3D animation

3D character animation

• A 3D character is created in a dedicated 3d program like Blender
  • Skeletal animations are created for the character in the program as well, and then exported to a format Unity understands
• In Unity, a 3D character usually consists of three GameObjects:
  • Character GameObject that contains the Animator component
    • Mesh GameObject that is used to draw the character
    • Skeleton GameObject that contains the rig

Importing animations from Blender to Unity

• Easiest way to import animations from Blender to Unity is to use Game Rig Tools
• Game Rig Tools (Blender addon)
• Video tutorial: Blender to Unity - Generic Character Setup: #1 Rigging & FBX Export
• Video tutorial: Blender to Unity - Generic Character Setup: #2 Unity Setup

Unity side setup

Importing the model

• Docs: Importing a model
• Docs: Model Import Settings window

1. Add imported .fbx file to your the assets folder of your Unity project
2. Edit .fbx import settings in the Inspector view:

• Rig tab
  • Animation type: Generic or Humanoid
  • Avatar Definition: Create from this model
  • Click Apply

• Animation tab
  • Animation clips show up here (Blender actions are called clips in Unity)
  • For looping clips, check the Loop time box.
• Materials tab
  • Click Extract Materials... to import Blender materials
  • The imported material should show up under Remapped materials

Importing textures

• Move your textures to the Unity assets folder
• Set special textures to their correct types:
  • Normal map should have a corresponding Texture type (Fig. 1)
• Then, drag the textures to the imported material(s): Albedo to albedo slot, etc. (Fig. 2)

Setting up the character

• Next, we'll setup the character with some components and GameObjects.

  

1. Add the imported character to your scene
2. Add components:
   • Animator (if does not yet exist)
   • Rigidbody
   • Capsule collider
3. Add a new empty called Camera pivot under the character
   • Add a Camera GameObject under the pivot
4. Add a movement script that controls the animations

Animator Controller

• Here's how to control the animations with an Animator Controller (see 2d animation for more info)

• Create a new Animator Controller for the character

  • Drag and drop the controller to the character's Animator component

• Add parameters to control the animations with (speed, isCrouching, etc...)

• Create states for the animations. Here's a blend tree for walking/running:

  

Extra: Interactive animations with Avatar mask

• If you want to play interactive animations (like yawning or talking) during other (walking, idle...) animations, add a new layer in the animator controller
  • Create a state for the special animation, and add a transition condition from New state
• Create a new Avatar mask that has only the bones applied that are needed for the special animation

  • Apply the mask for the special layer

    

• See also Brackeys video: Make your Characters Interactive!

Reading

• Free ready-to-use characters by Adobe: Mixamo
• Docs: Inverse Kinematics