No more hand-coded follow scripts—Cinemachine enables higher-quality camera work easily.
    • Main camera gets Cinemachine Brain; Virtual Cameras define behavior.
    • Set Follow and Look At targets on Virtual Camera, adjust following in Body and Aim sections.
    • Switch cameras easily by changing Virtual Camera Priority values.

    Camera work significantly affects game quality. Introducing Cinemachine frees developers from complex camera logic, letting them focus on creative cinematography.