LavaCam

Dynamic Camera Allocation (DCA) Instructions

What is DCA

Dynamic Camera Allocation allows camera positions to be defined anywhere in any map, with the aid of the cam console commands.

DCA files are stored within the DCA directory in the LavaCam directory.When a Quake2 map begins LavaCam looks for a corresponding .DCA file, if found it is loaded and the camera definitions are used to Track the Action!

With DCA, *any* map can have up to 32 camera positions without modifying the map.

.DCA files are just text files and can be viewed and edited. Although editing the positional information (x, z, y, pitch, yaw and roll) could move the camera into an undesirable position, or even outside the map!

A FOV (Field Of View) value is stored with each camera position and is controlled in editmode mode by using the console commands 'fovplus' & 'fovminus'.

An example of how to use DCA

  1. Start Quake2 with the following command line switch
    • +set game LavaCam +set cheats 1 +menu_main (Cheats needs to be on to allow NOCLIP to be turned on)
    • Make sure the player name is *NOT* LavaCam (Cameras can't be defined while in LavaCam mode)
    • Start a network server and load the map you wish to work on.
    • Bring the console down and type exec dca.cfg.

    This will execute the DCA config file. This binds the DCA commands to convenient keys and binds NOCLIP to the n key. (You can edit the dca.cfg to change or add any keys as required)

  2. Press the key bound to NOCLIP, normally n, to turn on NOCLIP mode. With NOCLIP on you'll be able to fly anywhere in the map, which is essential to choose the camera positions.
  3. Press the key bound to 'editmode', normally e, to activate the DCA Editmode, your current position info will be displayed on screen.
  4. Fly around the map and choose the view you want to store as a camera position. The Field Of View can be adjusted by using the keys bound to 'fovplus' (normally comma) and 'fovminus' (normally fullstop).
  5. Press the key bound to 'storecam', normally s, to store the camera information and move onto the next camera.
  6. At anytime the console command 'namecam' can be used to name the current camera. (Note : The maxium length for a camera name is 31 characters)
  7. After storing a few camera definitions press the key bound to 'listcam', normally l, to turn on the list mode. Use the next and previous keys, normally [ and ], to step through the lists if more than 10 cameras have been defined. Press the 'listcam' key again to return to normal edit mode.
  8. At anytime use the next and previous keys, normally [ and ], to step through the cameras. Camera postions can then be altered and saved using 'updatecam' or deleted using 'deletecam'.
  9. When editing is complete, press the key bound to 'editmode', normally e, to de-activate the DCA Editmode and return to the normal game.

DCA Commands

  • editmode default key bind e Toggles the edit mode.
  • fovplus default key bind, Increases FOV by 5 units, ie Zooms out
  • fovminus default key bind.Decreases FOV by 5 units, ie Zooms in
  • storecam default key bind s Saves camera data and creates a new camera position.
  • updatecam default key bind u. Updates the current position data to the current camera in the DCA file.
  • deletecam default key bind d Deletes the current camera from the DCA file.
  • listcam default key bind l. Toggles list mode. The camera details are listed in 10's on screen.
    Use the next/previous keys, normally [ and ], to navigate between the lists if more than 10 cameras have been defined.
  • namecam ;a console command only. While editing a camera, bring up the console and type namecam <camname> then return to Quake2, and the current camera details will show the new camera name.