Spectator Tool

The Spectator tool is an extension of Spectator Mode that advanced players can use as "camera men" when recording cinematic game videos. Streamers, multimedia artists, machinima directors etc. can even combine the camera positioning features of the Spectator Tool with the actor management features of the Replay Tool.

Open the Admin Screen by pressing ALT-F10 key, and find the Spectator Tool user interface in the menu. Using this tool expects that you understand how to use Spectator Mode, so look at that first.

Note: Each player has only one camera, so if you want to record a long shot or timelapse, you cannot control the engineer character in first person at the same time. You still need a second player account to log in and record its point of view. The Spectator Tool does not add additional cameras.

How to Record Video?

This page is not about tools that record game video or take screenshots, it's only about how to position the one camera that we have in Space Engineers. For actual recording, use third-party software of your choice, such as OBS, NVIDIA ShadowPlay, or the Windows Game Bar.

Tip: Hide on-screen warnings, and consider hiding signals, or even hiding the whole HUD before recording. For more best practices see Replay Tool.

How to prepare cameras for cinematic shots

In the ideal case, you have written a script or storyboard that describes the planned scene and camera positions needed.

1. Press F8 key and use Spectator Mode to position your camera.
2. Look at a target character/grid and press NUMPAD* key to lock the camera to follow the target.
   The screen now says "spectating X, follow mode" or similar.
3. Press CTRL+NUMPAD<NUMBER> key to save the current camera position and target in this numbered slot.
4. Press CTRL+ASTERISK key to exit the camera config mode. (?)

You can preconfigure 1 to 10 camera positions.

How to Choose a camera mode

1. Press ALT+F10 key and open the Spectator Tool screen from the menu.
2. View the list of saved camera positions assigned to NUMPAD0 key to NUMPAD9 key. Note in your script which number you have assigned to which grid/character.
3. Choose a Camera Mode for each camera:
   • None
   • Free
   • Follow -- looks at the target and follows it.
   • Orbit -- follows the target and lets you manually rotate the view around the target with the mouse.
4. Optionally, set a Camera Smoothness between 0.0 - 1.0.

How to Switch Cameras While Recording

After you have set up your cameras, use the configured shortcuts to switch between cameras during a recording!

• Press NUMPAD<NUMBER X> key to switch to the camera in slot X.
  (Works only in Free/Follow/Orbit mode.)
• Press NUMPAD+ key or NUMPAD- key to focus on next or previous player.
• Press NUMPAD/ key to switch to next camera mode.
  It cycles none->free->follow->orbit->none.

Related Community Blogs

• How To Record A Cinematic Video in Space Engineers by Good Mushy Onion