Transition between animations.

ram876

Hello! I have animations, not everything is ready yet. In the preview, when mixing, you can see that the character's face appears ugly between transitions. I want to learn how to properly transition from one animation to another. So far, I've only come up with the idea to create a bunch more very short animations for each transition case. In this case, the character will move in 8 directions. Then I plan to import it into Godot. Thank you.

Misaki

ram876 Creating multiple transition animations is indeed an effective solution. However, based on the character example you shared, I think another possible approach would be to create the animation that changes the face position as a separate animation, and then use a script to specify which part of that animation should be played.

For example, you could prepare an animation that changes the face position, visibility, and draw order over frames 0 to 30. When applying that animation at runtime, you could set the time scale to 0, then move the playback position to the desired frame as needed. You could also play the animation in reverse to return the face to its original position.

Additionally, if you are using version 4.3, you can achieve a similar result with a slider. With a slider, you can specify which frame of the animation to reference directly in the editor, allowing you to adjust the face position and display state while avoiding issues such as the face appearing from an unintended position.

Transition animations are especially useful when you want to add momentum or control the pace of a movement. For example, when transitioning from a running state back to an idle state, a transition animation can make the character slow down naturally or assume a specific braking pose. If you do not need that kind of dedicated transition pose or timing, however, controlling a separate animation through a script or using a slider may be more practical.

Spinebot

I understand your concern about the transitions looking awkward between animations. Let me help you with some better approaches than creating many short transition animations.

Understanding Mix Duration

The visual issues you're seeing during transitions are likely due to how bones are interpolating between different poses. When you use AnimationState to transition between animations, it automatically blends them based on a mix duration. Mix times are often quite short - just long enough to get smooth interpolation without snapping, but not so long that things look odd.

Better Approaches

Instead of creating many transition animations, here are some recommended solutions:

1. Adjust Mix Duration
Try using shorter mix durations in your runtime. Sometimes a very quick blend (like 0.1-0.2 seconds) can prevent the awkward in-between poses from being too noticeable.

2. Create Strategic Transition Animations
Rather than making transitions for every possible combination, you could create a single "turn" or "pivot" animation that works for direction changes. For example, Spineboy has an idle-turn animation specifically for changing direction. Here's how it works in practice:

Video showing transition animation example

3. Time Your Transitions
If certain poses in your movement animations look better for transitions, you can track when those poses occur in your animation loop. When the player changes direction, wait until the animation reaches that point before transitioning to the new direction animation.

4. Use Additive Blending (Advanced)
For multi-directional movement, consider using additive animation blending. You could have separate animations for different directions on different tracks with additive blending enabled, then adjust their alpha values based on movement direction. This can create smooth directional changes without needing many transition animations.

For Godot Implementation

When you import into Godot, you'll use AnimationState's set_animation() to switch between animations with automatic mixing. The mix duration controls how smooth the transition is. Test with different mix duration values to find what works best for your character.

I'd recommend starting with adjusting mix durations and possibly adding one or two key transition animations (like a turn animation) rather than creating transitions for every combination - that quickly becomes unmanageable and requires redoing work whenever you modify your base animations.

ram876

Misaki Thanks for the reply. I've already tried turning my face a bit with the new sliders. I also wanted to try this option, but so far not all 8 animations are ready to watch the work in the engine. I hope to remember report back on results later.