Smoothly following a moving object

Questions & Answers
1

I want the main camera to follow a spaceship. I attached the following code to the camera: 

void Update ()
{
// target is the spaceship's transform
    Vector3 wantedPosition = target.TransformPoint (0, height, distance);
    transform.position = Vector3.Lerp (transform.position, 
wantedPosition, Time.deltaTime * damping);
    // ... code for rotation...
    }

However, as the target (my spaceship) moves forward, the camera shakes unpleasantly, I believe due to the Lerp function. Is there a way to avoid this and just have the camera move the same way as the spaceship does? Thanks.

4

You could just use this script that I wrote - it’s not the fanciest of things but it gets the job done

I had the same problem with a spaceship shaking too

var playerMarker : Transform;

function LateUpdate () {
	transform.position = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, playerMarker.position, Time.deltaTime * 100);
	transform.rotation = Quaternion.Lerp(transform.rotation, playerMarker.rotation, Time.deltaTime * 100);
}
2

You could use the 'built-in' script "Smooth Follow".

Attach the script (Component/Camera-Control/Smooth Follow) to your camera and adjust the values in the inspector.

3

For the 'shaking' problem, try moving the code you posted from Update() to FixedUpdate().

5

// A simple smooth follow camera,
// that follows the targets forward direction

var target : Transform;
var smooth = 0.3;
var height = 0;
var distance = 5.0;
private var yVelocity = 0.0;

function Update () {
// Damp angle from current y-angle towards target y-angle
var yAngle : float = Mathf.SmoothDampAngle(transform.eulerAngles.y,
target.eulerAngles.y, yVelocity, smooth);
// Position at the target
var position : Vector3 = target.position;
// Then offset by distance behind the new angle
position += Quaternion.Euler(0+height, yAngle, 0) * Vector3 (0, 0, -distance);
// Apply the position
transform.position = position;

// Look at the target
transform.LookAt(target);

}

6

Why don’t you use Unity 5’s built in Smooth Follow script from the docs? It has no lagging issues for a powerful PC, but if you have issues, use FixedUpdate() instead of Update().

var target : Transform;
var smoothTime = 0.3;
private var velocity = Vector3.zero;

function Update () 
{
	// Define a target position above and behind the target transform
	var targetPosition : Vector3 = target.TransformPoint(Vector3(0, 5, -10));
		
	// Smoothly move the camera towards that target position
	transform.position = Vector3.SmoothDamp(transform.position, targetPosition, velocity, smoothTime);
}

It will not work if you have another script to control camera movement of ANY kind, so this is best used for a 2D game.