Camera Shake in Unity: A Simple and Effective Implementation

When it comes to adding that extra oomph to your Unity game, nothing sells impact quite like a good camera shake. Whether it's a massive explosion, an intense earthquake, or a hard-hitting punch, shaking the camera enhances immersion and makes the player feel the action.

In this post, we'll break down a simple yet powerful Cinemachine Camera Shake system that you can easily integrate into your Unity project.

Unity's Cinemachine is an amazing tool for handling in-game cameras. It gives you smooth transitions, dolly zooms, and best of all, built-in noise settings that make implementing camera shake a breeze.

Instead of manually modifying the camera's position or writing complex per-frame adjustments, CinemachineBasicMultiChannelPerlin does the heavy lifting by introducing procedural noise.

Here's a complete script to implement a dynamic camera shake in Unity using Cinemachine.

using System.Collections;
using Cinemachine;
using UnityEngine;

public class CinemachineShake : MonoBehaviour
{
    public static CinemachineShake cinemachineShake; // Singleton for easy access
    [SerializeField] private AnimationCurve animationCurve;
    [SerializeField] private float shakeIntensity;
    public CinemachineVirtualCamera cinemachineCamera;
    private CinemachineBasicMultiChannelPerlin noise;
    private bool isShaking = false;
    private void Awake()
    {
        if (cinemachineShake == null)
        {
            cinemachineShake = this;
            noise = cinemachineCamera.GetCinemachineComponent<CinemachineBasicMultiChannelPerlin>();
        }
        else
        {
            Destroy(gameObject);
        }
    }
    // Call this method to trigger the camera shake effect
    public void StartShakeCamera(float duration)
    {
        StartCoroutine(ShakeCamera(duration));
    }
    private IEnumerator ShakeCamera(float duration)
    {
        if (isShaking) yield break;
        float elapsedTime = 0f;
        isShaking = true;
        while (elapsedTime < duration)
        {
            elapsedTime += Time.deltaTime;
            float strength = animationCurve.Evaluate(elapsedTime / duration);
            noise.m_AmplitudeGain = shakeIntensity * strength;
            yield return null;
        }
        noise.m_AmplitudeGain = 0f;
        isShaking = false;
    }
}

Singleton Pattern

• The script uses a Singleton (cinemachineShake) to provide easy access from other scripts.

Cinemachine Setup

• A CinemachineVirtualCamera is assigned in the Inspector, and the CinemachineBasicMultiChannelPerlin component is used for the shake effect.

Shake Logic

• The camera shake effect is triggered using StartShakeCamera(float duration), which starts a coroutine to animate the shake over time.
• An AnimationCurve controls the intensity, allowing for smooth fading in and out.
• The noise.m_AmplitudeGain property determines the shake strength.

Preventing Overlapping Shakes

• The isShaking flag ensures only one shake happens at a time, preventing unintended intensity spikes.

1. Attach the script to a GameObject in your scene.
2. Assign your Cinemachine Virtual Camera in the Inspector.
3. Set an AnimationCurve for the shake effect (e.g., start strong and fade out).
4. Trigger the shake using the command below. This will shake the camera for 0.5 seconds.

CinemachineShake.cinemachineShake.StartShakeCamera(0.5f);

You can tweak the shake to match your game's feel:

• Adjust shakeIntensity for a stronger or weaker shake.
• Modify the AnimationCurve to fine-tune how the shake fades in/out.
• Experiment with m_AmplitudeGain and m_FrequencyGain in Cinemachine for different effects.

Camera shake is a simple but powerful way to enhance feedback in your game. With this Cinemachine Shake system, you can easily create immersive effects for explosions, collisions, and more. Try it out, tweak the parameters, and let your game feel more alive than ever!