PhantomCamera3D.set_third_person_rotation() rotates the camera around its own

[marinho]

Issue description

For a PCam with follow_mode as ThirdPerson, I wrote this code expecting the camera to rotate around the target (which is the character object), but instead, this method is actually rotating the camera around its own Y.

const SPEED = 5

func _input(event):
	if event is InputEventMouseMotion:
		var x = event.relative.x * 0.001 * SPEED
		var old_rotation = %PCamThirdPerson.get_third_person_rotation()
		var new_rotation = Vector3(
			old_rotation.x,
			old_rotation.y + x,
			old_rotation.z
		)
		%PCamThirdPerson.set_third_person_rotation(new_rotation)

Steps to reproduce

1. Add a CharacterBody3D, Camera3D, PCamHost and PCam to the scene, plus some ground with respective collisions
2. Set PCam with:
   a. Priority = 0
   b. Follow Mode = Third Person
   c. Follow Target = CharacterBody3D
   d. Follow Offset = (0, 10, 10)
   e. Spring Length = 10
   f. Create a script and add the code I wrote above
   g. Run

(Optional) Minimal reproduction project

Additionally, if I set Look at Mode to Siple and Look at Target to CharacterBody3D (in face any other object), the camera will as well point to bottom with no clear reason.

Thanks!

[asvetin]

@marinho A bit late, but if you don't set the follow offset the rotation will work ( rotate around the point ).
That was my solution/fix

[ramokz]

Sorry, missed the initial post for this.

Yes, the offset effectively sets the position of the spring arm.
So if you change that, then you also change the point that it will orbit around.

[marinho]

thank you folks. I haven't worked on this project for a while, so, I must look back into it to recall if I made it to get it fixed anyhow. thank you again!

[ramokz]

I think this does raise the question of whether if there would be value in having the option to both offset the spring arm's point position and the camera itself relative to the spring arm's spring_length point. As opposed to just the former, like how it is currently.

[rohanrichards]

I think it's natural to want to offset a 3rd person camera while expecting it to orbit around the target's origin. This seems like the obvious use case for offsets. What is the recommended way to get the camera to sit back in a 3rd person position but still orbit the target origin? Just manually move the camera?

Edit: You can't just manually move the camera so I'm not sure how we're meant to do this, create a target node that is in the position we want?

Edit2: After having said that, it seemed really obvious. Maybe documentation or something to help a user get there faster? For future travelers, here's what I did:

[ramokz]

I would suspect being able to specific the offset of the coordinate the camera orbits would be the most basic want. Otherwise, you are reliant on the orbiting point being the exact center of the followed target, which I reckon is not always the desired outcome; e.g. when used on a humanoid-like character model.

So keeping that behavior as is, I think, is valid for the above reason, but also to align with the behavior of the other follow modes.

It shouldn't be much effort to add a secondary offset for this particular follow mode called, e.g., orbit offset that offsets the camera from the spring arm's end coordinate, which should give a bit more flexibility.

[troykinsella]

Just chiming in that I've sort of worked around this issue by offsetting a follow target from desired rotation pivot to achieve the third person camera looking over the shoulder of the player, as noted above in @rohanrichards's edit #2. This maintains the right relative offset to the player regardless of camera orbit direction, which is good, but this approach still has the significant issue that with the follow target being outside of the player's collision shape, it can penetrate walls and objects. When it does so, the camera clips into and through walls, being that the origin of the spring arm is effectively already in the wall. That's my theory, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Thanks for the excellent add-on!

[rohanrichards]

Just thinking out loud, but your follow target can be any node, so it could have its own collider and it's own collision logic

…

On Mon, 3 Mar 2025, 7:01 am Troy Kinsella, ***@***.***> wrote: Just chiming in that I've sort of worked around this issue by offsetting a follow target from desired rotation pivot to achieve the third person camera looking over the shoulder of the player, as noted above in @rohanrichards <https://github.com/rohanrichards>'s edit #2. This maintains the right relative offset to the player regardless of camera orbit direction, which is good, but this approach still has the significant issue that with the follow target being outside of the player's collision shape, it can penetrate walls and objects. When it does so, the camera clips into and through walls, being that the origin of the spring arm is effective already in the wall. That's my theory, but perhaps I'm missing something. Thanks for the excellent add-on! — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#399 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD3YOMTJDZJBO6M5VSS5YJT2SNWS3AVCNFSM6AAAAABPVGKPPOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMOJSHEYDKOJWGE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***> [image: troykinsella]*troykinsella* left a comment (ramokz/phantom-camera#399) <#399 (comment)> Just chiming in that I've sort of worked around this issue by offsetting a follow target from desired rotation pivot to achieve the third person camera looking over the shoulder of the player, as noted above in @rohanrichards <https://github.com/rohanrichards>'s edit #2. This maintains the right relative offset to the player regardless of camera orbit direction, which is good, but this approach still has the significant issue that with the follow target being outside of the player's collision shape, it can penetrate walls and objects. When it does so, the camera clips into and through walls, being that the origin of the spring arm is effective already in the wall. That's my theory, but perhaps I'm missing something. Thanks for the excellent add-on! — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#399 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD3YOMTJDZJBO6M5VSS5YJT2SNWS3AVCNFSM6AAAAABPVGKPPOVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDMOJSHEYDKOJWGE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[troykinsella]

Just thinking out loud, but your follow target can be any node, so it could
have its own collider and it's own collision logic

Yeah, good thought. Also thinking out loud, my initial concern there is that the player can't touch the wall if the camera is pointing a certain direction, assuming the follow target offset is a static distance. Or, maybe the offset could itself be on a spring arm. Anyways, you triggered several experiment ideas to try out. Thanks @rohanrichards!