Types of Animations and Nomenclature

Animations are separate into 4 types, using the Root State System (RSS), which can affect the whole different part of the RIG separetly:

• Root State (RS): defines the current state of the creature (standing, flying, running, sitting, ...), can be described by a simple pose (e.g., standing) or a simple looped animation (e.g., walking)

• Other Transition (OT): when a creature is going from one RS to another (like flying to standing, or standing to running)

• Self Transition (ST): when a creature is doing something that start and end in the same state, not necessarily in the same place (like a step, or a stretch, or the creature is doing an idle animation before returning to the first frame pose).

• Body Attitude (BA): these are static (i.e., pose) animations that are used additively on top of RS to change it’s emotion or attitude (like a scared standing pose, or a sad walk)

Each of these types of animations get its own precise nomenclature, always starting with the name of the concerned part in the animation (root/face/tail/...) and adding “_” between words. Don’t forget to stay consistent in your names between animations:

• RS: [Root/Body Part]_[State Pose]

Simply name the state in which your creature is. (ex: Root_Sit; or Face_Sad)

• OT: [Body Part/Root]_[Starting State]_to_[Ending other State]_[Description/Default]

Name the starting pose state, followed by “to” and the ending state. You can add a couple words to specify it (ex: Root_Fly_to_Stand_Landing_Default; or Root_Stand_to_Run_Scared)

• ST: [Body Part/Root]_[Starting State]_ST_[Description]

  • [Body Part/Root]_[State Cycle]_[Description/Default]

Name your starting state pose, followed by “ST” and add couple words to describe it (ex: Root_Walk_ST_TurnRight; or Root_Fly_ST_Hover). This also concern cycles (ex: Root_Walk_Backward; or Root_Hopwalk_Default)

• BA: [Body Part/Root]_[Starting State]_BA_[Description]

Name your starting state pose, followed by “BA”. You can then add couple words to describe it (ex: Root_Run_BA_Scared_Flee; or Root_Walk_BA_Excited

Renaming animations in Blender & Unity

• Rename the animation inside Unity (rename the FBX File)

• Verify that the animation clip is also renamed (select the FBX file, “Animation” tab)

• Save with Ctrl+S

• Rename it in Blender, name needs to match precisely (just without prefix “ModelName@”)

• Export it to Unity