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Unity Character Animation with Mecanim

Unity Character Animation with Mecanim

By : Jamie Dean
4.1 (10)
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Unity Character Animation with Mecanim

Unity Character Animation with Mecanim

4.1 (10)
By: Jamie Dean

Overview of this book

Game animation for independent developers has taken a giant leap forward with Unity 5's Mecanim toolset, which streamlines the import/export, retargeting, and many other aspects of the character animation workflow. Unity Character Animation with Mecanim is a great primer for getting to know the nuts and bolts of Mecanim and other character animation related tools in Unity 5. It offers you step-by-step instructions for preparing and exporting rigged models and animation sequences from commonly used 3D packages, such as Maya, 3ds Max and Blender. This book explores the new set of animation tools introduced with Mecanim in Unity 5. Approaching its subject matter through a typical genre–a zombie action game, character animation techniques are explored using real examples of player input and interaction, enemy behavior, and other aspects of game dynamics. As the book progresses, the reader will understand how these elements fit together in a small game development workflow. We will begin with a demonstration of the process of getting a rigged character into Unity 5 and setting it up to use provided animation sequences. We will also consider a few industry standard 3D packages and how these can be used to rig a humanoid character for use in Unity 5. We will demonstrate the retargeting capabilities of Mecanim’s Humanoid Animation type by adjusting motion sequences to fit disparate character types in our game. After this, we will look at Ragdoll physics and the implementation of this commonly used technique in a Mecanim workflow. The book culminates with a thorough dissection of the enemy character AI script incorporating the Mecanim elements detailed in the previous chapters. Unity Character Animation with Mecanim will provide you with a detailed exploration of the interaction between game development and character animation, and will broaden your understanding of the rich animation toolset within Unity 5
Table of Contents (11 chapters)
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1
1. The Zombie Attacks!
10
Index

Preface

In the past few years, Unity has proved itself to be a versatile, user-friendly platform for game production and other interactive applications. With it, developers can rapidly assemble game menus and interfaces, build levels, animate characters, and define how these elements interact with each other.

Compared to other development tools, Unity is artist-friendly, centering on a Scene viewport window and controls that will be familiar to anyone who has worked with 3D software. Like all game engines, it requires scripting to enable any complex functionality, but coding can quickly be tested and adjusted making for a less-frustrating experience for anyone from a non-programming background.

Unity's easy-to-learn drag and drop functionality has endeared it to enthusiasts and professionals alike. Its multiplatform publishing capabilities streamlined the creation of all sorts of games played on PC, Mac, iOS, Android and consoles.

The personal edition of Unity can be downloaded for free, making it suitable for entry-level game developers. The online manual and scripting reference, in addition to the thriving developer community, make it easy to find support and get queries answered.

The addition of Mecanim to Unity gives the independent game developer an even more expansive toolset, making it possible to handle a significant part of the character animation process without the use of additional software. It makes retargeting, retiming, and adjusting existing animations a simple task without the usual problems that accompany importing and exporting data between applications.

The modeling toolset within Unity is extremely limited—primitive objects such as spheres, cubes, and planes can be assembled—but if it is the actual modeling and texturing of characters and levels that you are most interested in, you will need a general 3D package such as 3ds Max, Maya, or blender. These aspects of building a game are well addressed in other publications.

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