Why does motion blur leave a smear on a hard camera cut?

Motion Blur uses the previous-frame view-projection matrix to compute per-pixel velocity. After a teleport, that matrix doesn't match the new view, producing a huge velocity vector everywhere — a smear. Call Camera.ResetPreviousMatrix on the cut frame.

How do I detect a cut?

On any code path that teleports the camera (cinematic cut, level transition, fast travel), set a flag and call ResetPreviousMatrix the next LateUpdate. Cinemachine triggers OnCameraCut implicitly on virtual camera switches.

Can I temporarily disable Motion Blur?

Yes, set the Volume override Active = false for one frame. Re-enable on the next frame. Visually clean, slightly hacky.

Fix: Unity Motion Blur Ghosting After Camera Cut

Quick answer: Call camera.ResetPreviousMatrix() on the frame of any cut/teleport. Cinemachine handles vcam switches via OnCameraCut. For one-off teleports, set a flag and reset on the next LateUpdate.

Cutscene snaps to a different angle. The first rendered frame after the cut shows everything streaked across the screen. Motion Blur thinks the world moved at 1000 m/s.

The Symptom

One-frame full-screen smear right after a camera teleport. Smooths out the next frame as Motion Blur stabilizes.

The Fix

public class CameraCut : MonoBehaviour
{
    public Camera cam;
    private bool _justCut;

    public void Teleport(Vector3 newPos, Quaternion newRot)
    {
        cam.transform.SetPositionAndRotation(newPos, newRot);
        _justCut = true;
    }

    void LateUpdate()
    {
        if (_justCut)
        {
            cam.ResetPreviousMatrix();
            _justCut = false;
        }
    }
}

ResetPreviousMatrix sets the previous-frame matrix equal to current. Velocity is zero; no smear.

Cinemachine

CinemachineBrain calls Camera.ResetPreviousMatrix on virtual camera cuts (impulse-priority change with no blend). For instant blends within Cinemachine you usually don’t need extra code.

Verifying

Trigger a teleport. Frame after the cut should be clean. Without the fix, full-screen blur for one frame.

“ResetPreviousMatrix on cut. No streak. Cinemachine does it for vcam switches.”

Related Issues

For Cinemachine blend, see blend jumps. For Volume blend, see Volume blend.

Reset previous. Cuts stay clean.