This video records process rather than presenting a finished recipe. I had a visible framing problem, a partial constraint system already working on two axes, and a question about whether the same approach would hold up when the viewport changed.

Why I made this

In a 2.5D side scroller, a following camera can move far enough to show space outside the designed level. The end-of-level frame needs to stop at the boundary while still following the player naturally through the playable area.

The constraint also has to survive different aspect ratios. A value that hides the edge at one viewport can reveal blankness at another, so the solution requires visual testing and adjustment rather than a single unchecked coordinate.

What I did

I modified the AutoCam script used by Unity's MultipurposeCameraRig to define positional edges. The horizontal and depth limits were already in place; the recording focuses on building and testing the vertical constraint.

Rather than recapture a polished tutorial after the experiment, I recorded narration over the original footage. That let me explain what I was testing while preserving the real sequence of adjustments and results.

After adding the boundary, I test and tune it across several aspect ratios. The format makes the decision loop visible: identify exposed non-level space, adjust the limiting value, change the viewport, and confirm whether the frame still holds.

I also explain the content experiment itself. I was doing more technical exploration than could justify full tutorial production, so narrated process footage offered a faster way to share useful work and let audience questions determine where deeper content was warranted.

A note on the archive

This experiment uses Unity's 2016 Standard Assets camera package and edits AutoCam directly. Modern Unity camera workflows, including Cinemachine, provide different constraint and framing tools; use current documentation for production guidance.

The original video was recorded without narration and then voiced over. There is no usable caption track, so I didn’t invent chapter timestamps. I’m keeping it because you can see the camera fail, watch the constraint change, and follow the test across different screen shapes.

Published November 11, 2016. Preserved with context. More DevRel work →