Look Ahead

Part of the Physics and Gameplay section of Coddy's Unity journey. Lesson 47 of 63.

A camera aimed at a moving target shows as much of where it has been as of where it is going. Aim at a point ahead of it instead: the target's position plus its velocity times a lead time in seconds. This camera on a stand beside a race track turns to follow the car and aims half a second ahead of it:

public Rigidbody car;
public float lead = 0.5f;

void LateUpdate()
{
    Vector3 aim = car.position + car.linearVelocity * lead;
    transform.LookAt(aim);
}

At 20 units per second the aim point is 10 units in front of the car, at 4 units per second it is 2, and a car standing still is aimed at directly. The velocity is the car's real motion, so the point is in the right place in a skid or when reversing. transform.forward would not be: a reversing car's forward points away from where it is going, and a rolling ball's forward spins with it.

A follow camera can lead too: it frames a point ahead of its target instead of the target itself. When that point can flip to the other side, as when the player turns round, change the lead a little on each frame, or the whole view jumps at once.

Challenge

Medium

This side view follows the runner along x (the arrows run it left and right). Make the camera show more of where the runner is going:

The camera sits ahead (3) units in front of the runner along x, on the side the runner last moved toward. Before the runner first moves, it is centered on it.
When the runner turns round, the lead slides to the other side at shiftSpeed (4) units per second instead of jumping.
When the runner stops, the camera keeps its lead.
The camera's y and z stay as they are.

Press Play, run both ways, then Check.

Try it yourself

using UnityEngine;

public class LookAheadCamera : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Transform player;
    public float ahead = 3f;
    public float shiftSpeed = 4f;

    void LateUpdate()
    {
        // Lead the player by ahead units the way it last moved, sliding at shiftSpeed.
        transform.position = new Vector3(player.position.x, transform.position.y, transform.position.z);
    }
}