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Documentation Index

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Cinematics is a lightweight Paper and Folia plugin that lets you record smooth camera paths and replay them as polished cinematic transitions directly inside Minecraft. Whether you’re showcasing a new map, setting the mood for a server event, or telling a story, Cinematics turns ordinary player movement into a cinematic experience — no external tools or screen-capture software required.
Cinematics is currently in early development (v0.1.0). APIs, commands, and behaviour may change between releases as the plugin matures. Follow the GitHub repository to stay up to date.

What is Cinematics?

Cinematics gives server owners and map-makers a simple workflow to produce in-game camera transitions that feel professional. Common use cases include:
  • Server trailers — fly your camera through spawn, arenas, or custom biomes to produce lobby flyovers visible to every player who joins.
  • Event intros — kick off tournaments, boss fights, or seasonal events with a dramatic pan-and-zoom that builds anticipation.
  • Story moments — pair Cinematics with dialogue plugins to create cutscene-style sequences for adventure maps and role-play servers.
  • Build showcases — guide viewers through large constructions without them having to navigate on their own.
Because recordings are saved to disk, they can be reused, shared, and triggered programmatically — making Cinematics a versatile building block in any server’s content pipeline.

How it Works

The Cinematics workflow follows three simple stages:
  1. Record — walk (or fly) the path you want the camera to follow. Cinematics captures each position and viewing angle as a sequence of frames.
  2. Save — when you finish recording, the path is persisted to disk so it survives server restarts and can be managed later.
  3. Play — trigger the cinematic at any time; the camera smoothly interpolates along the recorded path for a fluid transition.
All functionality is exposed through the /cinematic root command and its subcommands (record, play, list, info, delete). No configuration files need to be edited to get started.

Requirements

RequirementDetails
Server softwarePaper or Folia
Minecraft version1.21 or newer (targets 1.21.5)
Java versionJava 21 or newer
Folia support✅ Fully supported
Spigot / CraftBukkit❌ Not supported
Cinematics is compiled against the Paper API (apiVersion: 1.21) and makes use of Paper-specific lifecycle events for command registration, so it will not load on Spigot or CraftBukkit.

Versioning & Status

DetailValue
Current version0.1.0
Development stageEarly / active development
LicenseGPL-3.0
AuthorNonSwag / TheNextLvl-net
Plugin pageHangar
Because Cinematics is at v0.1.0, some subcommands are stubs that will be fully implemented in upcoming releases. The core record, play, list, info, and delete commands are registered and the recording lifecycle is actively being built out.

Next Steps

Installation

Download the JAR and add it to your Paper or Folia server in minutes.

Quickstart

Record your first camera path and play it back in under five minutes.

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