How would i make the camera rotate around a part?

[simplyjustbased]

Basically trying to get a camera to look at a part, but rotate around the part aswell.

Tried looking at Camera Manipulation but it didnt work.

So dont really know what to do / where to start here

[ellienonekomimi (ellie)]

The code below will make your camera orbit the part, just make sure it’s in a LocalScript when you’re using it.

The offset variable determines where you want the camera to be. The X value determines left/right, the Y value determines up/down, and Z determines front/back. By default, the offset is 15 studs backward from the part.

The direction variable determines which direction you want the camera to rotate per iteration. It’s a little hard to explain which axis determines which, so I will refer to the below picture to describe it.

The X axis determines the camera’s “Roll”, the Y axis determines the camera’s “Yaw”, and Z determines “Pitch.”

I can further clarify anything if necessary.

--[[Variables]]--
--Services--
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService");

--Main--
local cam = workspace.CurrentCamera;

local part : Part = nil; --Assign a part here
local offset = Vector3.new(0, 0, 15); --Positional offset from the part. The Z axis is front and back.
offset = CFrame.new(offset);

local direction = Vector3.new(0, 3, 0); --This will be turned into a CFrame later. By default, this will be a simple horizontal rotation.

--[[Functions]]--
local cfAng = CFrame.Angles;
local rad = math.rad;

function radifyVector(vector : Vector3)
	return cfAng(rad(vector.X), rad(vector.Y), rad(vector.Z));
end

function spin()
	cam.CameraType = Enum.CameraType.Scriptable; --Makes it so we can manipulate the camera
	cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(part.Position) * offset;
	
	--OrbitingPart.CFrame = CFrame.new(PartToOrbit.Position) * CFrame.Angles(math.rad(RotStep), 0, 0)

	for i = 1, 120 do
		cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(part.Position) * radifyVector(direction * i) * offset;
		RunService.RenderStepped:Wait();
	end
end

[simplyjustbased]

Alright i think i get most of it, although the main things im not understanding are

@ellienonekomimi

return cfAng(rad(vector.X), rad(vector.Y), rad(vector.Z))

Not entirely sure what this does but its returning some value

@ellienonekomimi

cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(part.Position) * radifyVector(direction * i) * offset;

Probably just me, but when working with CFrames and stuff, why do we multiply and like not add or something

@ellienonekomimi

local cfAng = CFrame.Angles;
local rad = math.rad;

Is this better for the script if we abbreviate it or are we doing it just because

[ellienonekomimi (ellie)]

My radifyVector function just turns a a Vector3, whose values are presumed to be angular measurements in degrees, and returns a CFrame.Angles value that uses radians.

I’m not really sure of the technical reason we multiply CFrames by each other; the article that tries to explain it is too much for my small brain to handle.

I abbreviate those two functions for readability and a small performance boost. I must emphasize that this performance boost isn’t noticable unless you are calling them a considerable amount of times per second.

[simplyjustbased]

Alright, i get it somewhat
And one more quick question
i tried having it also look at the part at a angle so in the i = loop i did

	for i = 1, 120 do
		print(3)
		Cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(LookAt.Position) * FunnyNumberThingy(Vector3.new(0,.5,0) * i) * camOffset
		Cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(Cam.CFrame.Position, LookAt.Position)
		Rs.RenderStepped:Wait()
	end
end

Mainly looking at

Cam.CFrame = CFrame.new(Cam.CFrame.Position, LookAt.Position)

Is this a good way of doing it or is there a better way i can have the camera look at the part its rotating?

[ellienonekomimi (ellie)]

Does it work?

[simplyjustbased]

Yes it does work
(Character limit)

[ellienonekomimi (ellie)]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

[simplyjustbased]

Lmao Anyways thanks for the help i appreciate it

[xira11 (Sivert)]

Roblox actually has an example-script on their docs specifically on how to do this. You can find it here.

Here’s their example script:

local TweenService = game:GetService("TweenService")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
 
local target = workspace:FindFirstChild("Part")  -- The object to rotate around
local camera = workspace.CurrentCamera
camera.CameraType = Enum.CameraType.Scriptable
local rotationAngle = Instance.new("NumberValue")
local tweenComplete = false
 
local cameraOffset = Vector3.new(0, 10, 12)
local rotationTime = 15  -- Time in seconds
local rotationDegrees = 360
local rotationRepeatCount = -1  -- Use -1 for infinite repeats
local lookAtTarget = true  -- Whether the camera tilts to point directly at the target
 
local function updateCamera()
	if not target then return end
	camera.Focus = target.CFrame
	local rotatedCFrame = CFrame.Angles(0, math.rad(rotationAngle.Value), 0)
	rotatedCFrame = CFrame.new(target.Position) * rotatedCFrame
	camera.CFrame = rotatedCFrame:ToWorldSpace(CFrame.new(cameraOffset))
	if lookAtTarget == true then
		camera.CFrame = CFrame.new(camera.CFrame.Position, target.Position)
	end
end
 
-- Set up and start rotation tween
local tweenInfo = TweenInfo.new(rotationTime, Enum.EasingStyle.Linear, Enum.EasingDirection.InOut, rotationRepeatCount)
local tween = TweenService:Create(rotationAngle, tweenInfo, {Value=rotationDegrees})
tween.Completed:Connect(function()
	tweenComplete = true
end)
tween:Play()
 
-- Update camera position while tween runs
RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function()
	if tweenComplete == false then
		updateCamera()
	end
end)

---

---

---

Here’s my original response:

Here’s a common way of doing it using the RunService inside a localscript.

Name the script Camera and place it either in StarterPlayerScripts or StarterCharacterScripts.

Add a part to your workspace, this will be used as our focal point:

-- Services and References
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local camera = workspace.CurrentCamera -- Current camera
local currentRot = 0 -- Variable for storing current rotation

-- Variables you can customize
local focusCFrame = workspace:FindFirstChild('Part').CFrame -- CFrame.new(0, 0, 0) or Your.Part.CFrame
local cameraOffset = CFrame.new(0, 12, 12) -- Camera Offset to part
local rotationSpeed = 6 -- How fast camera rotates

function rotateCamera(deltaTime: number)
	-- Multiply with time between each frame to compensate for FPS variation
	currentRot += rotationSpeed * deltaTime -- Add our rotationSpeed

	-- Calculate new Position
	local newPos = focusCFrame 
		* CFrame.Angles(0, math.rad(currentRot), 0) * cameraOffset

	-- Apply new position and look towards our target
	camera.CFrame = CFrame.new(newPos.Position, focusCFrame.Position)
end

-- The Magic
RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function(deltaTime) -- Runs every "tick"
	camera.CameraType = Enum.CameraType.Scriptable -- Make camera scriptable
	
	rotateCamera(deltaTime)
end)

EDIT: Added deltaTime to the RenderStepped event; to compensate for different FPS values.

EDIT 2: Made sure camera is scriptable at all times and added reference to “Part” in workspace.