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Applying a clamp to Quaternion.LookRotation
I'm currently using the following snippet of c# to cause a game object to turn to face the player:
void Update()
{
Vector3 offsetPosFromPlayer = thePlayer.transform.position - transform.position;
Quaternion rotToPlayer = Quaternion.LookRotation( offsetPosFromPlayer );
transform.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp( transform.rotation, rotToPlayer, (Time.deltaTime * yawRotationSpeed) );
}
So far, it's working great. However, I'd like to clamp the rotation so that the object can only turn to a variable degree on either side. Say, for example, 180 degrees, so that if the player is behind the object it cannot turn to look at him.
I'm not sure where to insert the clamp, however, given that the above code deals with quaternions. Any suggestions? Am I going about this the wrong way?
Answer by rutter · Apr 08, 2012 at 12:32 AM
You might try using `Quaternion.RotateTowards()` if you're trying to get smooth rotation over time.
Barring that, I suppose you might be able to fake a clamp by using `Quaternion.Angle()` to check the angle beteen current/goal quats, and then some clever parameters to `Quaternion.Slerp()` to keep within "safe" limits.
Thanks for the tip on RotateTowards!
So, here's what I've got now:
Vector3 offsetPosFromPlayer = thePlayer.transform.position - transform.position;
Quaternion rotToPlayer = Quaternion.LookRotation( offsetPosFromPlayer );
float amountToRotate = Quaternion.Angle( transform.rotation, rotToPlayer );
if ( trackingPlayer && amountToRotate <= yawClamp ) { transform.rotation = Quaternion.RotateTowards( transform.rotation, rotToPlayer, (Time.time * yawRotationSpeed) ); }
if ( trackingPlayer && amountToRotate >= yawClamp ) trackingPlayer = false;
This effectively accomplishes what I was out to do. Thanks for the tips! I think if there's anything I'd do different, it'd be to base the clamp value on the initial rotation of the object. However, this works great for my purposes. Thanks again!