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Skeletal Mesh Animation System

System for deforming skeletal meshes based on keyframed animation data and morph targets.

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The animation system in Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) is comprised of several Animation Tools and Editors which mixes skeletal-based deformation of meshes with morph-based vertex deformation to allow for complex animation. This system can be used to make basic player movement appear much more realistic by playing and blending between canned Animation Sequences , create customized special moves such as scaling ledges and walls using Anim Montages , apply damage effects or facial expressions through Morph Targets , directly control the transformations of bones using Skeletal Controls , or create logic based State Machines that determine which animation a character should use in a given situation.

Starting Out

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Animation System Overview

Overview of the system for deforming Skeletal Meshes based on animation data using Animation Blueprints, Blendspaces, and Animation Sequences.

Asset Types

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Aim Offset

An Aim Offset is an asset that stores a blendable series of poses to help a character aim a weapon.

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Animation Composite

Animation Composites serve as a way to combine multiple animations together and treat them as a single unit.

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Animation Blueprints

Animation Blueprints are visual scripts that are used for the creation and control of complex animation behaviors.

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Animation Pose Assets

Describes the Animation Pose Asset which can be used to drive animation through weighted curve data.

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Animation Asset Details

User guide for the Animation Asset Details in the Animation Editor.

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Animation Sequences

individual assets containing all of the transform data making up a single animation.

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State Machines

State Machines allow Skeletal Animations to be broken up into various states, with full control over how blends occur from one state to another.

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Animation Montage

Animation Montages are a flexible tool that enables you to combine and selectively play animations that are contained in a single asset.

Tools

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Recording Facial Animation from an iOS Device

Use the Live Link Face app, ARKit, and Live Link to capture facial animations and apply them to characters in Unreal Engine.

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Live Link Plugin

Describes how to enable and use the Live Link Plugin and features within the animation system in Unreal Engine 4.

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Animation Editors

Editor for previewing and editing AnimBlueprints, AnimationSequences and other animation assets.

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Animation Tools

User guide for the different Animation Tools and their respective editors in Unreal Engine 4.

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Anim Blueprint Editor

Highlights the core features of the Anim Blueprint Editor in Unreal Engine 4.

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Animation Editor

Highlights the core features of the Animation Editor in Unreal Engine 4.

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Skeletal Mesh Editor

Highlights the core features of the Skeletal Mesh Editor in Unreal Engine 4.

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Skeleton Editor

Highlights the core features of the Skeleton Editor in Unreal Engine 4.

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Vertex Animation Tool

User guide for the 3D Max Vertex Animation tool set.

Features

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Aim Offset

An Aim Offset is an asset that stores a blendable series of poses to help a character aim a weapon.

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Animation Retargeting

Describes how retargeted animations can be used with multiple Skeletal Meshes, allowing you to share animations.

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Animation Blueprints

Animation Blueprints are visual scripts that are used for the creation and control of complex animation behaviors.

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Animation How To's

Examples of different aspects of the Animation system in Unreal Engine 4 are demonstrated through several step-by-step How To guides.

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Control Rig

Control Rigs in Unreal Engine 4 is a scriptable rigging system that is based on Blueprint and is mainly designed for controlling properties to drive animation.

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Recording Facial Animation from an iOS Device

Use the Live Link Face app, ARKit, and Live Link to capture facial animations and apply them to characters in Unreal Engine.

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Live Link Plugin

Describes how to enable and use the Live Link Plugin and features within the animation system in Unreal Engine 4.

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Animation Node Reference

Descriptions of the various animation nodes available for use in Animation Blueprints.

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Animation System Overview

Overview of the system for deforming Skeletal Meshes based on animation data using Animation Blueprints, Blendspaces, and Animation Sequences.

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Animation Editors

Editor for previewing and editing AnimBlueprints, AnimationSequences and other animation assets.

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Animation Modifiers

Animation Modifiers enable users to define a sequence of actions for a given animation sequence or skeleton.

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Animation Montage

Animation Montages are a flexible tool that enables you to combine and selectively play animations that are contained in a single asset.

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Blend Spaces

Blend Spaces are assets that allow any number of animations to be blended between based on the values of multiple inputs.

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Blend Spaces Overview

Describes how Blend Space assets are used and the different types of Blend Space assets.

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Animation Optimization

Describes methods to achieve more performant Animation Blueprints through optimization techniques.

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Animation Pose Snapshot

Animation Pose Snapshots can capture a runtime Skeletal Mesh Pose inside a Blueprint and can be used for blending in or out of additional poses within an Animation Blueprint.

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Skeleton Assets

An overview of the Skeleton asset and how it applies to animation in UE4.

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Sync Groups

Sync Groups allow you to maintain the synchronization of animations of different lengths.

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Working with Modular Characters

Describes the different methods you can use to create modular characters comprised of multiple Skeletal Meshes.

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Blend Nodes

Animation nodes that blend multiple animations together based on a set of criteria.

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Animation Sharing Plugin

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Animation Budget Allocator

System for constraining the time taken for animation data by dynamically throttling Skeletal Mesh Component ticking.

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Virtual Bones

Overview of Virtual Bones that enables you to add IK or Anim constraint joints inside of the Editor.

Guides

Previewing Animations 4.24
Creating an Aim Offset 4.14
Creating a Pose Asset 4.14
Using Animation Blueprint Linking 4.26
Using Retargeted Animations 4.14
Using Sub Anim Instances 4.14
Locomotion Based Blending 4.14
Using Layered Animations 4.14
Animation Blueprint Override 4.14
Control Rig Animation Blueprint Node 4.21
Curve Driven Animation 4.14
Editing Animation Layers 4.14
Copy a Pose from another Skeletal Mesh 4.20
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