I have a panoramic movie scene in a game of mine that is set in wide restricted mode (3/4 of the screen is visible at high resolutions). Here''s the setup: 1. It''s a landscape with some trees. At the center of the panoramic shot are three soldiers. 2. I am trying to sweep ACROSS and AROUND the soldiers for a period of time, and then rotate up above the field. 3. After the upward rotation, the view spirals inward around the soldiers, while at the same time zooming in, at 5% every three seconds. Here''s the problem(s): 1. The center of motion is a counter hyperbolic heloid (looks like a twisted slinky wrapped around an arc). With 3/4''s view, the upper 1/8 and lower 1/8 of the view must NOT be accounted for in the calculations for the zoom ratios. I have NOT been able to do some things...read on. 2. I CANNOT calculate the flux of the hyperbolic heloid in less than 100% view. My zoom scales are in spherical coordinates, and 3/4''s of a sphere cannot be zoomed into the center of a spherical coordiate. 3. I CAN, however, calculate zoom ratios with polar coordinates for the upper and lower 1/8''s of the view, BUT, I would need to adjust the sperical flux for the counter balance from the polar results. 4. As the view zooms in AND downward, the timing of the spiral needs to coincide with the movements of the soldiers (i.e., I can''t zoom and wobble; the motion needs to follow the center of the soldiers once I start to move the center of view). I simply have NOT been able to adjust the triple integral for the flux of the spherical center of the soldiers. I have what follows: SnSrSvdxdydz, where: n is the region bounded by the flux of the center of view and the center of motion, r is the region bounded by the distance from the main view to the soldiers, and v is the region bounded by the sprial effect and the center of motion of the soldiers. After integrating, I come up with some partial fractions and a NEGATIVE flux value. Flux CAN''T be negative if motion is forward (remember...I am zooming IN, not OUT). So there you have it. Now the question....How can I balance the motion of the camera with the motion of the zoom spiral WITHOUT making the inward movment be affected by the timing of the zoom and the center of the soldiers?

I have a fair amount of camera experience but can''t understand your post. I don''t know what a heloid is, what ''flux'' means in this context, how you can have ''zoom scales in sperical (sic) coordinates'', what use triple integrals are for camera motion, etc. It looks like an interesting and relevant topic but judging from the lack of replies I''m not the only person here who has difficultly understanding what you asking.