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Animation Blueprints in Unreal Engine are a powerful tool for creating complex animation behaviors for characters and other animated objects. This module will guide you through the basics of Animation Blueprints, how to set them up, and how to use them to create dynamic and responsive animations.

Key Concepts

Animation Blueprint Overview
- What is an Animation Blueprint?
- Differences between Animation Blueprints and regular Blueprints.
- Use cases for Animation Blueprints.
Setting Up an Animation Blueprint
- Creating a new Animation Blueprint.
- Linking an Animation Blueprint to a character.
- Understanding the Animation Graph and Event Graph.
Animation States and State Machines
- What are Animation States?
- Creating and managing State Machines.
- Transition rules between states.
Blend Spaces
- What is a Blend Space?
- Creating and configuring Blend Spaces.
- Using Blend Spaces in Animation Blueprints.
Animation Montages
- What are Animation Montages?
- Creating and using Animation Montages.
- Triggering Montages from Blueprints.

Animation Blueprint Overview

What is an Animation Blueprint?

An Animation Blueprint is a specialized Blueprint that controls the animation of a Skeletal Mesh. It allows you to create complex animation behaviors by combining different animations and blending them based on various conditions.

Differences between Animation Blueprints and Regular Blueprints

Feature	Animation Blueprints	Regular Blueprints
Purpose	Control animations of Skeletal Meshes	General-purpose scripting and logic
Graph Types	Animation Graph, Event Graph	Event Graph, Construction Script, etc.
Use Cases	Character movement, animation blending	Game logic, UI, interactions, etc.

Use Cases for Animation Blueprints

Character movement and actions (walking, running, jumping).
Complex animation blending (e.g., blending between different movement speeds).
Triggering specific animations based on game events.

Setting Up an Animation Blueprint

Creating a New Animation Blueprint

Open the Content Browser.
Right-click and select Animation > Animation Blueprint.
Choose the Skeletal Mesh you want to animate.
Name your Animation Blueprint and click Create.

Linking an Animation Blueprint to a Character

Open your character's Blueprint.
Select the Skeletal Mesh Component.
In the Details panel, find the Animation section.
Set the Anim Class to your newly created Animation Blueprint.

Understanding the Animation Graph and Event Graph

Animation Graph: Used to define the animation logic, including State Machines and Blend Spaces.
Event Graph: Used to handle events and logic that affect the animation, such as updating variables.

Animation States and State Machines

What are Animation States?

Animation States represent different animation behaviors (e.g., idle, walking, running). Each state can have its own animation or blend of animations.

Creating and Managing State Machines

Open the Animation Graph in your Animation Blueprint.
Right-click and select Add New State Machine.
Double-click the State Machine to open it.
Right-click inside the State Machine and select Add State to create new states.
Connect states using Transition Rules.

Transition Rules between States

Transition Rules define the conditions under which the animation transitions from one state to another. These rules are typically based on variables such as speed, direction, or other character states.

Blend Spaces

What is a Blend Space?

A Blend Space is a tool that allows you to blend between multiple animations based on input values, such as speed and direction.

Creating and Configuring Blend Spaces

Right-click in the Content Browser and select Animation > Blend Space 1D or Blend Space.
Choose the Skeletal Mesh.
Open the Blend Space and add animations to the grid.
Configure the input axes (e.g., speed, direction).

Using Blend Spaces in Animation Blueprints

Open the Animation Graph.
Right-click and select Blend Space Player.
Choose your Blend Space.
Connect the Blend Space Player to the State Machine or Animation Graph.

Animation Montages

What are Animation Montages?

Animation Montages are a way to combine and sequence multiple animations, allowing for more complex and controlled animation playback.

Creating and Using Animation Montages

Right-click in the Content Browser and select Animation > Animation Montage.
Choose the Skeletal Mesh.
Open the Montage and add animations to the timeline.
Use Sections and Notifies to control the flow and trigger events.

Triggering Montages from Blueprints

Open your character's Blueprint.
In the Event Graph, use the Play Montage node.
Select the Montage you want to play and connect it to the appropriate event.

Practical Exercise

Exercise: Creating a Simple Animation Blueprint

Create a new Animation Blueprint for a character.
Set up a State Machine with two states: Idle and Walk.
Create a Blend Space for walking animations with different speeds.
Add Transition Rules to switch between Idle and Walk based on the character's speed.
Test the Animation Blueprint by linking it to a character and controlling the speed variable.

Solution

// Step 1: Create a new Animation Blueprint
// Step 2: Set up a State Machine with Idle and Walk states
// Step 3: Create a Blend Space for walking animations
// Step 4: Add Transition Rules based on speed
// Step 5: Test the Animation Blueprint

// In the Animation Blueprint's Animation Graph
StateMachine "Locomotion"
{
    State "Idle"
    {
        // Set Idle animation
    }
    State "Walk"
    {
        BlendSpacePlayer "WalkBlendSpace"
        {
            // Set Blend Space and connect speed variable
        }
    }
    Transition from "Idle" to "Walk"
    {
        // Condition: Speed > 0
    }
    Transition from "Walk" to "Idle"
    {
        // Condition: Speed == 0
    }
}

Summary

In this module, you learned about Animation Blueprints, how to set them up, and how to use them to create dynamic animations. You explored Animation States, State Machines, Blend Spaces, and Animation Montages. By completing the practical exercise, you gained hands-on experience in creating and testing an Animation Blueprint. This knowledge will be essential as you continue to develop more complex and interactive animations in Unreal Engine.

Animation Blueprints