Animation creation process workflow

Unity Engine
1

Hello!
I’m trying to understand basic process for creating custom animations in Unity. I don’t have animation expierence, so there is a little mess in my head ) The main questions are:

  1. What is the best approach to create animation for custom characters? Should I make all animation inside 3d-modelling packet or some work can be done outside? Is there a way to edit animation after they have been created, for example, in fbx file?
    2)Can i use avatar/mechanim system for non-humanoid characters? I also want to create basic humanoid shape, but with additional bones for equipment ( like dota2 system) - should i create custom animation for it inside fbx, or it’s possible to use build-in methods?
    Many tutorials are about using animations files, created before, but not about creating ones )
    3)Can animations be done with keyframe parameters in editor? The model file will provide information about skeleton and rigging, but can i make different animations with it in editor(like movesets, cinematic animations), without creating them outside? Should model be humanoid shape, or i can use any custom skeleton?
    I’m sorry for language mistakes :3 Thanks for your time!
2

Unity has an excellent beginner’s video tutorial series that covers how to use animation in Unity: Learn game development w/ Unity | Courses & tutorials in game design, VR, AR, & Real-time 3D | Unity Learn – it includes answers to questions such as how to apply Mecanim to non-humanoid characters.

To create the original animations, however, you should use an external 3D modelling program or a motion capture system. These usually create FBX files, which you can then drop into your Unity projects. It’s possible to do some basic animation directly in Unity, but nothing as complicated as character animation.

You can create “cutscene” animations in Unity using products such as uSequencer.

3

Thanks!