Re: Can't move Camera when Sims taking photos

@simcastaway83 

So, the issue is with only the tripod camera, and you can take one photo then it locks up and won't let you change the view, either zoom or rotation.  Do I have that right?  Can you still take the 10 photos that are available?  And are you having any trouble exiting the camera using the X in the upper right of the camera view screen?  Lastly, does the problem happen in a mod free game?  

I haven't used the tripod in a while.  I just use the handhelds for my photos, so I am going to test using the tripod and see if it happens then.  I'll get back to you after I do a little testing.

One thing I do know though, is the photo taking process has quite a bit of lag in it at times, especially if you spam taking several in a row.  I've also noticed that the game seems to really get laggy now since the L&D prepatch where my sims just stand there for longer than used to, especially if you just loaded in/traveled, etc. but also at other times as well like when you come out of the camera screen.   I wonder if what you are seeing is related to that and if the camera is sort of freezing up for a longer time than it did before.  So, another question.  If you let it just sit for 30 seconds or so, does the ability to adjust for the next photo come back?  What I'm getting at is, is it freezing up completely or has it become just awfully slow.  

Hope this helps.

It happens with any camera, with the tripod or without. I am able to move it initially, but once I take the first picture, it will not allow me to re-adjust. I can still take the maximum photos. And I still rotate or zoom. I just can’t click the viewfinder and move its location. Does that make sense? 
it does happen without mods. I tried removing them. I also tried removing the entire Sims 4 folder to get rid of any bad saves. I even tried uninstalling the game and starting from scratch. But nothing fixed it. At times I have noticed lagging. Almost like the viewfinder is a little hard to control. And today I noticed my sim standing there forever and not taking the photo 

@simcastaway83 

Ok.  So, let me make sure I understand you correctly.  The camera works and opens the photo screen.  You can zoom in/out, you can rotate on the tripod, you can take either 5 or 10 photos without having to close the camera screen depending on if you use the handheld alone or handheld/tripod combination.  And can you exit the photo screen by either clicking the X in the upper right corner of the photo screen or after taking the 5th or 10th photo, again depending on if you use the handheld alone or the handheld/tripod combination.  So, if all that is what you are getting, everything is going the way it should so far.

And there's one more thing about taking photos and from you've said, this seems to be your main issue. When you open the camera screen, can you rotate 360 degrees horizontal and about 180 degrees vertically (straight down to straight up) around your point of view (POV)?   Keep in mind that the view you get is from the height of the sim's eyes who is taking the photo so the initial POV you get is the same as is it for a RL person more or less.  If a sim is standing, the POV will be higher than if the sim is sitting.  To change that view, all you have to do is click anywhere on the photo screen once, rotate as you like, then click the photo screen again, just once, to freeze the position. If you double click either time, either the photo screen does not move or conversely, doesn't hold its position.  If you open the photo screen and hit the take picture button to take a picture, it does auto freeze the photo screen on the initial POV.  I find that many times, the initial view will be pointing in odd directions due the way the sim was holding their head at the time the photo screen opened so you have to adjust it. That's normal though.

So, what happens when you click on the photo screen?  Is it not releasing and letting you rotate the entire view around and up and down? 

Hope this helps.

You’ve described it perfectly in the bolded text. I can initially move the camera around and take a photo or multiple photos.  But when I click once anywhere in the photo screen to change the view, it remains locked/frozen and I cannot move it. So basically, the single click anywhere to readjust will not work. The only way to readjust is close the camera with the “x”, give the command to the sim again and start over. 

@simcastaway83    Ok then.  I did some testing yesterday and this morning and everything works fine for me.  Tried it with both the expensive handheld using the option you get on the camera while it's in the sim's inventory and using it mounted on the tripod.  I was able to take a photo, click on the screen, rotate the view, click another photo, rinse and repeat.  Had no problems whatsoever.

So, since everything works ok for me and I can't replicate the issue, there are only a couple of things I suggest you try.  First, make sure it's not just a single sim with the problem.  Try having another sim in the household try taking a photo to rule out if it might be something glitched with that sim.  If it happens with another sim in same household, then try with another sim in a different household.  Once you know if it affects a sim or sims in one household or multiple households and it still happens, then test in a new save.    Just to rule out mods, also move your mods folder to your desktop while you test.  The point of this testing is to narrow down the problem to see if it is the game glitching or if is something in that particular save.  Sometimes, a problem will only show up in one save.  

Another thing you can do is delete the localthumbcache file before you start testing.  Sometimes, deleting that file will fix things.  You'd be surprised how often that will fix things that you wouldn't think would be connected to the thumbnails, but it does.

Another thing you can try is another repair.  I have found that sometimes running a game repair won't fix a problem the first time but doing it twice and even a third time will.

And lastly, I have also found that low batteries in the mouse, if you use a wireless mouse, will give you clicking issues with the game.  This could be an inadvertant double clicking thing where you don't realize it is happening.  So, you could try replacing the batteries in your mouse.  While you're at it, make sure your mouse is clean.  I'm bad about snacking while I play the game and have crumbs, etc. get lodged in the mouse, usually around the center mouse wheel from time to time.  Not often but it's happened several times over the years.  So, it won't hurt to take a look just in case.  You can try another mouse too if you have one.

Hope this helps.

Prior to posting here, I did try with multiple Sims, multiple worlds and multiple saves and it happened in all of them. I also tried removing my Mods, repairing the game and even uninstalling and starting over without any saves or mods. Unfortunately, the problem persisted. I tried deleting the folder that you mentioned and did another repair, but still no luck ☹️ I have no idea what is going on. As far as I know, my mouse is ok. there doesn't seem to be any issues. I have a Mac and the mouse rechargeable, so I don't think it's the battery. Unfortunately, I don't have another Mac mouse to try. I'm starting to wonder if there is a mouse setting that may be causing it, but not sure what that would be. Everything else driven by the mouse in the game works just fine. I have no idea how to fix it. I appreciate all your help. Is there a way to contact EA for technical support? I haven't had any luck finding that either

@simcastaway83 

Here is the link to EA Tech Support.

EA Player Help Services - Top Issues

Hope this helps.

Are you using Windows? I never had the issue running Windows, but the camera glitch started when I switched to a Mac. I figured out how it works by clicking the thin border of the camera, although it's super touchy when I do it because I'm using my trackpad.