OrbitCamera requires CNA link

Easy3D / Cameras / OrbitCamera

Easy3D::OrbitCamera computes an eye position orbiting a target — a classic turntable camera. It stores a target and spherical orbit parameters (yaw, pitch, distance). It does not own a Camera3D; call ApplyTo() to push the computed position/target into one.

#include <Easy3D/OrbitCamera.hpp>

namespace Easy3D { class OrbitCamera; }

Type aliases

Alias	Refers to
`OrbitCamera::Vector3`	`Microsoft::Xna::Framework::Vector3`

Defaults

Property	Default	Notes
Target	`(0, 0, 0)`	`Vector3::Zero`
Yaw	`0` rad	Horizontal angle around the target
Pitch	`0.3` rad	≈ 17° above the horizontal plane
Distance	`10`

API

[[nodiscard]] const Vector3& GetTarget() const noexcept
void SetTarget(const Vector3& value) noexcept

The world-space point being orbited.

[[nodiscard]] float GetYaw() const noexcept
void SetYaw(float radians) noexcept

Horizontal angle around the target, in radians.

[[nodiscard]] float GetPitch() const noexcept
void SetPitch(float radians) noexcept

Vertical angle above the target's horizontal plane, in radians.

[[nodiscard]] float GetDistance() const noexcept
void SetDistance(float value) noexcept

Distance from the target to the computed eye position.

[[nodiscard]] Vector3 ComputePosition() const

The eye position implied by target + yaw/pitch/distance. Requires linking CNA (constructs a CNA Vector3).

void ApplyTo(Camera3D& camera) const

Pushes ComputePosition() and the target into a Camera3D (sets target first, then position). Requires linking CNA.

The math

ComputePosition() places the eye on a sphere of radius distance around the target:

eye.X = target.X + distance * cos(pitch) * sin(yaw)
eye.Y = target.Y + distance * sin(pitch)
eye.Z = target.Z + distance * cos(pitch) * cos(yaw)

With yaw = 0 and pitch = 0, the eye sits on the +Z side of the target, looking down −Z toward it — matching CNA/XNA's right-handed convention.
Increasing pitch raises the eye above the target's horizontal plane; pitch = π/2 looks straight down.
yaw spins the eye around the world Y axis through the target.

Pitch is not clamped. If you drive it from input, clamp it yourself (e.g. to ±1.5 rad) to avoid flipping over the top of the target — see the Recipes page.

Example

#include <Easy3D/Camera3D.hpp>
#include <Easy3D/OrbitCamera.hpp>

Easy3D::Camera3D    camera;
Easy3D::OrbitCamera orbit;

orbit.SetTarget(playerPosition);
orbit.SetDistance(12.0f);
orbit.SetYaw(0.6f);
orbit.SetPitch(0.35f);

orbit.ApplyTo(camera);   // camera now orbits the player

const auto view = camera.GetViewMatrix();

OrbitCamera holds no per-frame state — it is a pure function of its four parameters. You can freely recompute or share it, and drive yaw/pitch directly from accumulated mouse input each frame.