Smooth Camera Follow 2.0  (Aug.19, 2020 optimized!)

In this post, we are introducing our Smooth Camera Follow 2.0. The plugin had its 1.0 version in 2019 April, and it was built to help user to designate a camera that smoothly follows the movement of a prop with the ability to adjust the offset position and lag time. 



After receiving the feedback from our power user - Mr. Adolf Navarro, he worked with alongside with us and work together on perfecting the plugin. Adjusted with the filmmaker and animator perspective, the updated Smooth Camera Follow 2.0 plugin is worthy of your download. Lets' also take a closer look of the designing concept of this plugin!



v2.0 Updates & Benefits Include:

1. Press “Use Current Offset”to enter the calculated offset value of the controlled camera, instead of manually key in offset number. 

2. Use "Camera Elevation value" to set the camera's vertical positioning in relation to the pivot of the selected target prop. 

3. Optional “Post-Process Key Reduction” to reduce recorded keys for simpler timeline editing.

4. Be able to custom the camera follow settings at a designated range of "Timeline (Frames)", it allows effective adjustment over multiple camera follow operation.

5. To output the number of keys generated by the complicated interactions between "Frame Delay", "Timeline (Frames)", and "Post-Process Key Reduction" parameters.

6. Being able to bring all of the custom parameters back to their default values with "Reset" button.

．Frame Delay: Creating a lag between the view and the target.

．Tautness: Setting how tight or lose the camera follows the object.

．Offset: Indicating the current object coordination, and press "Use Current Offset" button to locate the object.

．Timeline (Frames): Setting the initial and the final frames for the follow motion.

．Post-process Key Reduction: Reducing the final number if keys in the camera timeline.

Besides bringing new features, we are also optimizing the plugin by enhancing some issues.

．Removed code based UI in favor of Qt .UI design file.
．Refactored internals of Extensions.py into main.py, removing Extensions.py in the process.
．Reorganized and streamlined the user interface.
．Camera and prop drop-down menus now automatically populate according to the current state of the scene. "Refresh" button is no longer needed and removed as a result.

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You can visit the following links and access the resources needed for your learning.

• You can download the script from the Marketplace 
• To explore how it works, please visit  Python Wiki
• To get the source code, please visit our GitHub. 
  
• For more information, please check the Release Notes.

Enjoy!

Reallusion Python Team