The in-game debug overlay for the plugin. In PIE (or in a packaged build launched with a development configuration), open the console and type:

showdebug camera

The command toggles a multi-section overlay anchored to the top-left of the viewport. Each section covers a subsystem of the PCM — camera pose, the running camera, the context stack, active actions, and modifiers. This page documents what each section prints and how to read it.

The overlay is implemented by AComposableCameraPlayerCameraManager::DisplayDebug. Calling showdebug with any custom category routes through Unreal's DebugDisplay dispatch and that override is where all the output comes from — so if you're staring at unexpected text, the canonical reference is ComposableCameraPlayerCameraManager.cpp.

Color schema¶

The overlay uses four colors to separate structure from data:

Headers use the engine's large font; content uses the default size.

Section-by-section¶

Camera Pose¶

The top-level header. Prints the final, PCM-output pose the viewport is using this frame.

Camera Pose
    Position:  X=1234.56 Y=789.01 Z=123.45
    Rotation:  P=-10.00 Y=45.00 R=0.00
    FOV:       85.0
    Aspect:    1.778

• Position / Rotation are the FComposableCameraPose produced by the current evaluation (after transitions, modifiers, everything).
• FOV is GetEffectiveFieldOfView() — the pose's own FOV, not the PCM cache's.
• Aspect comes from CurrentPOV.AspectRatio, i.e. the final view info after Unreal's downstream composition.

If Position is (0, 0, 0) and FOV is 0, no pose has been produced yet — the PCM is still in its pre-first-tick state, or the running camera is failing to produce a valid output.

Running Camera¶

The camera currently at the head of the active context's evaluation tree.

Running Camera: CCS_FollowCamera
    Tag:  Gameplay.ThirdPerson.Follow
    Life: 2.35 / 3.00s remaining          ← only if transient
  Camera Nodes (4)
    [ 0] Receive Pivot Actor
    [ 1] Camera Offset
    [ 2] Look At
    [ 3] Field Of View
  Compute Nodes (2)
    [ 0] Compute Distance To Actor
    [ 1] Compute Random Offset
  Exposed Parameters (3)
    FOV                      = 85.0
    OffsetDistance           = 350.0
    LookAtWeight             = 0.75
  Variables (2)
    DistanceToTarget         = 342.12
    BumpTimer                = 1.23

• Header shows the type asset's name. If there's no type asset (rare — usually transient fallback cameras), it falls back to the camera's CameraTag, then to (unknown).
• Tag is the camera's CameraTag gameplay tag. (none) means the type asset didn't declare one.
• Life only appears for transient cameras. Format is Remaining / Total seconds. Watch this tick down on a cinematic intro if you want to verify the auto-pop timer.
• Camera Nodes is the ordered evaluation chain on the running camera. Numbers are array indices. Empty slots (null nodes) are skipped in the display but counted into the chain position — so a gap in numbering means a node was nulled out during serialization.
• Compute Nodes is the same idea for compute nodes (non-pose-producing). The section only appears if there's at least one compute node — cameras with none just skip it.
• Exposed Parameters are the type asset's external parameters, each printed with its resolved runtime value. (unresolved) means the parameter is declared but has no offset in the runtime data block — which is a bug worth investigating.
• Variables lists internal and exposed variables together. Names come from InternalVariableOffsets; types are looked up in the merged map of internal + exposed variable declarations.

If there's no running camera, the whole body is replaced with (none) in orange.

Context Stack & Evaluation Tree¶

Prints the context stack's own debug string, indented one level for consistency with the rest of the overlay.

Context Stack & Evaluation Tree
    [Context] Gameplay (active)
      └─ Director:  (type asset summary)
          └─ (evaluation tree summary)
    [Context] Cutscene (pending destroy)
      └─ (reference-leaf tree)

The exact format is controlled by UComposableCameraContextStack::BuildDebugString — the PCM just forwards the lines it produces. That's where to look if you want to understand a specific line; this section does not add interpretation.

This is the section you use to diagnose context leaks (a UI context you thought was popped still showing up on the stack) and stuck reference leaves (a pending destroy entry that should've collapsed after a transition finished but didn't).

Camera Actions¶

A flat list of currently-active actions on the PCM.

Camera Actions
    ComposableCameraMoveToAction (camera-scoped)
    ComposableCameraRotateToAction (persistent)

Each entry shows the class name and whether bOnlyForCurrentCamera is true:

• (camera-scoped) — the action will expire when the current camera transitions away.
• (persistent) — the action survives camera transitions and keeps running until completion or explicit cancellation.

(none) means the action list is empty.

See the Blueprint API → Actions section for the lifetime model behind these flags.

Modifiers¶

Printed by BuildModifierDebugString. Has two sub-sections:

All Modifiers¶

Every modifier currently registered with the manager, grouped by camera tag → node class → individual modifier entry.

All Modifiers
    [Camera Tag] Gameplay.ThirdPerson:
            [Camera Node] ComposableCameraFieldOfViewNode:
                    [Modifier] BP_SprintFOVBump_C from [Asset]DA_Sprint with priority 10
                    [Modifier] BP_ZoomFOV_C from [Asset]DA_Zoom with priority 5
            [Camera Node] ComposableCameraControlRotateNode:
                    [Modifier] BP_AimRotateDamping_C from [Asset]DA_Aim with priority 20

This is the raw registration view — all modifiers the manager knows about, not just the ones currently winning their priority contest. Useful for checking that a modifier asset was actually added via AddModifier.

Effective Modifiers¶

The resolved set — one winning modifier per node class on the currently running camera.

Effective Modifiers
    [Camera Node] ComposableCameraFieldOfViewNode:
            [Modifier] BP_SprintFOVBump_C from [Asset] DA_Sprint with priority 10
    [Camera Node] ComposableCameraControlRotateNode:
            [Modifier] BP_AimRotateDamping_C from [Asset] DA_Aim with priority 20

Compare to All Modifiers above: BP_ZoomFOV_C is registered but loses the priority contest on FieldOfViewNode, so it doesn't appear here.

This is the section to check when a modifier seems registered but isn't affecting the pose — if it's in All Modifiers but not Effective Modifiers, a higher-priority modifier is shadowing it.

Tips¶

• Toggle off with the same command. showdebug camera is a toggle, not a switch — typing it again hides the overlay.
• It's PIE-safe but not editor-safe. The overlay requires a live PCM; it draws nothing in the editor viewport before PIE has started. Use it during gameplay, not asset authoring.
• Build type matters. DisplayDebug is stripped in Shipping builds. Debug, Development, and Test all print.
• Other engine overlays still work. You can combine showdebug camera with showdebug ai, showdebug input, etc. The plugin's overlay stacks below whatever engine overlay is already up.
• Don't parse this output. The format is for humans. If you need programmatic access to the same data, go through the subsystem directly — PCM->RunningCamera, PCM->ContextStack, PCM->ModifierManager->GetModifierData().

See also¶

• Blueprint API — how to query the same state programmatically
• Context Stack — the model behind the stack section
• Modifiers — the model behind the modifier resolution