360 DEGREES Camera View

Help and Feedback Scripting Support
#1

Is there a way to create a camera script where if you can turn your camera 360* All the way round instead of stopping once you look too far up or down! No matter if the camera turns upside down, can someone help me with this? :happy1:


The video shows what I mean!
Does anyone know how? I looked around The Devforum and Youtube but there was nothing that could answer this question!
You don’t have to answer it, any feedback is appreciated, even if you say its not possible :shock:
Thank you for reading - Sincerely, @oscoolerreborn

#2

With the built-in Roblox camera, unfortunately no. A comment in the BaseCamera module explains why:

-- Note: DotProduct check in CoordinateFrame::lookAt() prevents using values within about
-- 8.11 degrees of the +/- Y axis, that's why these limits are currently 80 degrees

Doing what you need would require a rewrite of the camera system, but don’t do that. More realistically, what you’d want is to create your own camera script which isn’t actually that hard. There are some decent starting points / guides out there (this is a decent one). It’s still a relatively involved process, and because of that I’m not going to give a script, but I will help outline what a script might look like:

For each frame:

  1. Poll mouse movement using UserInputService:GetMouseDelta() and add that to a rotation variable.
  2. Calculate the camera position based on the characters head position, camera orbit distance, and the rotation value. It might look like this;
ourCameraPosition = head.Position + (orbitDistance * Vector3.new(
math.sin(math.rad(rotation.X)), 
math.sin(math.rad(rotation.y)), 
math.cos(math.rad(rotation.X))))

(note that it may not look exactly like that, I’m pulling this straight out of my head)

  1. Finally, set the camera’s CFrame to be CFrame.lookAt(ourCameraPosition, head.Position), which will automatically get the angle we need.

I’d recommend looking into CFrames and manipulating them for a better understanding of CFrames. Also, by using some of the techniques you can learn from these resources you’ll get an understanding of why certain things work, like why math.cos and math.sin need math.rad. At least I did :wink:

#3

Yes there is. I actually found this in a bug of one of my CameraScripts.

Basically I used the CFrame.new() method to create some smooth rotation and ended up with this.

There is a hefty amount of code for this so instead I will just give you a rundown on how it works.

  1. There needs to be a CFrame for rotation of the camera. It will show how the camera is oriented around a point
  2. Get user input (MouseDelta works fine for this)
  3. Rotate the CFrame using CFrame.Angles or any other method of rotation. I use the CFrame.new(x,y,z,qX,qY,qZ,qW) method as it works really well and takes care of upside down cases.
  4. Offset the Rotation CFrame for the position of the CameraSubject.
  5. Translate the CFrame backwards and position the Camera at that CFrame. I created function with handles scrolling of the mouse so that I can scroll in and out.
--1
local CameraRotationMatrix = CFrame.new()
--2
local MouseDelta = UserInputService:GetMouseDelta() * -GameSettings.MouseSensitivity
--3
CameraRotationMatrix *= (CFrame.new(0,0,0,rad(MouseDelta.Y * S),0,0,qW))
CameraRotationMatrix = (CFrame.Angles(0,rad(MouseDelta.X / 16),0) * CameraRotationMatrix)
--4
CacheCFrame = CameraRotationMatrix + SmoothCamera.CameraSubject.Position -- CacheCFrame is just a placeholder I used for storing CFrames. I use it in other places of my code too.
--5
Camera.CFrame =  CFrame.lookAt(
	SubjectPosition + (CacheCFrame.LookVector * -SmoothCamera.CameraDistance), -- Translate backwards,
	SubjectPosition,
	CacheCFrame.UpVector -- Keep Camera oriented correctly to the CFrame (without this Camera will stay always facinig up normally)
)

Hopefully this helps

Note: You can use Cartesian Coordinate system if you want to however Polar Coordinate system for deciding the Camera location is much easier to do.

Another note: Input is reverse when it is upside down.

8 Likes
While camera is following head movement Character is Glitching
#4

Thank you so much! :happy4: This is so cool! I thought it was impossible!
:star2: T h e m o r e y o u k n o w! Thank you - Sincerely, @oscoolerreborn

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#5

Sorry if me messaging you is getting annoying but…
I have a few questions! What does ‘SubjectPosition’

mean,
what does ‘SmoothCamera’

mean and
the S and qW in

mean? I do not fully understand, can you please explain :sad:?

#6

Did you ever get this? I’m still kind of confused on how I can get a 360 camera to work.

#7

Four years have now passed, four years of inconsistent programming have all been part of the experience, the journey. Finally, I have achieved the understanding to tackle this problem and with aid of the code provided by @koziahss, I have successfully programmed the Three-hundred and sixty degree unrestricted rotation camera and have published the model for public use:

Product

https://create.roblox.com/store/asset/101529540779450/

The following video will only showcase the product as of the 13th of February 2025. {00:00:11}

Variables:

local XSensitivity = 1.4 -- Resistance on the X-Axis (West-East) Higher value, more resistance
local YSensitivity = .0045 -- Sensitivity on the Y-Axis (North-South) Higher value, lower resistance
local CameraZoomMultiplier = 3
local MinimumCameraDistance = 1.1 -- Minimum Zoom
local MaximumCameraDistance = 16 -- Maximum Zoom
local qW = 0.017453 -- This number was provided by Roblox's scripting AI 2025, the origin of this number is to be considered random and any associations to external media are unintentional
-- qW is the last property of a default CFrame and from observed behaviour does the following action: controls the sensitivity of the Y axis independently from YSensitivity

Services:

local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local UserGameSettings = UserSettings():GetService("UserGameSettings")
-- UserGameSettings allows a local script to access settings that the player (user) has set
-- For example: Volume, Camera Sensitivity and other values you can receive on the (but not limited to) Roblox in-game menu

Camera zoom:

local CameraDistance = 6
local function ZoomInput(value,gameprocessed)
	if gameprocessed then return end
	if (math.abs(CameraDistance)-(value*CameraZoomMultiplier)) <= MinimumCameraDistance then CameraDistance = MinimumCameraDistance return end
	if (math.abs(CameraDistance)-(value*CameraZoomMultiplier)) >= MaximumCameraDistance then CameraDistance = MaximumCameraDistance return end
	CameraDistance = CameraDistance-(value*CameraZoomMultiplier)
end
UserInputService.PointerAction:Connect(function(wheel,pan,pinch,gameprocessed)
	ZoomInput(wheel,gameprocessed)
end)
UserInputService.TouchPinch:Connect(function(touchPositions, scale, velocity, state, gameProcessedEvent)
	ZoomInput(scale,gameProcessedEvent)
end)

(No external artificial intelligence was used during the development of this script.)
The complete code can be found within the released model, with explanations for various sections.
Thank you @koziahss and @ranto828 for the information provided, your explanations have considerably contributed to the development of this code.
Have a good life.
The End. Sincerely, @oscoolerreborn.

1 Like