Operation smoothMove(camera)

[georage]

Hello again friends! I am trying to smoothly slide a free camera along an X axis to keep up with a moving object (a hockey puck).

I created this smoothMove function and expected it to work smoothly ... but the camera jitters at times if my smoothMove speed is over 0.3 or so. Not sure why.

If I use a smoothMove speed that slow the camera cannot track the puck from one end of the ice to the other fast enough sometimes.

Any ideas? Am I reinventing the wheel here? I can't find how to smooth out the follow of a free camera in the docs.

 

function smoothMove(camera){
    var puckPosX = puck.position.x;
    var camPosX = camera.position.x;
    
    //limit movement
    var xMax = 110;
    var xMin = -110;
    if(puckPosX > xMax) { puckPosX = xMax; }
    else if(puckPosX < xMin) { puckPosX = xMin; }
    
    //smooth move ... camera does not move fast enough!
    var smoothMove = 0.33;
    
    if(Math.abs(puckPosX-camPosX) >= smoothMove * 10){    
       if (camPosX < puckPosX){ puckPosX = camPosX + smoothMove; }
       if (camPosX > puckPosX){ puckPosX = camPosX - smoothMove; } 
    
       //follow puck
       console.log("puckX="+puckPosX+" camX="+camPosX);
       camera.position.x = puckPosX;
    }
    
}

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by georage
formatting

[adam]

This PG might help:

http://www.babylonjs-playground.com/#MQX8B#2

Use the arrow keys to move the sphere.

[georage]

Thanks, that's some pretty smooth movement there.