What is fow meaning when doing zoom in/out with camera ?

Questions & Answers
1

fov is fieldOfView. What is fow ? And how do i use fow instead fov ?

In this link: [how-do-i-make-the-camera-zoom-in-and-out][1]
The solution there is working but it’s using fov.
In the comments to the solution someone wrote:

"Consider carefully if using FOW or change the distance between camera or target. It depends on what sort of zoom you want to have.

If you want a scoop like zoom you want to use the FOW. If you want to zoom in on your character you want to change the distance between target and camera."

What is FOW then ? And how can i change the code in the accepted answer if i want to use FOW ?

The code using FOV:

            float fov = Camera.main.fieldOfView;
            fov += Input.GetAxis("Mouse ScrollWheel") * sensitivity;
            fov = Mathf.Clamp(fov, minFov, maxFov);
            Camera.main.fieldOfView = fov;

  [1]: http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/218347/how-do-i-make-the-camera-zoom-in-and-out-with-the.html
2

FOW can refer to Fog Of War, but nothing related to the Camera, AFAIK.

What they say there, is to be careful when manipulating FOV values, as it can distort things badly.
You may want to adjust the dolly (distance between the camera and subject) along with changing the zoom (FOV). Which is also called dolly-zoom, an effect widely used in cinema.

3

This is the angle upto which you can see the world in your game. {Just like human eye has 120 approx}.

Coming to thing related to unity.

  1. fov in perspective camera can be used to create zoom effect without changing the position of the camera {can be used for sniper rifles}. However it also hampers the normal human interpretation of the world. Consider the case of 360 degree panoramic images.

  2. there is no fov in orthographic camera. It has camera size. It can also be used to zoom in and out without changing the camera position. I this case there is no distortion in depth as there isn’t any {orthographic camera doesn’t provides a depth of the view}. Size can be a -ve value. {used for flipping the world }