UeOrthographicCamera

The UeOrthographicCamera class creates a 3D camera with orthographic projection in Unique Engine.
In orthographic projection, objects appear the same size regardless of their distance from the camera, making it ideal for 2D games, technical drawings, or isometric views.

It inherits from UeCamera, meaning it includes all camera functionality plus scene graph features from UeObject3D.

Constructor

new UeOrthographicCamera(data = {})

Data parameters

Key	Type	Default	Description
left	number	-view_wport[view] / 2	Left plane of the camera frustum
right	number	view_wport[view] / 2	Right plane of the camera frustum
top	number	view_hport[view] / 2	Top plane of the camera frustum
bottom	number	-view_hport[view] / 2	Bottom plane of the camera frustum
near	number	0.1	Near clipping plane
far	number	2000	Far clipping plane
zoom	number	1	Zoom factor (scales the frustum)
view	number	0	Viewport to assign this camera to
x, y, z	number	0, -100, 0	Initial camera position
xt, yt, zt	number	0, 1, 0	Look-at target coordinates
upX, upY, upZ	number	0, 0, -1	Camera up vector

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
isCamera	boolean	true	Indicates that this is a camera
isOrthographicCamera	boolean	true	Indicates that this is an orthographic camera
type	string	"OrthographicCamera"	Object type
left	number	-width/2	Left plane of the viewing frustum
right	number	width/2	Right plane of the viewing frustum
top	number	height/2	Top plane of the viewing frustum
bottom	number	-height/2	Bottom plane of the viewing frustum
near	number	0.1	Near clipping plane distance
far	number	2000	Far clipping plane distance
zoom	number	1	Zoom factor that scales the frustum
camera	Camera	camera_create()	The underlying GameMaker camera object
target	UeVector3	(0,1,0)	The current look-at target position
matrixWorld	UeMatrix4	new UeMatrix4()	World transformation matrix of the camera
matrixWorldInverse	UeMatrix4	new UeMatrix4()	Inverse of matrixWorld, used in camera_set_view_mat()
projectionMatrix	UeMatrix4	new UeMatrix4()	Projection matrix, used in camera_set_proj_mat()
projectionMatrixInverse	UeMatrix4	new UeMatrix4()	Inverse of the projection matrix

Methods

updateProjectionMatrix()

updateProjectionMatrix()

Updates the camera's projection matrix using orthographic projection.
The zoom factor is applied to scale the frustum dimensions.

updateMatrixWorld()

updateMatrixWorld()

Inherited from UeCamera. Updates the view matrix based on position, target, and up vector.

dispose()

dispose()

Inherited from UeCamera. Cleans up the camera resource.

Notes

• The camera projection is built using matrix_build_projection_ortho()
• Objects maintain the same size regardless of distance (parallel projection)
• The frustum is automatically calculated from viewport dimensions if not specified
• The zoom property scales the frustum: higher values = zoomed in, lower values = zoomed out
• Perfect for 2D games, isometric views, or technical/architectural visualizations

Shadow Tips

• When using an orthographic camera as a directional light shadow camera, manually adjust the camera frustum bounds (left, right, top, bottom) to tightly fit the scene or shadow-casting objects. This reduces wasted shadow map space and improves resolution.
• Texel snapping aligns the orthographic projection to the shadow map texel grid and reduces shimmering during camera or light movement. The engine's UeDirectionalLightShadow implements snapping via updateMatrices().

Orthographic vs Perspective

Feature	Orthographic	Perspective
Projection type	Parallel	Converging to a point
Distance affects size	No	Yes (objects farther = smaller)
Depth perception	Flat, no depth cues	Realistic depth
Typical use cases	2D games, CAD, isometric views	3D games, realistic rendering
Frustum shape	Box (rectangular prism)	Truncated pyramid

Example

Basic Usage

const camera = new UeOrthographicCamera({
  left: -400,
  right: 400,
  top: 300,
  bottom: -300,
  near: 0.1,
  far: 1000,
  x: 100, y: -300, z: 70,
  xt: 0, yt: 0, zt: 0
});

Isometric View

// Create an isometric camera
const camera = new UeOrthographicCamera({
  zoom: 2, // Zoom in 2x
  x: 100, y: -100, z: 100,
  xt: 0, yt: 0, zt: 0
});

// Position creates 45-degree isometric angle
camera.setPosition(100, -100, 100);
camera.target.set(0, 0, 0);
camera.updateMatrixWorld();

Dynamic Zoom

// Zoom in/out dynamically
camera.zoom = 1.5;
camera.updateProjectionMatrix();