Demoing 5.4 Animation & Rigging Updates | Inside Unreal
Updated: November 20, 2024
Summary
The video showcases August's Unreal Engine Marketplace assets, including a variety of environments like Subterranean City and Asian Medieval City. It also presents resources like RPG templates, Modular Skeleton Knights, and tools for creating custom islands in Fortnite. Viewers learn about the animation rigging team, bone orientation importance, Python and Blueprint API for rigging operations, and enhancements in version 5.5 for a seamless workflow. The demonstration on setting up character rigs, rigging custom weapon attachments, and real-time module authoring provides valuable insights for game developers using Unreal Engine.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to News and Community Spotlights
Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack by Studio Kobo
Modular Asian Medieval City by Scale X
Mo's RPG Template by More Game Dev
Modular Skeleton Knights
Subterranean City Plus Wonderland Bundle by Snowy Train Market
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
Animation Rigging Team Introduction
Skeletal Mesh Editing Suite
Editing Skeleton Orientation
Editing Skeleton Orientation (Continued)
Python and Blueprint API for Rigging Tools
Rigging Workflow with Skeletal Mesh Editing
Introduction to Moder Rigging Tool Set
Basic Character Rigging
Rigging Weapon Attachments
Creating Modular Hinges
Adding Hinges and Changing Axes
Character Animation Setup
Feedback, Orientation, and Innovation
Improving User Experience in Version 5.5
The Need for Module-Based Rigging
Real-Time Module Authoring Benefits
Building and Iterating Characters in Real-Time
Animating a Shark and a Scooter
Explaining the Simulation Hinge
Animating a Shark and a Scooter
Explaining the Simulation Hinge
Animation and Terrain Alignment
Layer Control Rig Overview
Adding Additional Rigs
Modular Rig Creation
Dynamic Motion Control
Animation Attributes
Support for Pens with Pressure Sensitivity
Binding Hot Keys to Buttons
Bone Orientation in Modular Rigging
Building Custom Modules
Bone Orientation in Modular Rigging
Custom Module Creation
Animation Baking
Smooth Transition between FK and IK
Exploring New Resources
Introduction to News and Community Spotlights
August's Unreal Engine Marketplace assets, including Subterranean City environments, Knights and armor, and an RPG template, are highlighted.
Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack by Studio Kobo
Details about the Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack, a high-quality stylized asset pack suitable for creating detailed dungeon environments with various features like nanite compatible props, customizable light functions, and more.
Modular Asian Medieval City by Scale X
Information on the Modular Asian Medieval City asset, offering an elegant city environment inspired by Asian architecture, featuring various elements like temples, streets, bridges, and cherry blossom trees.
Mo's RPG Template by More Game Dev
Details about Mo's RPG Template, a comprehensive template for creating fantasy RPG games with various gameplay systems, blueprints, animations, UI elements, and a sample character.
Modular Skeleton Knights
Information about Modular Skeleton Knights asset, allowing customization of skeleton knights for horror and fantasy games by mixing and matching armor, weapons, and clothing, along with color and dirt level adjustments.
Subterranean City Plus Wonderland Bundle by Snowy Train Market
Details about the Subterranean City Plus Wonderland Bundle, a large asset pack enabling the creation of futuristic city and surreal castle environments with over 100 unique static meshes, 135 materials, and 500 textures.
Unreal Editor for Fortnite
Announcement regarding tools for creating custom islands in Fortnite using the Unreal Editor, along with information about community meetups and community spotlights such as U5 Analou Canyon, ZZ by Lucas Fuka, and Just a Peak by Miriam Foronis.
Animation Rigging Team Introduction
Introduction of the animation rigging team members, including Beno, Greg, Heli, and Karen, discussing their roles and experience within the team.
Skeletal Mesh Editing Suite
Discussion on the features of the skeletal mesh editing suite, focusing on tools for editing skeletons, adding bones, orienting bones, and generating clean rotation values for effective rigging.
Editing Skeleton Orientation
Explanation of the importance of bone orientation in rigging, demonstrating the process of orienting bones correctly for clean rotation values and effective rigging.
Editing Skeleton Orientation (Continued)
Continuation of the discussion on bone orientation in rigging, emphasizing the significance of primary axes alignment, clean rotation values, and the impact on animation.
Python and Blueprint API for Rigging Tools
Information about the availability of Python and Blueprint API for rigging operations, allowing users to customize workflows and automate rigging processes within Unreal Engine.
Rigging Workflow with Skeletal Mesh Editing
Demonstration of the rigging workflow using the skeletal mesh editing tools, including rigid binding, smoothing weights, and adjusting bone orientations for effective character rigging.
Introduction to Moder Rigging Tool Set
Introducing the Moder Rigging Tool Set in Unreal Engine 5.4, which aims to simplify the process of setting up character rigs and make it faster and more user-friendly for users with varying levels of technical expertise.
Basic Character Rigging
Demonstration of setting up a basic character rig using modules and the node graph in Unreal Engine, showcasing the ease and speed of rigging compared to traditional methods.
Rigging Weapon Attachments
Explaining how to rig custom weapon attachments by adding modules and using sockets in Unreal Engine, with a focus on setting up controls for custom movements.
Creating Modular Hinges
The speaker demonstrates how to create modular hinges, set primary axis, configure limits, and add additional hinges for rigging in animations.
Adding Hinges and Changing Axes
The speaker adds another hinge, parents it, changes the axis to X, and discusses the orientation of bones for rotation.
Character Animation Setup
The speaker rigs an auxiliary item for animation, configures Min and Max limits, and explains the importance of bone orientation for rigging.
Feedback, Orientation, and Innovation
The speaker discusses orientation challenges, feedback on tools, and acknowledges contributions from influential individuals that have inspired innovation.
Improving User Experience in Version 5.5
Enhancements in version 5.5 focus on improving user experience, reducing clicks, cleaning up UI, and addressing bugs for a more enjoyable workflow.
The Need for Module-Based Rigging
The speaker discusses the challenges of technical rigging, the steep learning curve of control rigs, and the introduction of playful rigging for character animation.
Real-Time Module Authoring Benefits
The speaker explains the advantages of real-time module authoring, rapid iteration, immediate feedback, and the usage of modules for technical rigging.
Building and Iterating Characters in Real-Time
Discussions on real-time character creation, module references, rules for module connections, and the importance of rapid iteration for character development.
Animating a Shark and a Scooter
Overview of rigging a shark and a scooter using modular rigging, adding limits, introducing proxies for character posing, and demonstrating animations with these rigs.
Explaining the Simulation Hinge
Demonstration of a simulation hinge using relay integrators for rotating assets, setting up spring interpolators, and exposing parameters for module users.
Animating a Shark and a Scooter
Overview of rigging a shark and a scooter using modular rigging, adding limits, introducing proxies for character posing, and demonstrating animations with these rigs.
Explaining the Simulation Hinge
Demonstration of a simulation hinge using relay integrators for rotating assets, setting up spring interpolators, and exposing parameters for module users.
Animation and Terrain Alignment
Explains how to author animations on terrains using layer control rigs and ground alignment. Shows the ability to add animations, tweak terrain features, and layer multiple rigs for custom behaviors.
Layer Control Rig Overview
Provides an overview of layer control rigs, including the structure, functions, and capabilities. Details the ground alignment rig and its functions created by a technical animator.
Adding Additional Rigs
Demonstrates adding layered control rigs to modify body parts, adjust hips, head, and hands independently. Explains the evaluation order for layered control rigs.
Modular Rig Creation
Illustrates creating modular rigs for specific body parts such as hand modules and layering them for animation adjustments or overrides. Shows an example of using modular rigs for hand animation.
Dynamic Motion Control
Introduces dynamic motion control using layer control rigs for overriding specific body parts in animations. Shows adding procedural motion to tail, wings, and tongue for organic motion effects.
Animation Attributes
Animation attributes are tables that flow through the animation system, accessible to every node, allowing rigs to leave data such as floats or transforms to be picked up by systems later in the pipeline.
Support for Pens with Pressure Sensitivity
There is partial support for pens in the engine currently, but full support is desired in the future releases.
Binding Hot Keys to Buttons
The team is working on consolidating hotkeys across the engine to make them more centralized and clear for users, as the current system is inconsistent and lacks a central repository for adjustments.
Bone Orientation in Modular Rigging
Bone orientation does make a difference in modular rigging, and misaligned orientations can lead to incorrect results like twisting or misplacement of IK or pole vectors.
Building Custom Modules
Users can duplicate shipped modules and customize them to handle specific cases, allowing for flexibility in rigging configurations.
Bone Orientation in Modular Rigging
Bone orientation plays a crucial role in modular rigging, affecting the proper functioning of the rig and avoiding issues like twisting or misalignments.
Custom Module Creation
Users can create custom modules such as jaw controls and ensure they have a backward solve functionality by building them correctly.
Animation Baking
Users can bake any animation result, allowing for the creation of animation sequences for runtime use.
Smooth Transition between FK and IK
While the default rigs have a hard switch between FK and IK, users can customize rigs to make the transition blendable by building them with a float parameter.
Exploring New Resources
To start with these tools, it is recommended to begin with the examples provided and gradually explore complex features, leveraging the active community for tutorials and discussions.
FAQ
Q: What are some of the highlighted Unreal Engine Marketplace assets in the file?
A: The highlighted assets include Subterranean City environments, Knights and armor, an RPG template, the Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack, the Modular Asian Medieval City asset, the Mo's RPG Template, and the Modular Skeleton Knights asset.
Q: What features does the Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack offer?
A: The Stylized Nanite Dungeon Pack offers nanite compatible props, customizable light functions, and more for creating detailed dungeon environments.
Q: What does the Modular Asian Medieval City asset provide?
A: The Modular Asian Medieval City asset offers an elegant city environment inspired by Asian architecture, featuring temples, streets, bridges, and cherry blossom trees.
Q: What does the Mo's RPG Template contain?
A: Mo's RPG Template is a comprehensive template for creating fantasy RPG games, including various gameplay systems, blueprints, animations, UI elements, and a sample character.
Q: How does the Modular Skeleton Knights asset allow customization?
A: The Modular Skeleton Knights asset allows customization of skeleton knights for horror and fantasy games by mixing and matching armor, weapons, clothing, color, and dirt level adjustments.
Q: What is the Subterranean City Plus Wonderland Bundle and its contents?
A: The Subterranean City Plus Wonderland Bundle is a large asset pack enabling the creation of futuristic city and surreal castle environments with over 100 unique static meshes, 135 materials, and 500 textures.
Q: What tools are announced for creating custom islands in Fortnite using the Unreal Editor?
A: Announcement regarding tools for creating custom islands in Fortnite using the Unreal Editor, along with information about community meetups and community spotlights.
Q: What does the Moder Rigging Tool Set in Unreal Engine 5.4 aim to achieve?
A: The Moder Rigging Tool Set in Unreal Engine 5.4 aims to simplify the process of setting up character rigs, making it faster and more user-friendly for users of varying technical expertise.
Q: What is the importance of bone orientation in rigging?
A: Bone orientation in rigging is crucial as it affects the proper functioning of the rig, avoiding issues like twisting or misalignments in animations.
Q: How can users create custom modules in rigging for specific cases?
A: Users can duplicate shipped modules and customize them to handle specific cases, allowing for flexibility in rigging configurations.
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