🦾Character

In this chapter we will cover character animation aspect.

Skeleton Structure

The FPS arms model used in the package is based on UE4 Skeleton:

Character skeleton.

This rig includes two important bones:

1. ik_hand_gun - contains the baked movement of the weapon.

2. ik_hand_gun_additive - used for procedural idle, walking, and sprinting animations.

3. camera_bone - contains camera keyframes.

Tip: the character rig type is Generic.

All animations also include keyframes for the lower body, meaning that clips can be used with full-body characters.

Override Animator Controllers

All character animations are defined in override controllers. The FPS Animation Pack uses a convenient naming convention:

OC_FP_WeaponName, OC stands for "Override Controller"

All character controllers have the same structure:

AKX200 override controller.

"A_FP"-type animations are not typically overridden, as these are general motions used for all guns. Fire, Idle, and Reload slots are overridden depending on the weapon type. Now it's time to cover the main AC_FPS_Character controller.

Main Character Controller

AC_FPS_Character consists of 7 layers:

Animation layers.

Base Layer

This layer includes the base idle pose and firing state.

Additive Layer

This layer only animates the ik_hand_gun_additive bone. It is used later to apply IK animation on top of the character base pose. This allows to re-use of one set of animations for all weapons.

Reload Layer

This layer is used to play reloading animations. It also has a slot for Equip_Override - it is used exclusively for the Kolibri equip animation.

Tac Sprint Layer

This layer only applies tactical sprinting animation.

Grenade Layer

This layer is used to play the grenade throw sequence:

First, the character unequips the current weapon, then throws the grenade and gets back to the idle state.

Right Hand and Trigger Discipline

These layers are activated when a character is tactical sprinting.