UE 5 Gameplay animation - Lesson 02 (Overview)

This is a basic overview of what makes the 3rd Person Game work. Understanding this from the beginning will greatly help with troubleshooting afterwards, or at least know what to search for in Google. Also it will be easier to add more functions and move on to more advanced level.

After installing UE5, create a 3rd person game template by clicking "Games" then "Third Person". Make sure "Blueprint" is selected. And choose the project location.

A bunch of stuff will already be created. As shown in the "Content Browser" at bottom left. The Content Browser is where everything needed for this particular project is located. Click on the Play button at the top, to control a basic gameplay template.

Left mouse click to start playing. Basic functions are: "WASD" to control direction of the run, Mouse controlling the camera view as well direction of during run, "Space" for jump. Press "Esc" to exit the gameplay.

Most important thing which makes the game work are the Character Blueprint and Game Mode Blueprint. It is in All/Content/ThirdPerson/Blueprints folder.

"Character Blueprint" contains the data of the function of control inputs. Double click on it to open it. "Event Graph" is the visualization of the functions and conditions in most Blueprints. 

Click "Viewport". On the right, "Anim Class" indicates which Animation Blueprint is in use. "Animation Blueprint" is where it contains animation data which will be shared more in details later. "Skeletal Mesh Asset" indicates which skeletal mesh/rig/character is in use.

Open up Game Mode Blueprint. "Default Pawn" indicates which Character Blueprint in use. This tells the game which character to spawn.

Next important thing for the game to work, is the Inputs. 

The "Action" folder is where an action node is created to be used to assign function and logic in Character Blueprint.

Below is an example of the usage or the "look" action node in Character Blueprint.

Back to "Inputs folder, open up IMC_Default.

Input Mapping Context is where the particular action is assigned the input buttons or controls including different platform controllers.

Lastly, for the animation to play whenever the conditions are met, it needs the Animation Blueprint. Its usually stored together with the animation sequences. 

Open it up, there will be Anim Graph and Event Graph. If it isn't opened, double click it from the left side.

The Event Graph is where the calculation of values like velocity, rotation, yew, etc. Anim Graph is where the animation sequence is assigned with conditions.

UE 5 Gameplay animation - Lesson 01 (Intro)

This will be the place to record what I have learnt from self-taught Unreal Engine 5. The focus is on Gameplay Animation. My objective is to dive into 3rd Person gameplay similar to Assassin's Creed or Genshin Impact. 

The first time researching into this is really confusing. There are just too much information in the internet about UE. The fastest way I think is to watch a few tutorial videos. One good one is this:

Because there are so many videos, made by different people, there are always different ways to achieve a similar function. So after watching a few tutorials, its time to choose one video and follow closely to it to successfully create something. This is the one I start with: 

Sign up for an account at mixamo . This is a good place to get mocap actions to use in UE. Unfortunate, I failed following that video. The rig was misaligned and things seems to not work, and I don't know how to fix it. So I decided to create a new project following another tutorial video: 

I tried to follow as much as I can, but I hit an obstacle again. Something that I did wrong and I could not solve it. Still many things that were confusing to me. 

So I tried another tutorial video which is using the basic mannequin rig and doing less things. At least I can finally create something successfully. This is the video:

Finally I succeeded! By this time, I have already a better understanding of the basic concept of creating a gameplay animation. And I am able to look for more specific videos to troubleshoot and mix and match additional functions together. This is the result:

Next lesson I will go through the basic overview of UE5 to create gameplay animation. If only I knew this from the start!

The journey so far!

Wow, I cannot believe that my last post was when I was just about to get hired by Tiny Island Productions as a junior animator. And I would stay there for 6 years, till I became Lead Animator, and my next journey begins. On 5th Dec 2022, I got hired by ILM Singapore branch as Mid Animator. That was my dream company. As the Company with the highest level of Animation in Singapore, I was sure my career is bright and stable. As long as I don't get fired, I will eventually retire there. I am already 42 years old. No need to change to another company.

But unfortunately, life is just full of surprises, and anything that can happen in this world might happen here. The week after National Day, on the Aug 15th, the announcement was made to us, ILM Singapore branch will be shutting down by end of the year.  

I still find it hard to believe till this day, that this happened so suddenly. There was no warning. In fact, people were still being hired not long before the announcement. I have only been working in ILM for 1 year by Dec 2023. I was just getting used to the working culture and the pipeline. I've only worked on 3 projects, only working on VFX for a short time. Before this, I was so looking forward to Starwars and Marvel projects in the future. Sigh...

With ILM pulling out, VFX work Singapore is more or less Dead. What's left locally for an Animator at the top level, are only Games studios doing Gameplay animation or Cinematic cut scenes. 

So, moving forward, I need to learn new skills to be able to transit to Game studio. Enter the most highly sought after Game Engine, Unreal Engine! Learning Unreal Engine will give me the exposure to the pipeline of working on Game Animation. As before, I will post lessons learnt, so that I can strengthen my understanding, as well as keeping record for reference in the future. Also this will be easy for anyone to follow along the learning journey.

Lesson Learnt 09 - Fingers pose practice

Good finger posing for the hands is just important as the body pose itself.

It conveys so much emotion, complimenting the facial emotion. Many times you can feel in the hand pose, the strain, the excitement, the weakness, the power, etc. Yes, it contributes to the feeling and not really seeing it. And if the hand pose is off, too neutral or weird, it will distract the audience away from the character's performance.

Another thing to take note is clear readability of the silhouette. It may look good in one camera angle but not the next. Always pose to the camera even if the rig has to break a little to look good.

So, the best way is to practice. I took many pictures of my hand making as much interesting poses as possible and translate it to Maya.

Here is an example.




Fingers' contact to a solid object is also good to practice. It must look believable that there is tension with the contacted surface, and also not too neutral pose.

Industry Experience 001 - 1st Animation Job (TV Animation)

This has been a great experience and i want to remember this!

My first Animation job in the industry after AnimationMentor, is Freelance 3D Animator doing TV Animation at Sparky Animation.

A quick description on this job: $10 per Sec/25 Frames of the Approved Shots (rate may differ for different projects), In-house work but no fixed working hours, average work load is 50 seconds per week, each Contract is 2 months (renewable as long as they have work). *Information may differ in the future.

No doubt it was really tough in the beginning. On the first week of work i was shocked and lost! And as time goes by, slowly but surely, my work flow was modified and animating speed was improved. Here are many things that were learnt from this 6 months.

1.) A Good Posture and Healthy habits

I've realised i have to sit down in front of a computer for at least 3 to 4 hours before lunch break and then another 3 to 4 hours till end of the day's work. I have never animate this continuously long before at home or even during AnimationMentor times. And as an ex-military guy i am certainly not used to this office duration. Of course i can take more breaks, but it will reduce the time i have to finish the work and also it will break focus and also distract me from the ideal "Zone". 

Having good posture really helps to last longer without feeling back aches or butt sores or leg numbness. So always sit up straight, with or without using back rest. Next adjust the height of the chair so that the arms are straight down while the elbows bend about 90 degrees which makes the wrist straight. At the same time adjust the keyboard, mouse and tablet position on the table so that it is comfortable for the hands. While sitting high, make sure the monitor are standing high enough so that the head looks straight ahead, instead of low downwards straining the neck.

I strongly recommend having a mouse in addition to a tablet, so that the wrist can have some rest while doing stuff that doesn't need a pen. Also do some fingers and wrist stretching before starting work in the morning. I was surprised even the keyboard hand fingers got strained from scrubbing frame by frame for too long.

Drink lots of water to have good hydration for the day. It keeps the body fresh and the resulting toilet breaks are good chances to give the body some more blood circulation. I drank lots of green tea during work. I had lots of candy and biscuits around to make me focus better. But after some reflections, i felt a healthier choice is to have some fruits on the table to curb the hunger instead. 

PC glasses also helps reduce the strain on the eyes in long duration. I bought one from Own Days. Unfortunately i can't get used to wearing glasses so i gave it a miss half way through the time there.

2.) Speed improvement

Along this journey, I've learnt many things that helped improve speed of animation which is the key to TV Animation's high quantity.

First thing that i did on the first day at work was to watch other people's approved shots. Getting a feel of the style, and the standard of animating the particular project, helped reduce countless corrections needed to be done in the future before the shot gets approved. I don't want to over animate something that is not present in other shots wasting a lot of time.

As time passed i realised certain things like Squash & Stretch, moving from Pose to Pose, Blinks, etc, their timing can be counted and noted down to be used for all other shots for the respective characters. For example, i used for a particular character: for head S&S +0.1 and -0.1, for blinks +0.3 for both upper and lower lids, for action to action 3 frames for fast speed, 4 frames for normal speed, 5 frames for slow speed, for blinks 3 frames close 3 frames open, for eye darts 1 frame. This will make the characters look consistent all the time, and again to save time from getting back disapproved shots. 

One of the most important thing to increase speed, is to use existing Shelf Buttons or create new ones. Every studio also has their own Tools and Buttons, so getting to know them helps use them in the most efficient way. I created lots of Shelf Buttons suitable for my own work flow, simply to reduce time for repetitive things. Things like Add Frames, Add Values, Select specific Curves (body, face), Create Display Layers (Main, Secondary, No_Anim), Preset Windows (graph editor, persp, shot_cam). Even for actions that i commonly do but have to go through menus to select them, i would create a Button, like Point, Orient, Parent Constrains. And i prefer clicking Shelf Buttons then using Keyboard Shortcuts, i don't have to memorise them.

Cycles or a series of actions from other shots can be reused either using Maya's Atom or the studio's own Tool to save animation. Of course there should be some tweaks to make them look different. But it depends on the shot requirement. If its a Close Up shot then add more Secondary Actions or Expressions like eye darts, eye brow and mouth movements, etc. If it is a Far Shot or Fast action shot then sometimes no tweaking is necessary. I always reuse cycles like Idling standing around or Idling on a plane ride. Because everything has to animate, even the hair reacting to the wind, so doing the same animation every time the character Idles is a real waste of time.  

A few more minor yet powerful tips: increase Manipulator size so that it is so much easier to grab and move, increase Time Slider height to improve control and visual, set Channel Sliders to own preference so that using middle mouse button, to manipulate curves, is smoother. Below are my settings.

3.) Work Flow

After i have done 6 months of work, i have came out with this Work Flow that i think works the fastest for me.

a. Recieve new shot.
b. Watch Animatics/storyboards.
c. Watch Director's video on explanation of the dialogue and actions of the shot. Write down notes.

d. Do a quick mental planning of the key poses to do and note down.
e. Open Maya and shot file.
f. Click Shelf Buttons for Preset Windows, preferred Settings, Graph Editor, create Layers, etc.
g. If shot is too heavy causing it to lag while moving Curves, hide the surrounding References.
h. When necessary, put respective Curves into Main, Secondary, No_Anim Layers.
i. Isolate Select the animating character.
j. Block Key Poses, usually on Major Accents.
k. Switch to Auto Spline.
l. Add Keys for Anticipation,  Follow-through, Overshoot, Holds, etc.
m. Playblast to check Timing.
n. Add Facial animation together with Lip Sync.
o. Add Secondary Actions during Minor Accents and long Idles.
p. Offset Timing of the head, body, arm, wrist and fingers by 1 frame apart, to create Overlapping Action.
q. Playblast to check Timing.
r. Turn on Simulations for Cloth, Hair, etc.
s. Animate anything else that is not on Simulation.
t. Show all necessary References.
u. Final Playblast to check for any mistakes.
v. Submit shot.

*This works only for this Project. Always adjust Work Flow to better suit other respective Projects.

Rig review 003 - Too & Tre3

Next review on Partner's Rigs from Animation Mentor is Too!

Very simple body shape. These are the poses i tried it out with.

Same as all the Partner's Rigs, they have the same body and facial controls. Here are some pointers:

- Has no eye brows so may not be easy to tell the difference in shapes. Also there is no centre brow control.

- Has 2 antennas to play around but they are different in length, very stiff and long so may not be appealing when posing it curved.

- Eyes are big so its easier to show expressions.

- Arms are a lot longer surpassing its own height so it is a challenge where and how to place them.

- There is a glass helmet which looks cool but the tongue cannot be easily positioned without penetrating it.

- There is a Triangle control at the corners of the mouth but for some reason it is very small..

- Lips cannot roll limiting mouth shapes.

- The jaw control has to use the TY to open the mouth, using RX makes the jaw look odd.

- There is a control at the top of the head which can be use to stretch the head.

- Similar FK for arms and spine, IK for legs.

Overall, this character is more fun to play with. It can easily be posed into the line of action. But similarly to other Partner's Rigs, the facial controls are limited. To do a good lip sync is hard. To do action shot its good.



Last Rig from AM Partner is Tre3.

It looks better then Too. With better body proportions. Some poses with the rig.

This rig is very similar to Too rig, but with additional stuff. Her are some pointers:

- Additional antenna with a bird on top of the head. Though the controls are a little weird, they are not independent controls. Makes it quite hard to pose.

- Additional Belt Pouch that can be posed quite nicely.

- Additional eye on the forehead, without brow control, making it harder to make a similar eye shape as the other 2 eyes.

- Legs are longer, arms are shorter, so its easier to pose then Too rig.

-  Similar jaw control, using TY more instead of RX.

- Have similar Bows control at the knees and elbows for making nice curves.

- Similar FK for arms and spine, IK for legs.

- One thing i notice is when using the head stretch control too much, the tongue will warp and go strange..

Using this rig for body mechanics would be good, using for performance lip sync would be tough.



And this concludes the review on Animation Mentor Partner's Rigs Deivi, Fift, Too and Tre3. It was great fun posing them. Maybe when i have time i will do some walk cycles with them. Comparing to advance rigs like Aia and Jules, they have much less controls to do detailed close up performance. And also without the capability to change from IK to FK for the limbs and spine, doing more dynamic motions like flips or movement with props, will be difficult, of course it can be solved with creating some constraints. For AM classes wise, i think it can be used till Pantomime assignments.

Rig review 002 - Fift

Another review on a Partner's Rig from Animation Mentor. Fift.

Similarly tried out 3 poses trying to experience the constraints of the rig. And get a feel what character it can fit into.

The rig controls are very similar to Deivi's. Proportion and geometry has a feel similar to Stan, with short neck, arched back, long arms and short legs. The 1st impression it gave me is that it is very squishy or blob like. So i managed to pose the limbs in a very curvy way without hard edges.

- Simple facial controls.

- No teeth and tongue limiting even more variety of expressions.

- Eyes are very small making it hard to read eye expressions.

- Finger proportion looks better.

- The shoulders are way behind the head so it is hard to position it forward without deforming weirdly.

- Availability of "Bow" control allows flexible adjustments of elbow and knee positions in polish.

- Similar FK for arms and spine, IK for legs.

Like Deivi rig, Fift has limited expressions and mouth shapes. And given that the arm cannot be easily rotated without deforming it, it is hard to give it dynamic poses. So i would say use for body mechanics practice or used as background character.