The Camera Man never gets Enough Credit
After 3 years, I’ve covered and rehashed an uncountable number of topics. It’s truly a testament to the art of tanking and this game in general that I can still click these keys. It’s especially surprising to me that I’ve never took the time to pay tribute to the camera man. Sure, we’ve hinted at the help he offers, but we’ve never really stopped to say thank you.
No one asks about him.
The Taken for Granted
Hold down your left mouse button and start moving.
No doubt, if you’ve tanked for any length of time, you’ve at least accidentally mucked with your camera angle. Have you utilized it though? We’re past the point where I should have to say it, but in a world where threat just isn’t that important anymore, you really should stop worrying about it.
Stop focusing on what you are tanking and start focusing on what you will be tanking.
You’re only holding yourself back by keeping the camera exclusively pointed at your back. Remember, you don’t actually have to be facing a target to taunt it.
A Look at the Big Picture
/script SetCVar(”cameraDistanceMax”,50)
It’s certainly not the first time this script has been posted on this site and it’s unlikely to be the last. It’s not by mistake that I’ve went years and years following around a miniature Veneretio barely able to tell the difference between one dark shoulder upgrade or the next.
A raid is for tanking not admiring. You’re only hindering yourself by zooming in on your character.
You won’t miss it
When people learn that I use my mousewheel to Heroic Strike, I’m often asked… How do you zoom in and out then? I don’t.
Initially, I think it was laziness more than anything else, but one day led to the next and before I knew it… I didn’t care. I realized that I really didn’t ever need to zoom in with my character. Sure, I can’t admire the newest shield that dropped quite as easily anymore, but in a raid, where it really counts, nothing has changed. Well I shouldn’t say that, something has.
I get to actually use my mousewheel. Easily, one of the best keybindings a player has at their disposal.
How do I use my camera?
Just try.
There’s really not a whole lot to it other than practice. You’re going to make mistakes. It’s certainly awkward when you’re staring at your character and left is right and right is left, but you’ll get used to it. And you’ll thank me. Because as awkward as it might be, it’s a massive advantage once you’ve mastered it.
May 28th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Coming from FPS shooters. I like you use my camera to look in all directions while I move forward. When their are fights where the tank is up against the wall and the camera is looking at feet, I like to swing the camera around to look at my character from the front, so I can see more of the battle.
Also in the settings you can turn off the auto reset when you move so that it will hold the camera view. I find it handy in fire fights to point your camera directly above your character, looking down to see where a good place to stand.
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GronkerLonker reply on May 31, 2010 1:42 am:
There are things in the settings I haven’t discovered yet :D. I will set the auto reset to off this evening, curious on how it will feel.
Also there is an option since a few patches increasing the camera distance. Does anyone know how far the camera is set by this? Is the script still better?
As always good post, keep it going.
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May 28th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Argh, camera angles on valrithia! I did also end up reversing the camera and boy does it make me feel like a klutz having to do every movement as a mirror image.
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May 28th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Using your mouse-wheel as a keybind gives you 2 more easy to access ‘buttons’ effectly. I started with HS/Cleave but sinse then all my characters have something there and its all thanks to Ven.
If you still want to zoom in/out the easiest thing is to keybind it to shift+mouse wheel. It still useful to have as some vehicles (gunship guns for example) I find screw with my camara zoom when you get out/off.
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Kylgannon reply on May 29, 2010 8:38 am:
+1 on the shift+mousewheel for zoom
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Foxtrot reply on May 29, 2010 2:10 pm:
Nice plan, rebinding mine tonight. I find I zoom in/out a LOT depending on if I’m boss tanking or managing adds. I don’t know why I didn’t think of a modifier+MW before.
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The Anemianator reply on May 29, 2010 4:11 pm:
I actually use Shift+Mousewheel for that! But only for looking at my char, no practical uses for me at tanking. And also I bound Ctrl+Mousewheel to move between Action Bars, for easier access to mounts/professions/whatever, Heroic Strike on MW Up, Shield Block on MW Down (since it’s a bit uncomfortable for my hand to spam that specific keybind) and ‘zerk Rage on middle button.
Markos reply on June 1, 2010 9:38 am:
using the mouse wheel actually gives 3 more buttons for binding, that number jumps to 6 if you are comfortable with a single modifier.
Mouse Wheel Up
Mouse Wheel Down
Mouse Wheel Click
I like MW U, and bloodrage S-MW U
Demo MW D, Challenging Shift MW-D
with TC on MW Click and SW on Shift MW Click
ended up binding the ‘Home’ and ‘End’ keys for zooming
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Ghuyter reply on June 2, 2010 10:24 am:
I like this shift mouse wheel for zoom, i dont use modifiers much(small hands), but this one looks good.
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May 29th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
I never thought id actually switch to using mousewheel as my heroic strike spam, but now I dont feel any onset of carpel tunnel so its all good.
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May 29th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I’ve been using the mouse wheel for HS/Cleave as well, scrolling up = HS, and down = Cleave.
I also use shift-scroll, for battle and commanding shout.
I bound ctrl-scroll to the camera, might I ever need it. For example when you’re tanking in a room with flags covering the walls etc, where the camera might get “stuck” behind.
While tanking a big boss close to a wall, I usually turn my camera to the side of me. This does not only give me a cool view of the fight, but I also get to see what the rest of the raid is doing.
Looking from behind my char will only show me the front of the boss, obscuring my view. But turning the camera 180 degrees obscures my view aswell, as the boss will sit in front of my camera.
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May 29th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Couple this with some mouseover macros and you’re golden.
#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover]Taunt; Taunt
Put vigi on another tank and you can get your nails done even on Arthas fase 3.
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May 31st, 2010 at 8:27 am
Ok, for ez keybind Zoom in and out…. use either Shift/mousewheel or even control or alt mousewheel.
I use the mousewheel to target next enemy/previous enemy and have shift mousewheel for zoom in and out.
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June 1st, 2010 at 7:07 am
really helpful on festergut H and gunship. I like being able to see the moment guns are un-iced and prep my jump location so i dont dilly-dally on bronzebeard with 150% dmg buff. Festergut of course it is helpful to call out slimes for the inattentive dps. and because the angle is too close if you tank him in the usual spot (lback against eft wall)
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June 1st, 2010 at 3:35 pm
I remember one time I was tanking some raid or other in BC and complaining about not being able to see anything and one of the other tanks told me the script to max my zoom out and that helped so much. Plus heroic strike spam. Mouse wheel is so much more useful when not used for zoom.
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June 2nd, 2010 at 12:43 am
I thought this is pretty much elementary knowledge learned in Deadmines or Wailing Caverns.
Especially for tanks, how else could you be aware of patrols who are just about to jump someone by coming in agro range? How else could you see where adds spawn during fights? Or where your party/raid members are at any given moment? Or…
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June 2nd, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I have to admit - I’ve never done anything but zoom with the mouse scroll wheel. Zoom a bit further in so the nameplates make sense (and I might notice that bloody mob that snuck behind my back in PoS).
The camera zoom doesn’t seem to be granular/linear enough for me, so I have to keep adjusting a bit once I zoom in more as to not “overshoot” - I think *when* I zoom, I still need to hit my abilities, so I can’t really shift-zoom (that’s probably just me and my finger non-coordination plus a tiny shift-key).
Flags (damn you, ToC). Outcroppings. Stuff that hangs from the ceiling (sunken temple anyone?) Low ceilings where the camera goes wild when not adjusted. And many more
By default, I’m far enough out to have a large field of vision, but I can’t tell the difference between the DK DPS and my Pally co-tank. Thank god for raid markers!
And yes, I do swing the camera around “frequently” - pretty much since “Prince” (OK, didn’t tank much before that time). That wall had a nasty inward-curve… And Blood Princes would make the casual observer dizzy, I bet
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June 3rd, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I dunno how you use heroic strike on mousewheel, I use target next target, target previous target, on scroll up/down. Now I can’t live without it.
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June 6th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Most modern mice also have a “scroll left” and “scroll right”, and I’ve started to bind strafe left and strafe right to those. I actually have all of my movement keys bound somewhere on my mouse, so the transition between keyboard movement and mouse movement becomes pretty seamless.
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June 9th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Last night, I realized that when I tank, I instinctively hold down the right mouse button almost all the time without even realizing it. It is just one of those habits that you start doing after tanking for a while, like dps who jump all the time.
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June 10th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Tanked Gnomeragan last night (I know, you all hate leveling… puny non-80’s!) and that is the WORST dungeon EVER! However, it wouldn’t have been so bad had i known about the key binding trick… i’m going to go with Cleave/Down and Taunt/Up. I never seem to be able to get a taunt off quick enough!
I find that I do look around a lot when tanking, however i’m in the dumb habit of turning the whole character, which in retrospect, is what caused our one and only wipe of the evening… i turned to pull from the healer, thereby turning my back on the adds, and got mowed down too quickly for the healer to help!
Good topic again! Most things on here are for end game tanking, but there is plenty for an up-and-comer like me to glean from the pro’s! BTW, as much as i like my enhance-shammy, Tanking is SO much more fun and exciting than DPS or Heals…
For the Horde!
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June 22nd, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Sorry I am late to the conversation but rare is the day that I have my camera at my back. I tend to always be on the lookout for any incoming mobs or patrols. Also by changing the camera angle I can get a much better look at what the group or raid is doing as a whole whereas if I have it on me only I can usually expect to only see a mash up of mobs faces and bodies or boss crotch.
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June 29th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
I saw a rouge vid where he is sprinting away from a group who are chasing him on horses.
He turned the camera around and used a distract behind him to 180 the 2 chasing him. Awesome!
From then on the camera was mastered and with every single class I rarely face my toon’s back. Esp. on my warrior
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July 22nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
i actually use my side scroll as target nearest enemy and target next. i can just hit it with my finger to cycle enemies to make sure i have aggro on them all. as far as taunt, i bind that to “F” so that i can hit it easily with my index finger. i rarely use the number bar as everything is set to my mouse for the most part…
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