So the case is that I have a 36 frames long jumping animation and the jump itself starts at frame 12, where my object raises along y axis.
1) What would be the most easiest way to move my object forward while it's in air(during frames 12-36)?
2) How is jumping with animation generally done in games? I don't think my way is the best one.
2) Jumping animation is combination of animation and object movement. In every frame the center of the mesh should be on x0,y0,z0. and you shoud move the GameObjec on the y axis and not the mesh it self.
1) You can use transform.forward to get the direction vector and apply the force in that direcion. (you sould disable rotetion if you want a realistic jump)