Quick Start

By the end of this page your pawn has a CrimsonCamera that follows it in third-person, driven by a camera mode you create - no per-frame camera code.

Prerequisites

CrimsonCamera is installed, and you have a Pawn / Character and a PlayerController you can edit (Blueprint or C++).

1. Enable the plugin

Open Edit -> Plugins, type Crimson in the search box, tick CrimsonCamera's checkbox, and restart the editor when prompted. The editor also enables the Gameplay Targeting System dependency. For a Blueprint project that's the entire install - you never hand-edit the .uproject or any .Build.cs.

Verify

CrimsonCamera shows as enabled in the Plugins window and the editor restarts without errors.

2. Use the Crimson camera manager

ACrimsonPlayerCameraManager routes the view through the mode stack. Point your PlayerController at it by setting Player Camera Manager Class (a property on every PlayerController).

Open your PlayerController Blueprint -> Class Defaults -> Player Controller category -> set Player Camera Manager Class to CrimsonPlayerCameraManager. There are no graph nodes in this step - it is one class-default value, and the controller spawns the manager for you.

Verify

Select your PlayerController and confirm Player Camera Manager Class reads CrimsonPlayerCameraManager (Blueprint) or your constructor sets it (C++).

3. Add the camera component to your pawn

UCrimsonCameraComponent lives on the Pawn / Character and owns the mode stack.

Open your Pawn / Character Blueprint -> Components panel -> + Add -> type Crimson Camera -> pick Crimson Camera Component, and drop it on the root. No spring arm is needed: the active camera mode produces the boom itself.

Verify

The pawn lists a Crimson Camera Component in its component tree.

4. Create a third-person camera mode

A camera mode is a class you configure once. Make a Blueprint subclass of UCrimsonCameraMode_ThirdPerson and set its pitch-driven offset curves (or start from the defaults).

In the Content Browser, right-click empty space -> Crimson Plugins -> Camera -> Camera Modes -> Camera Mode - Third Person, and name it (for example BP_ThirdPersonMode). Open it: the Details panel groups everything under Third Person (TargetOffsetCurve, or tick bUseRuntimeFloatCurves to author TargetOffsetX / TargetOffsetY / TargetOffsetZ as pitch-driven curves instead), Collision, Blending (CameraTypeTag, BlendTime), and View (FieldOfView, ViewPitchMin / ViewPitchMax). The defaults are already a working third-person camera, so you can leave them alone for now.

Verify

Your mode opens in the editor and shows the Third Person, Collision, and View categories in Details.

5. Make the mode active

Push your mode onto the stack so it drives the view. Push Camera Mode is Blueprint- and C++-callable and needs an owner tag (any gameplay tag that identifies who pushed it). One push on BeginPlay is enough for a single base camera.

On your pawn: Event BeginPlay -> Get Crimson Camera Component (drag the component in from My Blueprint -> Components) -> Push Camera Mode (Camera Mode Class = the mode you just made, Owner Tag = a tag such as Camera.Mode.Default). One push is enough - the mode stays on the override stack until something pops that same tag.

Verify

Press Play - the camera sits behind your pawn and follows it, blending in over the mode's Blend Time.

The camera follows control rotation

The third-person view is built from the pawn's control rotation, so your look input (mouse / right stick) orbits the camera. If the camera looks static, wire look input to the controller (e.g. Add Controller Yaw/Pitch Input) - that's a normal input step, not a camera setting.

What's next

Drive selection from game state (How-To: Switch Camera Modes), frame over the shoulder (How-To: Shoulder & Zoom), and add lock-on (How-To: Set Up Lock-On).