Create a Dolly Camera Rig

Creating smooth arcing camera animations using Position/Scale/Rotation keyframes can be difficult. In this tutorial, you will learn a technique for creating camera moves that look like a dolly moving on curved tracks.

Build the Rig

1. Create the camera
   1. Create > Camera > Target Camera
2. Create the arc
   1. Go into your Top View (We do this to change the default plane of the Arc spline)
   2. Create > Spline > Arc
3. Adjust the Arc's Settings
   1. Click on the Arc in the object manager to activate it
   2. Attributes Manager > Object Tab
      1. Radius = 600
      2. Start Angle = -135
      3. End Angle = -45
4. Attach the camera to the Arc
   1. Select the camera object in the Objects Manager
   2. Objects Manager > Tags > Cinema 4D Tags > Align to Spline
   3. Attributes Manager > Tag > Spline Path = Arc
5. Keyframe the Align to Spline Tag's Position Property
   1. Go to Frame 0
   2. Set the Position property to 0%
   3. Ctrl-click on the dot to the left of the position property to add a keyframe
   4. Go to Frame 90
   5. Set the Position property to 100%
   6. Ctrl-click on the dot to the left of the position property to add a keyframe
6. Child the Camera to the Arc spline
7. Child Camera.Target.1 to the Arc spline
8. Rename the Arc spline to "Dolly Camera Rig"
9. Save a preset
   1. Select the Dolly Camera Rig object
   2. Objects Manager > File > Save Object Preset
   3. Click on OK

Use the Rig

Now in any scene you can add this camera rig by going to

1. Objects Manager > File > Load Object Preset > User > Objects > Dolly Camera Rig

To adjust it for your new scene

1. Move the Dolly Camera rig so that it is centered where your subject is
2. Adjust the radius of the Arc spline to ensure it is in the frame the whole time
3. Adjust the start/end angle to control how extreme the movement is
4. To adjust the up/down angle of the camera, adjust the Camera.Target.1 null object's Y-Position.

Attach the Camera to the Arc

Point the Camera at the Target