CameraComponent — s&box camera API reference

CameraComponent is s&box’s primary rendering component. Attach it to any GameObject to define a viewpoint — it controls projection, clipping planes, background color, post-processing, and HUD rendering. Every scene needs at least one active camera. This page covers all properties and methods available on CameraComponent.

Adding a camera

Add CameraComponent to a GameObject in the editor or create it in code.

var go = new GameObject( "Main Camera" );
var cam = go.Components.Create<CameraComponent>();
cam.FieldOfView = 90;
cam.ZNear = 10;
cam.ZFar = 8000;

Properties

Projection

FieldOfView

float

default:"60"

The horizontal (or vertical) field of view in degrees. Valid range is 1–179. Has no effect when Orthographic is true.

FovAxis

Axis

default:"Horizontal"

Controls which screen axis FieldOfView is measured along. Axis.Horizontal fits the view within the horizontal extent of the screen; Axis.Vertical fits it vertically.

Orthographic

bool

default:"false"

When true, the camera uses orthographic projection instead of perspective. FieldOfView and FovAxis have no effect.

OrthographicHeight

float

default:"1204"

The world-space height of the orthographic view frustum. Only relevant when Orthographic is true.

ZNear

float

default:"10"

Near clip plane distance. Anything closer than this distance is not rendered. Keep this value at 5 or above — values below 1 cause z-fighting artifacts.

ZFar

float

default:"10000"

Far clip plane distance. Anything beyond this distance is not rendered. Sensible values are 1 000–30 000; you can push further by raising ZNear proportionally.

Camera priority and viewport

IsMainCamera

bool

default:"true"

Marks this camera as the main game camera. The scene exposes the highest-priority main camera via Scene.Camera.

Priority

int

default:"1"

Determines render order when multiple cameras are active. Higher values render on top. Range is 1–16.

Viewport

Vector4

default:"(0, 0, 1, 1)"

Normalized screen rectangle (x, y, width, height) in the 0–1 range. Use this to create split-screen or picture-in-picture effects.

ScreenRect

Rect

Read-only. The viewport rectangle in screen pixels, derived from Viewport and the current screen size (or CustomSize).

Appearance

BackgroundColor

Color

default:"#557685"

The solid color used to fill the background when no sky is present and ClearFlags includes ClearFlags.Color.

ClearFlags

default:"Color | Stencil | Depth"

Controls which buffers are cleared before rendering. Defaults to clearing color, stencil, and depth.

RenderTags

TagSet

Only objects whose tags match at least one tag in this set are rendered. Leave empty to render all objects.

RenderExcludeTags

TagSet

Objects whose tags match any tag in this set are excluded from rendering.

Render targets

RenderTarget

Texture

When set to a valid render-target texture, the camera outputs to that texture instead of the screen. Create one with Texture.CreateRenderTarget().

RenderTexture

RenderTextureAsset

An asset-based alternative to RenderTarget. Mipmaps are regenerated automatically after rendering when the texture has more than one mip level.

CustomSize

Vector2?

Optional override for the camera’s output size. When null, the camera uses the screen size or the render target’s size.

Post-processing

EnablePostProcessing

bool

default:"true"

Enables or disables post-processing for this camera. Disabling skips bloom, auto-exposure, volumetric fog, and all other post-process volumes.

PostProcessAnchor

GameObject

When set, post-process volumes are sampled from this object’s position instead of the camera’s position. Useful for third-person cameras.

Advanced projection

CustomProjectionMatrix

Matrix?

Optional override for the camera’s projection matrix. Set to null to use the standard perspective or orthographic matrix.

ProjectionMatrix

Matrix

Read-only. The current projection matrix, either the custom one or the computed standard matrix.

TargetEye

StereoTargetEye

default:"None"

The HMD eye this camera targets. Use StereoTargetEye.None for the main monitor (companion window).

HUD and overlay

CameraComponent exposes two HudPainter accessors for immediate-mode drawing directly into the camera’s output.

Hud

HudPainter

A painter that draws before post-processing. Use this for in-world overlays that should be affected by post-process effects.

Overlay

HudPainter

A painter that draws on top of everything, including the UI. Useful for debug visualizations and always-visible HUD elements.

Both painters are reset at the start of every frame, so you must re-draw each tick.

// Draw a crosshair before post-processing
protected override void OnUpdate()
{
    var center = Screen.Size / 2;
    Camera.Hud.DrawCircle( center, 4, Color.White );
}

Hud and Overlay are component-level properties — access them on your CameraComponent reference, not statically.

Methods

Screen-space utilities

PointToScreenNormal( Vector3 worldPosition )

Vector2

Converts a world-space position to normalized screen coordinates (0–1 range).

PointToScreenPixels( Vector3 worldPosition )

Vector2

Converts a world-space position to screen pixel coordinates.

PointToScreenPixels( Vector3 worldPosition, out bool isBehind )

Vector2

Like the overload above, but also outputs isBehind — true when the point is behind the camera.

BBoxToScreenPixels( BBox bounds, out bool isBehind )

Rect

Computes the screen-space bounding rectangle that fully contains the given world-space BBox. Sets isBehind when all corners are behind the camera or off-screen.

ScreenPixelToRay( Vector2 pixelPosition )

Ray

Returns a world-space ray from the camera through the given screen pixel. Use this for mouse picking.

ScreenNormalToRay( Vector3 normalPosition )

Ray

Like ScreenPixelToRay but accepts normalized screen coordinates.

ScreenToWorld( Vector2 screen )

Vector3

Converts a screen position to a world-space point on the near frustum plane.

Frustum

GetFrustum()

Frustum

Returns the view frustum for the current viewport.

GetFrustum( Rect screenRect )

Frustum

Returns the view frustum for a custom pixel rectangle within the viewport.

GetFrustum( Rect screenRect, Vector3 screenSize )

Frustum

Returns the view frustum with a custom screen-size reference. Pass Vector3.One to use normalized coordinates.

Rendering to a texture

RenderToTexture( Texture target, in ViewSetup config = default )

bool

Renders the scene from this camera’s viewpoint into target. Returns false if target is null or invalid. Use a texture created with Texture.CreateRenderTarget().

RenderToBitmap( Bitmap targetBitmap )

void

Renders the scene into a Bitmap. The bitmap must be at least 2×2 pixels.

Projection helpers

CalculateObliqueMatrix( Plane clipPlane )

Matrix

Computes a projection matrix with an oblique near clip plane defined in world space. Useful for portal or mirror rendering.

UpdateSceneCamera( SceneCamera camera, bool includeTags = true )

void

Pushes all settings from this component onto a SceneCamera instance. Called automatically each frame; useful when you manage your own SceneCamera.

Usage examples

Mouse picking
World-to-screen
Render to texture

var ray = Camera.ScreenPixelToRay( Mouse.Position );
var result = Scene.Trace.Ray( ray, 5000 ).Run();

if ( result.Hit )
{
    Log.Info( $"Hit: {result.GameObject?.Name}" );
}

var screenPos = Camera.PointToScreenPixels( enemy.WorldPosition, out bool behind );

if ( !behind )
{
    Camera.Overlay.DrawText( screenPos, "Enemy" );
}

var rt = Texture.CreateRenderTarget()
    .WithSize( 512, 512 )
    .Finish();

Camera.RenderTarget = rt;
// Camera now renders into rt each frame instead of the screen

Rendering guide

Overview of s&box’s rendering pipeline and how cameras fit in.

UI panels

Building HUD panels with ScreenPanel and Razor UI.

Light components

DirectionalLight, PointLight, SpotLight, and environment probes.

Shaders guide

Writing custom shaders and reading render attributes from cameras.

Scene & Objects

Built-in Components

Systems

CameraComponent — s&box camera API reference

Adding a camera

Properties

Projection

Camera priority and viewport

Appearance

Render targets

Post-processing

Advanced projection

HUD and overlay

Methods

Screen-space utilities

Frustum

Rendering to a texture

Projection helpers

Usage examples

Rendering guide

UI panels

Light components

Shaders guide

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Scene & Objects

Built-in Components

Systems

Documentation Index

​Adding a camera

​Properties

​Projection

​Camera priority and viewport

​Appearance

​Render targets

​Post-processing

​Advanced projection

​HUD and overlay

​Methods

​Screen-space utilities

​Frustum

​Rendering to a texture

​Projection helpers

​Usage examples

​Related pages

Rendering guide

UI panels

Light components

Shaders guide

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Adding a camera

Properties

Projection

Camera priority and viewport

Appearance

Render targets

Post-processing

Advanced projection

HUD and overlay

Methods

Screen-space utilities

Frustum

Rendering to a texture

Projection helpers

Usage examples

Related pages