Third Person Look At

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Use Third Person Look At when a temporary camera should keep a Transform framed, such as a character’s head during a death animation or ragdoll reaction. It continuously turns toward the target and only repositions when the camera leaves a configured distance band, making it different from a normal orbit camera or a camera rigidly attached to a Transform.

Look At does not have a recommended Movement Type and does not stop character movement, abilities, or item use. Let the state or ability that activates this special view control gameplay and restore the normal View Type afterward.

Set up the Look At view

Select the camera with the Camera Controller component and expand View Types.
Use the add control and select Third Person Look At.
Select the new row to show its settings.
Assign Target to the Transform that should remain framed. When a humanoid character is already attached and a valid Animator is found, the editor or runtime can assign the head automatically. Confirm the reference instead of relying on fallback behavior.
Set Offset, Look Distance Limit, Position Smoothing, Rotational Lerp Speed, and Collision Radius for the complete target animation or ragdoll motion.
Keep the normal gameplay View Type selected in the Active column and as Third Person View Type when Look At is temporary. Select Look At as active only when it should be the starting view.
Have the project’s death, cutscene, or other special flow activate Look At and restore the previous View Type afterward. Add Transition when a third-person-to-third-person switch should blend.
Enter Play Mode and verify the target, distance band, collision, character visibility, and return to gameplay before adding rotational spring forces.

Do not clear Target while Look At is active. Automatic target resolution occurs when the character attaches, not every frame. Assign a replacement before removing the current target.

Choose a target and offset

Scenario	Target	Offset approach	What to verify
Death animation	A stable humanoid head or upper-body Transform	Frame the complete animation without placing the camera inside the character	The target remains valid until the view returns to gameplay.
Ragdoll reaction	A ragdoll Transform that follows the visible body	Leave enough space for large physics motion	The camera tracks rotation toward the target without violent position changes.
Scripted subject view	A dedicated scene or character Transform	Compose the subject from the intended character-relative direction	The target stays active and the framing works throughout the scripted sequence.

Offset defines the correction position from Target, but its orientation uses the character rotation rather than the Target’s local rotation. Rotating a ragdoll bone therefore changes the point the camera looks at without rotating the offset around that bone.

For non-humanoid characters or scene targets, assign Target explicitly. The current runtime fallback for a non-humanoid attachment is the camera Transform, which is not a useful subject for a Look At composition.

Configure the distance band

Look Distance Limit contains the minimum and maximum permitted camera-to-target distance:

When the camera is farther than the maximum, it moves toward the position derived from Target and Offset.
When the camera is closer than the minimum, it moves outward toward a corrected offset position.
While the camera remains inside the band, Look At keeps its current position and continues rotating toward the target.

This behavior allows a target to move within the frame without forcing the camera to copy every positional change. Use a narrow band when distance should remain consistent and a wider band when the camera may hold its position while the target moves.

Position Smoothing controls how quickly an out-of-band camera moves toward its correction position. Set it to 0 for no positional smoothing. It does not make the camera continuously follow Offset while already inside the distance band.

Configure rotation, collision, and lens

Rotational Lerp Speed controls how closely the camera faces the target. A value of 1 uses the target-facing rotation on each normal update; lower values add rotational lag.
Collision Radius sets the sphere cast from the Target toward the candidate camera position. An obstruction moves the camera to the hit surface instead of allowing it to clip through geometry.
Field Of View controls the lens angle, and Field Of View Damping controls how quickly a changed value settles.
Rotation Spring adds temporary rotation on top of the target-facing result. Establish stable tracking before applying recoil or camera-shake forces.

The player look axes do not rotate this View Type. Look At calculates rotation from the camera position, Target, and character up direction. Use Adventure, Combat, or RPG when ordinary camera input should control the view.

See Springs before tuning Rotation Spring, and use Object Fader when visibility still needs fading after camera collision is correct.

Compare target-driven camera options

Option	Position behavior	Rotation behavior	Best fit
Third Person Look At	Holds its current position inside a distance band and corrects when too near or far	Continuously faces Target	Death, ragdoll, or scripted views where the subject should stay framed
First Person Transform Look	Follows a Move Target plus local offset every update	Follows a separate Rotation Target with optional player pitch and yaw	A transform-driven first-person viewpoint rather than an external subject view
Third Person concrete options	Orbits from the Camera Controller anchor with shared offset and collision	Uses Adventure, Combat, or RPG input and facing rules	Normal player-controlled third-person gameplay

Look At reports character-forward gameplay look direction rather than the visible camera-to-target direction. Disable aiming, firing, or interactions during a noninteractive special view, or choose a gameplay View Type whose look direction matches the camera feedback.

Verify in Play Mode

Start with the normal gameplay View Type, activate Look At, and confirm that the intended Target remains assigned.
Move or animate the Target through the complete sequence. The camera should keep facing it without responding to horizontal or vertical look input.
Place the camera inside, within, and outside Look Distance Limit. It should move outward when too close, hold position within the band, and move toward the offset-derived position when too far.
Compare Position Smoothing and Rotational Lerp Speed during fast target motion. Position correction and target-facing rotation should settle independently.
Move the Target near walls, corners, low ceilings, and foreground objects. Collision should prevent clipping without permanently losing the subject; use Object Fader for separate visibility cases.
Apply each project-used rotational spring force. The camera should return to target-facing rotation without a permanent offset or repeated oscillation.
Attempt movement, aiming, and item use only if the special state permits them. Confirm that gameplay direction remains character-forward rather than camera-to-target.
Activate Look At from both supported perspectives. It preserves the character locomotion’s current perspective, so explicitly change perspective or model visibility when the sequence requires a third-person character model.
Restore the normal View Type. Input, Movement Type, model visibility, and framing should return as expected, with the configured third-to-third transition when applicable.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Check	Fix
The camera does not face the intended subject.	Target may be empty, inactive, destroyed, or assigned to the wrong Transform.	Assign a stable Transform before activation and keep it valid until Look At stops.
A non-humanoid character produces an unusable view.	The automatic fallback can resolve to the camera Transform.	Assign an explicit character or scene Target instead of relying on fallback.
Clearing Target while active causes tracking to stop or an error.	Target fallback is not reevaluated every frame.	Assign the next Target before clearing or destroying the current one.
The camera does not copy the Target’s position.	It may already be inside Look Distance Limit.	Narrow the distance band, or use Transform Look when the camera must follow a Transform position every update.
The offset moves in an unexpected direction when the target rotates.	Offset uses character rotation rather than Target local rotation.	Tune the offset in character-relative axes or use a different camera option for target-local attachment.
The camera moves too near or too far.	Look Distance Limit, Offset, or the current starting distance may conflict.	Test the minimum and maximum separately, then tune the offset-derived correction position.
Position or rotation trails too far behind the target.	Position Smoothing may be too high or Rotational Lerp Speed too low.	Reduce position smoothing or increase rotational lerp speed, then retest fast motion.
The camera clips or moves inward too early.	Collision Radius or the path from Target to candidate position may not fit the environment.	Tune the radius in the exact problem location and verify the Target is a sensible cast origin.
Look input does not rotate the camera.	Look At ignores horizontal and vertical camera input.	Use a player-controlled View Type when manual orbit is required.
A weapon or interaction does not follow the visible camera.	Look At reports character forward as its gameplay look direction.	Disable those actions for the special state or return to an appropriate gameplay View Type.
The first-person model remains active during the special view.	Look At preserves the locomotion’s current perspective.	Make the activating flow switch perspective or model visibility when a visible third-person body is required.
Entering or leaving the view snaps.	A third-to-third Transition may be missing or its duration may be `0`.	Add and configure Transition, then test both directions.

Developer details

LookAt is a serializable direct ViewType with no recommended Movement Type. Its perspective property reports the attached Ultimate Character Locomotion’s current perspective rather than always returning third person. Both LookDirection overloads return character rotation multiplied by forward, not the visible camera-to-target vector.

When the character attaches and Target is empty, Look At searches the active humanoid model or Animator Monitor and assigns the head. If no humanoid Animator is available, the current runtime assigns the camera Transform. The editor’s add control also assigns the head when it finds a humanoid Animator directly on the attached character.

Move derives a correction position by transforming Offset from the target position with character rotation, applies Position Smoothing only outside Look Distance Limit, and sphere casts from Target toward that position. Rotate uses Quaternion.LookRotation toward Target with character up, applies Rotational Lerp Speed, then adds Rotation Spring relative to the Camera Controller anchor.