Camera Shake Effect

Add a tension-building camera shake to a level sequence or actor using a camera shake effect.

You can add a camera shake during the sequence editing process, or after a sequence has been created.

Create a camera shake using a Blueprint class. You can then attach the camera shake Blueprint class to an actor in your project or a sequence during the editing process.

There are 4 different camera shake patterns:

1. Perlin Noise Camera Shake Pattern: A noise effect based on a blend of random points from a specified amplitude and frequency. Useful for high-intensity camera shakes such as rumbles or nearby explosions.

2. Wave Oscillator Camera Shake Pattern: An oscillating camera shake effect that uses amplitude and frequency to determine the shaking pattern for the camera. Useful for lower-intensity shakes, such as a rocking boat or a dream-like drifting effect.

3. Sequence Camera Shake Pattern: An effect that plays a sequence that allows for precise, hand-held camera shakes. Useful for motion captured shakes or shakes imported from animation software.

   A camera shake effect can also be applied to a level sequence animation.

4. Composite Camera Shake Pattern: This pattern adds a camera shake effect on top of another camera shake pattern. You can use this pattern to combine two or more camera shake effects in layers.

Both the Perlin Noise Camera Shake Pattern and the Wave Oscillator Camera Shake Pattern are created by determining the amplitude and frequency for the camera shake effect’s location, rotation, and field of view (FOV). You can edit it further by determining the duration of the effect and the blend in and out time to fade it in and out.

The camera’s rotation is determined by roll, yaw, and pitch (X, Y, Z).

Creating the Blueprint Object

1. Right-click in the Content Browser and select Blueprint Class.

   

2. Go to CameraShakeBase > Select.

   

3. Name the Camera Shake Blueprint object.

   

4. Double-click the Camera Shake thumbnail to open the shake editor.

5. Select the Perlin Noise Camera Shake Pattern from the Root Shake Pattern dropdown menu. The camera shake editor opens once a shake pattern is selected.

   

6. Set the Location Amplitude Multiplier to 20 and the Location Frequency Multiplier to 5.

7. Set the Duration to 20.

8. Click Compile > Save.

The camera will shake at an amplitude of 20. A frequency of 5 means that it will reach the peak (a location move of 20 units) about 5 times per second, so it will shake about a hundred times over the 20 seconds.

The effect will fade in and out for 0.2 seconds (the default fade in and out). The higher the amplitude, the more vigorous the shake will be. This can be a problem for players who have issues with seizures.

The lower the amplitude, the less likely the camera shakes will be an issue for players. An amplitude range of 2–75 should be enough for a sequence that contains a camera shake pattern.

Adding a Camera Shake Effect to a Sequence

Create a sequence with a camera shake effect to add a sense of urgency or size to a boss character or gameplay.

1. Create a sequence by right-clicking in the Content Browser and selecting Cinematics > Level Sequence.

   

2. Name the sequence thumbnail.

   

3. Double-click the sequence thumbnail to open the sequence editor.

4. Follow the direction in the Sequencer and Control Rig document to create a sequence.

5. Click the Track icon next to the CineCameraActor and select Camera Shake > Blueprint Class (the camera shake effect you created).

   

6. Move the Blueprint camera shake class into the sequence and stretch the camera shake to the duration you want the shake to take effect for during the sequence.

   

7. Click Save.

Your level sequence has the camera shake effect applied to the sequence.

You can even add the camera shake effect to the sequence while editing your sequence. It works much like the workflow above.

1. Click the actor in the Sequence Outliner.

2. Click the Track icon and select Camera Shake > Controlled. This allows you to create a shake you can turn on and off using the Duration setting of the camera shake pattern. Setting Duration to 0.0 creates an infinite camera shake.

   

   Selecting Trigger creates a simple one-shot event.

3. Click the Track icon next to CameraSourceComponent and select Other Shake.

   

   Selecting Automatic Shake will shake the camera automatically.

4. Select a camera shake pattern you created.

5. Click Save.

This adds the camera shake to your project and plays for the duration set in the camera shake effect Duration settings.

Adding a Camera Shake Effect to an Actor

Make the camera shake activate for a player based on their proximity to an actor.

1. Select the actor in the Outliner panel.

2. Click the Node icon in the Details panel, then select Child Actor > CameraShakeSourceActor > Select. The Camera Shake editor opens with a viewport featuring the selected actor.

   

3. Set the Inner Attenuation Radius to 3. The shake will only be seen at full scale within 3 centimeters of this source.

4. Select your Camera Shake Blueprint from the Camera Shake dropdown menu.

   If you select Auto Start, the camera shake plays automatically when the actor is present in the game.

5. Click Compile > Save.

   Click image to enlarge.

A thumbnail is created for the Blueprint Class associated with the actor in your project.

Playtest your project to see the camera shake based on how far away the player is from the actor in the scene. If you want the camera to shake only when a player is close, change the Inner and Outer Attenuation Radius settings to an amount less than 10.