Cameras

Cameras

Camera system in Phaser 4 -- CameraManager, main camera, viewport vs scroll, zoom, bounds, following sprites, camera effects (fade, flash, shake, pan, zoomTo, rotateTo), ignore lists, filters, and keyboard controls.

Key source paths: src/cameras/2d/CameraManager.js, src/cameras/2d/BaseCamera.js, src/cameras/2d/Camera.js, src/cameras/2d/effects/, src/cameras/controls/ Related skills: ../game-setup-and-config/SKILL.md, ../sprites-and-images/SKILL.md, ../filters-and-postfx/SKILL.md

Quick Start

// In a Scene's create() method:

// Access the default camera (created automatically)
const cam = this.cameras.main;

// Scroll the camera to look at a different part of the world
cam.setScroll(200, 100);

// Center camera on a world coordinate
cam.centerOn(400, 300);

// Zoom in (2x) -- values < 1 zoom out, > 1 zoom in
cam.setZoom(2);

// Follow a sprite with smooth lerp
cam.startFollow(player, false, 0.1, 0.1);

// Constrain the camera to the world bounds
cam.setBounds(0, 0, 2048, 2048);

// Fade in from black over 1 second
cam.fadeIn(1000);

// Add a filter to the camera (v4 feature)
cam.filters.external.addBlur(1, 2);

Core Concepts

CameraManager

Every Scene has a CameraManager accessible via this.cameras. It manages all cameras for that Scene and is registered as a plugin under the key 'CameraManager'.

// The manager is at this.cameras (not this.camera)
this.cameras              // CameraManager instance
this.cameras.cameras      // Array of Camera objects (render order)
this.cameras.main         // Reference to the "main" camera (first one by default)
this.cameras.default      // Un-transformed utility camera (not in the cameras array)

Key methods on CameraManager:

Camera limit: The manager supports up to 32 cameras that can use ignore() for Game Object exclusion (IDs are bitmasks). Cameras beyond 32 get ID 0 and cannot exclude objects.

Main Camera

The main property is a convenience reference to a Camera, typically cameras[0]. It is set automatically when:

• The scene boots (first camera created becomes main)
• You pass makeMain: true to add() or addExisting()
• The current main camera is removed (falls back to cameras[0])

Viewport vs World (Scroll)

A Camera has two independent coordinate concepts:

1. Viewport -- The physical rectangle on the canvas where the Camera renders. Controlled by setPosition(x, y), setSize(w, h), or setViewport(x, y, w, h). By default, fills the entire game canvas.

2. Scroll -- Where the Camera is "looking" in the game world. Controlled by scrollX / scrollY properties or setScroll(x, y). Scrolling does not affect the viewport rectangle.

// Viewport: a 320x200 mini-map in the top-right corner
const miniCam = this.cameras.add(480, 0, 320, 200);

// Scroll: make the mini-map look at a different world area
miniCam.setScroll(1000, 500);

// Zoom: the mini-cam shows more of the world
miniCam.setZoom(0.25);

worldView is a read-only Rectangle updated each frame that reflects what area of the world the camera can currently see, accounting for scroll, zoom, and bounds. Use it for culling or intersection checks.

const view = cam.worldView; // { x, y, width, height }

Common Patterns

Scrolling the Camera

// Direct property access
cam.scrollX = 100;
cam.scrollY = 200;

// Chainable setter
cam.setScroll(100, 200);

// Center the camera on a world coordinate
cam.centerOn(500, 400);

// Get the scroll values needed to center on a point (without moving)
const point = cam.getScroll(500, 400); // returns Vector2

Following a Sprite

// Instant follow (lerp = 1, the default)
cam.startFollow(player);

// Smooth follow with lerp (0..1, lower = smoother)
cam.startFollow(player, false, 0.1, 0.1);

// Full signature:
// startFollow(target, roundPixels?, lerpX?, lerpY?, offsetX?, offsetY?)
cam.startFollow(player, true, 0.05, 0.05, 0, -50);

// Change lerp or offset after starting follow
cam.setLerp(0.08, 0.08);
cam.setFollowOffset(0, -50);

// Dead zone: camera only scrolls when target leaves this rectangle
cam.setDeadzone(200, 150);

// Stop following
cam.stopFollow();

startFollow accepts any object with x and y properties -- it does not have to be a Game Object. Lerp of 1 snaps instantly; 0.1 gives smooth tracking. A lerp of 0 on an axis disables tracking on that axis.

When a deadzone is set, the camera does not scroll while the target remains inside the deadzone rectangle. The deadzone is re-centered on the camera midpoint each frame.

Zoom

// Uniform zoom
cam.setZoom(2);       // 2x zoom in
cam.setZoom(0.5);     // zoom out (see twice as much)

// Independent horizontal/vertical zoom
cam.setZoom(2, 1);    // stretch horizontally

// Read current zoom
cam.zoom;    // shortcut -- reads zoomX (assumes uniform)
cam.zoomX;
cam.zoomY;

Never set zoom to 0. The minimum is clamped to 0.001.

Bounds

// Constrain scrolling to a world area
cam.setBounds(0, 0, worldWidth, worldHeight);

// Center on the new bounds immediately
cam.setBounds(0, 0, 2048, 2048, true);

// Temporarily disable bounds without removing them
cam.useBounds = false;

// Remove bounds entirely
cam.removeBounds();

// Read the current bounds
const rect = cam.getBounds(); // returns a new Rectangle copy

Bounds only restrict scrolling. They do not prevent Game Objects from being placed outside the bounds, and they do not affect the viewport position.

Multiple Cameras

// Full-screen main camera
const main = this.cameras.main;

// Mini-map in top-right corner
const minimap = this.cameras.add(600, 0, 200, 150).setZoom(0.2).setName('minimap');
minimap.setScroll(0, 0);
minimap.setBackgroundColor('rgba(0,0,0,0.5)');

// HUD camera that doesn't scroll (ignores world objects, shows HUD layer only)
const hudCam = this.cameras.add(0, 0, 800, 600).setName('hud');
hudCam.setScroll(0, 0);

// Make the main camera ignore HUD objects
main.ignore(hudGroup);
// Make the HUD camera ignore world objects
hudCam.ignore(worldGroup);

// Find a camera by name
const found = this.cameras.getCamera('minimap');

// Remove a camera
this.cameras.remove(minimap);

Camera Effects

All effects are on the Camera class (not BaseCamera). Each returns this for chaining. Effects that are already running will not restart unless you pass force: true.

Fade

// Fade out to black over 1 second
cam.fadeOut(1000);

// Fade out to red
cam.fadeOut(1000, 255, 0, 0);

// Fade in from black over 500ms
cam.fadeIn(500);

// Lower-level: fade (out direction) and fadeFrom (in direction)
// with a force parameter
cam.fade(1000, 0, 0, 0, true);       // force start even if running
cam.fadeFrom(1000, 0, 0, 0, true);

// With per-frame callback
cam.fadeOut(1000, 0, 0, 0, (cam, progress) => {
    // progress goes from 0 to 1
});

Fade direction: fadeOut / fade goes transparent-to-color. fadeIn / fadeFrom goes color-to-transparent.

Flash

// White flash over 250ms (default)
cam.flash(250);

// Red flash over 500ms
cam.flash(500, 255, 0, 0);

// Full signature: flash(duration?, r?, g?, b?, force?, callback?, context?)
cam.flash(300, 255, 255, 255, true, (cam, progress) => {});

Shake

// Default shake: 100ms at intensity 0.05
cam.shake(100);

// Stronger shake for 500ms
cam.shake(500, 0.02);

// Independent x/y intensity using a Vector2
cam.shake(300, new Phaser.Math.Vector2(0.1, 0.02));

// Full signature: shake(duration?, intensity?, force?, callback?, context?)

The intensity value is a small float. The default 0.05 means the camera shifts up to 5% of the viewport size.

Pan

// Pan camera center to world coordinate (400, 300) over 2 seconds
cam.pan(400, 300, 2000);

// With easing
cam.pan(400, 300, 2000, 'Power2');

// Full signature: pan(x, y, duration?, ease?, force?, callback?, context?)
cam.pan(800, 600, 1500, 'Sine.easeInOut', false, (cam, progress, x, y) => {});

Pan scrolls the camera so its viewport center finishes at the given world coordinate.

ZoomTo

// Animate zoom to 2x over 1 second
cam.zoomTo(2, 1000);

// With easing
cam.zoomTo(0.5, 2000, 'Cubic.easeOut');

// Full signature: zoomTo(zoom, duration?, ease?, force?, callback?, context?)

RotateTo

// Rotate camera to 45 degrees (in radians) over 1 second
cam.rotateTo(Phaser.Math.DegToRad(45), false, 1000);

// Shortest path rotation
cam.rotateTo(Math.PI, true, 1500, 'Quad.easeInOut');

// Full signature: rotateTo(angle, shortestPath?, duration?, ease?, force?, callback?, context?)

The angle is in radians. Set shortestPath to true to take the shortest rotation direction.

Reset All Effects

cam.resetFX(); // stops and resets all running effects (rotate, pan, shake, flash, fade)

Keyboard Controls

Phaser provides two built-in camera control classes. Both require you to call update(delta) in your scene's update method.

FixedKeyControl

Moves at a fixed speed per frame. No smoothing.

// In create():
const cursors = this.input.keyboard.createCursorKeys();
this.camControl = new Phaser.Cameras.Controls.FixedKeyControl({
    camera: this.cameras.main,
    left: cursors.left,
    right: cursors.right,
    up: cursors.up,
    down: cursors.down,
    speed: 0.5          // can also be { x: 0.5, y: 0.3 }
});

// In update(time, delta):
this.camControl.update(delta);

SmoothedKeyControl

Applies acceleration, drag, and max speed for smooth camera movement.

this.camControl = new Phaser.Cameras.Controls.SmoothedKeyControl({
    camera: this.cameras.main,
    left: cursors.left,
    right: cursors.right,
    up: cursors.up,
    down: cursors.down,
    zoomIn: this.input.keyboard.addKey('Q'),
    zoomOut: this.input.keyboard.addKey('E'),
    zoomSpeed: 0.02,
    acceleration: 0.06,
    drag: 0.0005,
    maxSpeed: 1.0
});

// In update(time, delta):
this.camControl.update(delta);

Both controls support zoomIn and zoomOut keys and a zoomSpeed config value.

Ignore Lists

The ignore method updates a Game Object's cameraFilter bitmask so the camera skips rendering it.

// Ignore a single object
cam.ignore(uiText);

// Ignore an array
cam.ignore([scoreText, livesIcon, pauseButton]);

// Ignore all children in a Group
cam.ignore(uiGroup);

// Ignore a Layer and all its children
cam.ignore(uiLayer);

This is the primary mechanism for HUD-style setups: one camera ignores world objects, another ignores HUD objects.

Camera Deadzone

The deadzone defines a rectangular area around the follow target where the camera does not scroll. The camera only moves when the target leaves this rectangle.

// Set a deadzone of 200x150 pixels centered on the camera viewport
cam.setDeadzone(200, 150);

// Access the deadzone rectangle (read-only, updated internally)
console.log(cam.deadzone); // Phaser.Geom.Rectangle or null

// Remove the deadzone
cam.setDeadzone();

World Point Conversion

Convert screen (pointer) coordinates to world coordinates, accounting for scroll, zoom, and rotation:

const worldPoint = cam.getWorldPoint(pointer.x, pointer.y);
// Reuse an output object to avoid allocation
const output = new Phaser.Math.Vector2();
cam.getWorldPoint(pointer.x, pointer.y, output);

Essential when working with scrolled/zoomed cameras -- raw pointer coordinates are screen space, not world space.

Camera Render List

Each frame, renderList is populated with Game Objects visible to this camera. Rebuilt every frame.

const visible = cam.renderList; // array of GameObjects rendered this frame

Force Composite (Offscreen Framebuffer)

Force the camera to render to an offscreen framebuffer. Required for CaptureFrame and similar features.

cam.setForceComposite(true);  // enable offscreen framebuffer
cam.setForceComposite(false); // disable

Filters enable framebuffer rendering automatically. Use setForceComposite(true) when you need it without filters.

Filters on Cameras (v4)

In Phaser 4, Camera has a filters property with two FilterList instances:

cam.filters.internal   // FilterList -- applied by the system
cam.filters.external   // FilterList -- for user-added filters

Add post-processing effects to a camera the same way you add them to Game Objects:

// Add a blur filter to the camera
cam.filters.external.addBlur(1, 2);

// Add a glow
cam.filters.external.addGlow(0xff0000, 4, 0, false, 0.1, 10);

// Add a color matrix filter
const fx = cam.filters.external.addColorMatrix();
fx.grayscale();

// Remove all external filters
cam.filters.external.clear();

Filters require WebGL. The camera must render via a framebuffer when filters are active. See setForceComposite(true) to explicitly enable this even without filters.

Events

Camera events are emitted on the Camera instance itself (it extends EventEmitter). Listen with cam.on(event, handler).

cam.on(Phaser.Cameras.Scene2D.Events.FADE_OUT_COMPLETE, () => {
    this.scene.start('GameOver');
});

For detailed configuration options, API reference tables, and source file maps, see the reference guide.