CameraComponent
Extends: Component
The Camera Component enables an Entity to render the scene. A scene requires at least one enabled camera component to be rendered. Note that multiple camera components can be enabled simultaneously (for split-screen or offscreen rendering, for example).
// Add a pc.CameraComponent to an entity
const entity = new pc.Entity();
entity.addComponent('camera', {
nearClip: 1,
farClip: 100,
fov: 55
});
// Get the pc.CameraComponent on an entity
const cameraComponent = entity.camera;
// Update a property on a camera component
entity.camera.nearClip = 2;
Summary
Properties
aperture | Set camera aperture in f-stops, the default value is 16. |
aspectRatio | The aspect ratio (width divided by height) of the camera. |
aspectRatioMode | The aspect ratio mode of the camera. |
calculateProjection | Custom function you can provide to calculate the camera projection matrix manually. |
calculateTransform | Custom function you can provide to calculate the camera transformation matrix manually. |
clearColor | The color used to clear the canvas to before the camera starts to render. |
clearColorBuffer | If true the camera will clear the color buffer to the color set in clearColor. |
clearDepthBuffer | If true the camera will clear the depth buffer. |
clearStencilBuffer | If true the camera will clear the stencil buffer. |
cullFaces | If true the camera will take material. |
disablePostEffectsLayer | Layer ID of a layer on which the postprocessing of the camera stops being applied to. |
farClip | The distance from the camera after which no rendering will take place. |
flipFaces | If true the camera will invert front and back faces. |
fov | The field of view of the camera in degrees. |
frustum | Queries the camera's frustum shape. |
frustumCulling | Controls the culling of mesh instances against the camera frustum, i. |
horizontalFov | Set which axis to use for the Field of View calculation. |
layers | An array of layer IDs (Layer#id) to which this camera should belong. |
nearClip | The distance from the camera before which no rendering will take place. |
onPostRender | Custom function that is called after the camera renders the scene. |
onPreRender | Custom function that is called before the camera renders the scene. |
orthoHeight | The half-height of the orthographic view window (in the Y-axis). |
postEffectsEnabled | The post effects queue for this camera. |
priority | Controls the order in which cameras are rendered. |
projection | The type of projection used to render the camera. |
projectionMatrix | Queries the camera's projection matrix. |
rect | Controls where on the screen the camera will be rendered in normalized screen coordinates. |
renderTarget | Render target to which rendering of the cameras is performed. |
scissorRect | Clips all pixels which are not in the rectangle. |
sensitivity | Set camera sensitivity in ISO, the default value is 1000. |
shutter | Set camera shutter speed in seconds, the default value is 1/1000s. |
viewMatrix | Queries the camera's view matrix. |
Methods
calculateAspectRatio | Calculates aspect ratio value for a given render target. |
endXr | Attempt to end XR session of this camera. |
getShaderPass | Shader pass name. |
requestSceneColorMap | Request the scene to generate a texture containing the scene color map. |
requestSceneDepthMap | Request the scene to generate a texture containing the scene depth map. |
screenToWorld | Convert a point from 2D screen space to 3D world space. |
setShaderPass | Sets the name of the shader pass the camera will use when rendering. |
startXr | Attempt to start XR session with this camera. |
worldToScreen | Convert a point from 3D world space to 2D screen space. |
Inherited
Properties
enabled | Enables or disables the component. |
entity | The Entity that this Component is attached to. |
system | The ComponentSystem used to create this Component. |
Methods
fire | Fire an event, all additional arguments are passed on to the event listener. |
hasEvent | Test if there are any handlers bound to an event name. |
off | Detach an event handler from an event. |
on | Attach an event handler to an event. |
once | Attach an event handler to an event. |
Details
Constructor
CameraComponent(system, entity)
Create a new CameraComponent instance.
Parameters
system | CameraComponentSystem | The ComponentSystem that created this Component. |
entity | Entity | The Entity that this Component is attached to. |
Properties
Set camera aperture in f-stops, the default value is 16.0. Higher value means less exposure.
The aspect ratio (width divided by height) of the camera. If aspectRatioMode is ASPECT_AUTO, then this value will be automatically calculated every frame, and you can only read it. If it's ASPECT_MANUAL, you can set the value.
The aspect ratio mode of the camera. Can be:
- ASPECT_AUTO: aspect ratio will be calculated from the current render target's width divided by height.
- ASPECT_MANUAL: use the aspectRatio value.
Defaults to ASPECT_AUTO.
Custom function you can provide to calculate the camera projection matrix manually. Can be used for complex effects like doing oblique projection. Function is called using component's scope. Arguments:
- Mat4 transformMatrix: output of the function
- view: Type of view. Can be VIEW_CENTER, VIEW_LEFT or VIEW_RIGHT.
Left and right are only used in stereo rendering.
Custom function you can provide to calculate the camera transformation matrix manually. Can be used for complex effects like reflections. Function is called using component's scope. Arguments:
- Mat4 transformMatrix: output of the function.
- view: Type of view. Can be VIEW_CENTER, VIEW_LEFT or VIEW_RIGHT.
Left and right are only used in stereo rendering.
The color used to clear the canvas to before the camera starts to render. Defaults to [0.75, 0.75, 0.75, 1].
If true the camera will clear the color buffer to the color set in clearColor. Defaults to true.
If true the camera will take material.cull into account. Otherwise both front and back faces will be rendered. Defaults to true.
Layer ID of a layer on which the postprocessing of the camera stops being applied to. Defaults to LAYERID_UI, which causes post processing to not be applied to UI layer and any following layers for the camera. Set to undefined for post-processing to be applied to all layers of the camera.
The distance from the camera after which no rendering will take place. Defaults to 1000.
If true the camera will invert front and back faces. Can be useful for reflection rendering. Defaults to false.
The field of view of the camera in degrees. Usually this is the Y-axis field of view, see CameraComponent#horizontalFov. Used for PROJECTION_PERSPECTIVE cameras only. Defaults to 45.
Controls the culling of mesh instances against the camera frustum, i.e. if objects outside of camera should be omitted from rendering. If false, all mesh instances in the scene are rendered by the camera, regardless of visibility. Defaults to false.
An array of layer IDs (Layer#id) to which this camera should belong. Don't push, pop, splice or modify this array, if you want to change it, set a new one instead. Defaults to [LAYERID_WORLD, LAYERID_DEPTH, LAYERID_SKYBOX, LAYERID_UI, LAYERID_IMMEDIATE].
The distance from the camera before which no rendering will take place. Defaults to 0.1.
The half-height of the orthographic view window (in the Y-axis). Used for PROJECTION_ORTHOGRAPHIC cameras only. Defaults to 10.
The post effects queue for this camera. Use this to add or remove post effects from the camera.
Controls the order in which cameras are rendered. Cameras with smaller values for priority are rendered first. Defaults to 0.
The type of projection used to render the camera. Can be:
- PROJECTION_PERSPECTIVE: A perspective projection. The camera frustum resembles a truncated pyramid.
- PROJECTION_ORTHOGRAPHIC: An orthographic projection. The camera frustum is a cuboid.
Defaults to PROJECTION_PERSPECTIVE.
Controls where on the screen the camera will be rendered in normalized screen coordinates. Defaults to [0, 0, 1, 1].
Render target to which rendering of the cameras is performed. If not set, it will render simply to the screen.
Clips all pixels which are not in the rectangle. The order of the values is [x, y, width, height]. Defaults to [0, 0, 1, 1].
Set camera sensitivity in ISO, the default value is 1000. Higher value means more exposure.
Set camera shutter speed in seconds, the default value is 1/1000s. Longer shutter means more exposure.
Methods
calculateAspectRatio([rt])
Calculates aspect ratio value for a given render target.
Parameters
rt | RenderTarget | Optional render target. If unspecified, the backbuffer is used. |
Returns
numberThe aspect ratio of the render target (or backbuffer).
endXr([callback])
Attempt to end XR session of this camera.
// On an entity with a camera component
this.entity.camera.endXr(function (err) {
// not anymore in XR
});
Parameters
callback | XrErrorCallback | Optional callback function called once session is ended. The callback has one argument Error - it is null if successfully ended XR session. |
getShaderPass()
Shader pass name.
Returns
stringThe name of the shader pass, or undefined if no shader pass is set.
requestSceneColorMap(enabled)
Request the scene to generate a texture containing the scene color map. Note that this call is accumulative, and for each enable request, a disable request need to be called.
Parameters
enabled | boolean | True to request the generation, false to disable it. |
requestSceneDepthMap(enabled)
Request the scene to generate a texture containing the scene depth map. Note that this call is accumulative, and for each enable request, a disable request need to be called.
Parameters
enabled | boolean | True to request the generation, false to disable it. |
screenToWorld(screenx, screeny, cameraz, [worldCoord])
Convert a point from 2D screen space to 3D world space.
// Get the start and end points of a 3D ray fired from a screen click position
const start = entity.camera.screenToWorld(clickX, clickY, entity.camera.nearClip);
const end = entity.camera.screenToWorld(clickX, clickY, entity.camera.farClip);
// Use the ray coordinates to perform a raycast
app.systems.rigidbody.raycastFirst(start, end, function (result) {
console.log("Entity " + result.entity.name + " was selected");
});
Parameters
screenx | number | X coordinate on PlayCanvas' canvas element. Should be in the range
0 to |
screeny | number | Y coordinate on PlayCanvas' canvas element. Should be in the range
0 to |
cameraz | number | The distance from the camera in world space to create the new point. |
worldCoord | Vec3 | 3D vector to receive world coordinate result. |
Returns
Vec3The world space coordinate.
setShaderPass(name)
Sets the name of the shader pass the camera will use when rendering.
In addition to existing names (see the parameter description), a new name can be specified, which creates a new shader pass with the given name. The name provided can only use alphanumeric characters and underscores. When a shader is compiled for the new pass, a define is added to the shader. For example, if the name is 'custom_rendering', the define 'CUSTOM_RENDERING_PASS' is added to the shader, allowing the shader code to conditionally execute code only when that shader pass is active.
Another instance where this approach may prove useful is when a camera needs to render a more cost-effective version of shaders, such as when creating a reflection texture. To accomplish this, a callback on the material that triggers during shader compilation can be used. This callback can modify the shader generation options specifically for this shader pass.
const shaderPassId = camera.setShaderPass('custom_rendering');
material.onUpdateShader = function (options) {
if (options.pass === shaderPassId) {
options.litOptions.normalMapEnabled = false;
options.litOptions.useSpecular = false;
}
return options;
};
Parameters
name | string | The name of the shader pass. Defaults to undefined, which is equivalent to SHADERPASS_FORWARD. Can be: |
Returns
numberThe id of the shader pass.
startXr(type, spaceType, [options])
Attempt to start XR session with this camera.
// On an entity with a camera component
this.entity.camera.startXr(pc.XRTYPE_VR, pc.XRSPACE_LOCAL, {
callback: function (err) {
if (err) {
// failed to start XR session
} else {
// in XR
}
}
});
Parameters
type | string | The type of session. Can be one of the following:
|
spaceType | string | Reference space type. Can be one of the following:
|
options | object | Object with options for XR session initialization. |
options.optionalFeatures | string[] | Optional features for XRSession start. It is used for getting access to additional WebXR spec extensions. |
options.imageTracking | boolean | Set to true to attempt to enable XrImageTracking. |
options.planeDetection | boolean | Set to true to attempt to enable XrPlaneDetection. |
options.callback | XrErrorCallback | Optional callback function called once the session is started. The callback has one argument Error - it is null if the XR session started successfully. |
options.depthSensing | object | Optional object with depth sensing parameters to attempt to enable XrDepthSensing. |
options.depthSensing.usagePreference | string | Optional usage preference for depth sensing, can be 'cpu-optimized' or 'gpu-optimized' (XRDEPTHSENSINGUSAGE_*), defaults to 'cpu-optimized'. Most preferred and supported will be chosen by the underlying depth sensing system. |
options.depthSensing.dataFormatPreference | string | Optional data format preference for depth sensing. Can be 'luminance-alpha' or 'float32' (XRDEPTHSENSINGFORMAT_*), defaults to 'luminance-alpha'. Most preferred and supported will be chosen by the underlying depth sensing system. |
worldToScreen(worldCoord, [screenCoord])
Convert a point from 3D world space to 2D screen space.
Parameters
worldCoord | Vec3 | The world space coordinate. |
screenCoord | Vec3 | 3D vector to receive screen coordinate result. |
Returns
Vec3The screen space coordinate.
Inherited
Properties
Methods
fire(name, [arg1], [arg2], [arg3], [arg4], [arg5], [arg6], [arg7], [arg8])
Fire an event, all additional arguments are passed on to the event listener.
obj.fire('test', 'This is the message');
Parameters
name | string | Name of event to fire. |
arg1 | * | First argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg2 | * | Second argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg3 | * | Third argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg4 | * | Fourth argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg5 | * | Fifth argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg6 | * | Sixth argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg7 | * | Seventh argument that is passed to the event handler. |
arg8 | * | Eighth argument that is passed to the event handler. |
Returns
EventHandlerSelf for chaining.
hasEvent(name)
Test if there are any handlers bound to an event name.
obj.on('test', function () { }); // bind an event to 'test'
obj.hasEvent('test'); // returns true
obj.hasEvent('hello'); // returns false
Parameters
name | string | The name of the event to test. |
Returns
booleanTrue if the object has handlers bound to the specified event name.
off([name], [callback], [scope])
Detach an event handler from an event. If callback is not provided then all callbacks are unbound from the event, if scope is not provided then all events with the callback will be unbound.
const handler = function () {
};
obj.on('test', handler);
obj.off(); // Removes all events
obj.off('test'); // Removes all events called 'test'
obj.off('test', handler); // Removes all handler functions, called 'test'
obj.off('test', handler, this); // Removes all handler functions, called 'test' with scope this
Parameters
name | string | Name of the event to unbind. |
callback | HandleEventCallback | Function to be unbound. |
scope | object | Scope that was used as the this when the event is fired. |
Returns
EventHandlerSelf for chaining.
on(name, callback, [scope])
Attach an event handler to an event.
obj.on('test', function (a, b) {
console.log(a + b);
});
obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // prints 3 to the console
Parameters
name | string | Name of the event to bind the callback to. |
callback | HandleEventCallback | Function that is called when event is fired. Note the callback is limited to 8 arguments. |
scope | object | Object to use as 'this' when the event is fired, defaults to current this. |
Returns
EventHandlerSelf for chaining.
once(name, callback, [scope])
Attach an event handler to an event. This handler will be removed after being fired once.
obj.once('test', function (a, b) {
console.log(a + b);
});
obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // prints 3 to the console
obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // not going to get handled
Parameters
name | string | Name of the event to bind the callback to. |
callback | HandleEventCallback | Function that is called when event is fired. Note the callback is limited to 8 arguments. |
scope | object | Object to use as 'this' when the event is fired, defaults to current this. |
Returns
EventHandlerSelf for chaining.