Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Camera Angles in Dialogue

It was nice to see the chiropractor step in for the recent cinematic update!

My one big suggestion on camera angles (and many RPGs get this wrong) -- Please do not just leave the camera sitting on whatever character is doing the talking. Half the story is the reaction of whoever is listening. Movies often let the camera linger on actors who are NOT speaking, especially when the things being said are of importance to them or have emotional impact.

Currently in BG3 we just watch whoever is peaking, getting no reactions. If you know the classic "Spielburg shot" you'll understand that reactions are often more important than what is being said. Please add variety to the camera by giving us reactions. It will up the quality tremendously.

For this to work, the listeners have to be doing something. That bard performing a song got a cinematic overhaul in this latest update... but the listeners stood wooden, looking terribly bored. It totally kills the whole thing. Some of them should sit down, or lean against a rock. They should appear to ponder or listen to her song. Instead they look like prisoners, bored and wishing they could be somewhere else. It makes the singer come off terrible.

While I would appreciate some more cinematic shots, especially during important conversations, it is very easy for it to be implemented poorly. A static shot might be a bit boring, but it's wayyy better than someone doing the absolute most by setting up "cool" shots that don't do much for the conversation other than confusing the player.

+1 on adding more idle/listening animations. So far I feel that the player character moves pretty naturally in most conversations, but seeing Shadoweart or Gale practically t-pose in the background gets creepy, and old, fast.

Mass Effect (Especially 2 & 3) did a very good job of implementing these sorts of camera angles. For ME2, if you watch the companion conversations on the ship, they are very dynamic. Our campfire scenes should be done this well at the very least, since we're 10 years more advanced now.