Roblox camera

When to Load

Load when scripting custom camera behavior (cutscenes, third-person follow, custom rotation), manipulating CFrame for placement/rotation, raycasting from the screen, or building a non-default player view. Client-only.

Quick Reference

The Camera: workspace.CurrentCamera — one per client. Set CameraType = Scriptable to disable defaults and take full control. Without it, defaults overwrite your CFrame every frame.

CameraType: Fixed, Attach/Watch/Track/Follow (subject-following), Custom (default), Scriptable (no default), Orbital (fixed Y, rotates around player). CameraSubject cannot be nil — setting it reverts.

Key properties: CFrame, CameraSubject, FieldOfView (deg), FieldOfViewMode (Vertical/Diagonal), NearPlaneZ, ViewportSize, HeadLocked, HeadScale, Focus.

CFrame essentials:

CFrame.new(pos)
CFrame.lookAt(at, lookAt, up?)                 -- preferred over deprecated CFrame.new(pos, lookAt)
CFrame.Angles(rx, ry, rz)                      -- XYZ Euler (radians)
cf * Vector3.new(0, 0, 10)                     -- local offset → world
cf:Lerp(goal, alpha)                           -- 0..1 linear interp
cf.LookVector / RightVector / UpVector         -- world-space unit axes

Custom camera loop — always RenderStepped, never Heartbeat:

camera.CameraType = Enum.CameraType.Scriptable
RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function(dt)
    local desired = CFrame.lookAt(head.Position - offset, head.Position)
    camera.CFrame = camera.CFrame:Lerp(desired, math.min(dt * 10, 1))
end)

Raycasting from camera: camera:ScreenPointToRay(mx, my) (accounts for GUI inset) vs camera:ViewportPointToRay(mx, my) (raw, NO inset). ScreenPointToRay returns a unit Ray (1 stud) — multiply Direction by length for actual raycast.

Pitfalls:

• Client-only. Server sets silently dropped.
• Without Scriptable, defaults overwrite your CFrame every frame.
• RenderStepped for camera (visual sync). Heartbeat adds 1-frame lag.
• Camera.CFrame lacks VR head rotation — use GetRenderCFrame() for true view.
• SetRoll is outdated — apply roll via CFrame.Angles(0, 0, roll) on CFrame.
• CameraSubject = nil reverts to previous.
• CFrame.new(pos, lookAt) is legacy (back-compat only) — use CFrame.lookAt(at, lookAt) for new code.
• ScreenPointToRay ≠ ViewportPointToRay (GUI inset). Use ScreenPointToRay for mouse input.

See references/full.md for first/third-person recipes, cutscenes, screen shake, mouse-look, full API.