ARFX Camera Inputs

Section 13. ARFX Camera Inputs

Because of the complexity of the ARFX Camera, there are just as many inputs to take into consideration. In this guide we will list the inputs and what they do, a visual as to how they are mapped, as well as a way to customize them via either the Options Menu or in the Plugin's Input Mappings.

Our default keyboard input hotkeys. Note that the Unreal Editor generally uses the F1-F12 keys.

Our default gamepad inputs. Note that these inputs are fixed and are not customizable.

Section 13.1 Movement and Rotation

Keyboard

• WSAD - Flat movement forward, back, left, right.

• QE- Vertical down/up

• Left/Right or  Numpad 4/6  - Rotate left/right

• Up/Down or Numpad 8/2 - Pitch up/down (only in RotateAtScreen mode)

• Numpad 7/9 - Rotate left/right by 90°

Gamepad

• Left Stick - Flat movement forward, back, left, right

• Right Stick - Rotations pitch and yaw (Pitch is only enabled in RotateAtScreen mode.

• Left/Right Triggers - Move vertically down/up

• Left/Right Shoulders - Rotate left/right by 90°

Section 13.2 Options Menu (Escape | Backslash | Start )

The ARFX Options menu. Houses many features and is fully customizable.

Important

It is not recommended to use this menu in Unreal Editor as you have far greater control without it.

Also Note:The menu will always load by default, overriding any changes made with settings it has saved!

Our Options menu is available to provide customization and scalability for any scene. Generally used for ARwall's packaged scenes, this menu should provide everything you need for setting up a virtual production shoot. If you do plan on using this menu in the editor, use Backslash instead of Escape to open the menu as Escape is already set by the editor to stop PlayInEditor.

More info on this menu can be found in the ARFX Options Menu article.

Section 13.2 Calibration Screen (Tab | Top Face Button)

The image below is the ARFX Camera's calibration screen!

ARFX Camera's calibration screen is pretty straightforward. Pressing Tab or Top Face Button will toggle it on and off. Pressing C or Right Face Button will calibrate your screen in virtual space to that of your calibration tracker's location.

More information on calibration can be found in the Calibration and Virtual Tracking category.

Section 13.3 Debug Menu (Z | Select)

The debug menu is only one of 4 modes. This is its primary first mode.

Pressing the input again will change what is displayed on the screen. The first two of these modes have information on screen and the last two modes turn on solid colored bars that can be used as full-screen fill lighting.

1. Shows FPS, the virtual screen's position and rotation, RotateAtScreen or RotateAtCamera mode, and your current bookmark

2. Shows FPS, RotateAtScreen, or RotateAtCamera mode, and your current bookmark

3. Shows only the bottom color bar

4. Shows top and bottom color bars

5. Disables the Debug Menu

Section 13.4 Toggle Focus (F | Top Face Button) & Toggle Focus Plane (G | Bottom Face Button)

Toggling on Focus will enable a fixed point focal distance on the ARFX camera. The focus plane can be used to better visualize the distance at which the focus distance is set.

Section 13.5 Focus Up/Down (When the focus is enabled: Up/Down | D-Pad Right/Left)

Only available when Focus is enabled. The screen will display your current focus level whenever these inputs are used.

Section 13.6 Toggle Rotation Method (V | D-Pad Up)

Switches between Rotate at Screen and Rotate at Camera modes.

• Rotate at Camera - In this mode, rotations made via inputs are done at the hero tracker's (or tracked camera's) location. Allows for only yaw rotations.

• Rotate at Screen - In this mode, rotations made via inputs are done at the physical screen's location. Allows for both pitch and yaw rotations.

Section 13.7 Toggle Move Method (X | D-Pad Down)

This simply toggles between a free move method (default) and a fixed XY method (if the camera is pitched, it will maintain its height). A great way to maintain pitch angles while on the move.

Section 13.8 Toggle Snap Mode (T | Left Stick Button)

Enabling this mode will change certain inputs to snap the camera's position relative to the screen's dimensions. For example, snapping to down should snap the camera's position in a way so that the floor (or whatever object it detected is below it) is flush with the bottom of your physical screen. You can do these inputs multiple times to keep snapping to the next object in the scene in the direction you want to get the position you want.

Section 13.9 Snap Directions (Arrow Keys | D-Pad Directions)

Aside from left and right directions, up and down inputs have both tap and hold input actions. Held actions are approximately 0.5 seconds long.

• Tap Up/Down - Snap vertically up/down

• Hold Up/Down - Snap horizontally forward/back

Section 13.91 Reset Pitch & Roll (R | Hold D-Pad Up)

Resets your camera's pitch and roll to 0°.

Section 13.92 Bookmark Actions

Navigating to bookmarks requires ARFX Bookmarks to be placed in a scene. For built scenes, the bookmarks are already available, but for custom scenes in the editor, you may want to create them as you do virtual location scouting.

• +/- or D-Pad Right - Switches between bookmarks (if any ARFX Bookmarks are in the scene)

• 0 or D-Pad Left - Creates a bookmark (Unreal Editor only)

• Ctrl & +/- - Skips the transition animation to instantly teleport to the next bookmark location.

Section 13.92 About Load Map and Action Inputs

These are typically used in ARwall's built scenes. You can use these inputs freely via Blueprint by searching for IA_ActionKey or IA_LoadMap

Just search for IA_ActionKey or IA_LoadMap to find these events!

Section 13.93 About Press & Hold Inputs

Primarily used on gamepad due to how few inputs we have access to. Several inputs are only accessible by pressing and holding their corresponding input when in certain input modes. Each of these actions has an on-screen message to confirm your input action, so be on the lookout for confirmation of your intended action at the center of your screen.

Held actions are approximately 0.5 seconds long.

Section 13.94 Different Input Modes.

On both the keyboard and gamepad, you will notice that some inputs serve multiple purposes. Depending on what mode you are in, the action for these inputs will change dramatically.

Important

All these methods will display a brief on screen message reporting what mode you are in. Toggling the Debug display will also report what mode you are actively in.

Section 13.95 Customizing Your Inputs

There are two ways to customize your inputs depending on your setup.

1. Via the Option Menu

The first way is to use the built in OptionsUI by going to Controls then Customize Controls. Do know that doing so will save everything else in that menu; meaning Post Process Volume, graphics, and even ARFX camera setup. If you are in Unreal Editor, this is generally not recommended.

The Options menu has nearly all inputs visible, but note that many of these are fixed and cannot be changed (like all Gamepad inputs).

2. Via Input Mappings

The second way is to modify the input mappings directly in the plugin itself. To do this, you will have to go to your Content Browser

Click the Settings button at the top right of the menu.  

Enable 'Show Plugin Content'. After this, scroll down in the folder tree to find Plugins > ARwall Content > Input and open MC_ARwallCamera.

This file contains all the default mappings for each input, and each is labeled generally the same as we have listed in this article. Simply browse through it, find what you want to change, and then click on the keyboard/gamepad icon button next to the input drop-down.

Finally, press any key to easily assign it to that action. Just know that any changes will only be found in that project's version of the plugin. Any updates to the plugin will easily overwrite this file!

Important

It might be best to not modify the Gamepad's default inputs. Not because it will break things, but because it'll make referring to an button assignment image invalid.

All the input actions for everything in ARFX can be found here but customizing beyond what is here is beyond this Knowledge Base.