Mastering Character Animation in Unity 3D with Code

Character animation is a key aspect of creating interactive and immersive experiences in Unity 3D. It involves bringing characters to life by controlling their movements, actions, and expressions.

Animation Controllers

An animation controller is a tool that allows you to define the different states and transitions of your character’s animations. It contains information about how the character’s various parts move, rotate, and scale during each animation state.

1. Create a new game object and add a Motion Capture component to it.
2. Import your character’s motion capture data into the controller.
3. Open the Animation window and create a new animation controller asset.
4. Drag the motion capture data onto the controller in the Animation window.
5. Define the different states of your character’s animations by creating keyframes for each state.
6. Create transitions between the different states of your animation by defining keyframes that interpolate between them.
7. Use the Animation window to play back and preview your animations.

Animations States

An animations state is a specific point in an animation’s timeline where the character’s movement, actions, and expressions change. There are two types of animations states in Unity: layers and blends.

Layers are used to define different parts of your character’s animation that can be controlled independently. For example, you might have a layer for the character’s arms, another layer for the legs, and another layer for the head. By controlling these layers independently, you can create complex animations that involve multiple body parts moving in different ways.

Blends are used to create smooth transitions between different states of your animation. For example, you might have a blend that smoothly transitions from one walking animation state to another running animation state. Blends are created by defining keyframes that interpolate between the two states.

Keyframes

Keyframes are used to define the position, rotation, and scale of the character’s parts at specific points in time during an animation. They can be created manually or imported from motion capture data.

8. Open the Animation window and select the animation controller you want to work with.
9. Click on the “Create” button to add a new keyframe.
10. Select the character part you want to animate and move it to the desired position.
11. Rotate the part as needed and adjust its scale.
12. Click “Apply” to save the keyframe.
13. Repeat steps 2-5 to add more keyframes at different points in time.

Blending and Layering Animations

Blending involves smoothly transitioning between two or more animations states by defining keyframes that interpolate between them. For example, you might blend a walking animation into a running animation by defining keyframes that smoothly change the character’s movement patterns over time.

Layering involves controlling different parts of your character’s animation independently. This allows you to create animations that involve multiple body parts moving in different ways. For example, you might layer an arm animation with a leg animation to create a walking animation where the arms and legs move in sync.