---
title: "Third-person follow camera and platformer jump movement"
description: "The camera trails a visible avatar and the avatar walks, runs, and jumps over a ground plane or platforms. Use `CharacterMovementComponent` for arcade-feeling kinematic motion; reach for a `RigidBodyComponent` only when you want full dynamic Rapier physics (see physics-colliders-rigidbodies)."
engineVersion: v1.0.234
date: 2026-09-28
license: "(c) Gessa, proprietary. Cite with attribution to https://gessa.ai/docs/. Terms: https://gessa.ai/terms/."
canonical: https://gessa.ai/docs/knowledge/playbooks/third-person-and-platformer-movement/
---

# Third-person follow camera and platformer jump movement

## When to use

The camera trails a visible avatar and the avatar walks, runs, and jumps over a
ground plane or platforms. Use `CharacterMovementComponent` for arcade-feeling
kinematic motion; reach for a `RigidBodyComponent` only when you want full
dynamic Rapier physics (see physics-colliders-rigidbodies).

## The recipe

1. Create the avatar entity (`project_create_entity`) with `TransformComponent`,
   a `RenderableComponent` `{ "type":"RenderableComponent", "visible":true,
   "shape":"capsule", "renderSpace":"world" }`, and a `ColliderComponent`
   (capsule, `collision: "solid"`).
2. Attach `CharacterMovementComponent`
   `{ "type":"CharacterMovementComponent", "enableKcc": true, "maxSpeed": 7,
   "gravity": 22, "jumpSpeed": 9, "groundY": 0 }`. `gravity` and `jumpSpeed`
   are the vertical motor; `groundY` is the resting floor height.
3. Create a SECOND entity for the camera with its own `TransformComponent` and a
   `CameraComponent`. Set `followEntityId` to the avatar's entity id and tune
   `followOffset` `{ "x":0, "y":6, "z":10 }` (behind and above) and
   `followSmoothing` (0..1; higher lags more). Optionally set `lookAtEntityId`
   to the avatar so the camera keeps it centered.
4. Bind a jump input: add a `boolean` action (for example `player.jump`) to the
   avatar's `InputProfileComponent` with `policy.effectSystem: "movement"` and a
   `keyboard` `Space` binding, following the default profile shape.
5. For platform hazards or moving platforms, give those entities a
   `ColliderComponent` (`collision: "solid"`) and, for movers, a
   `NetworkProfileComponent` `{ "type":"NetworkProfileComponent",
   "interpolation":"smooth" }` so remote clients see fluid motion.

## Pitfalls

- `followSmoothing` is clamped 0..1. Values near 1 make the camera feel like it
  is on a rubber band; 0.1 to 0.2 reads tight. Default is 0.15.
- `CharacterMovementComponent` has replication policy None: it is authored
  config consumed identically by client predictor and server authority. Do not
  expect it to appear in replicated snapshots.
- Do not author `VelocityComponent` to launch a jump; it is a hidden internal
  runtime lane. Configure `jumpSpeed` on movement, or from a script call
  `ctx.physics.command` with `{ type: "launch" }`.
- The follow camera must be a different entity from the avatar, or `followOffset`
  has nothing to offset from.

## Verify

- `project_get_graph_snapshot` to confirm the camera entity's `followEntityId`
  resolves to the avatar id.
- `simulation_run` to prove the avatar jumps and lands at `groundY`.
- `qa_capture_renderer_viewport` to confirm the avatar is framed by the follow
  camera.