[RELEASED] Sage: Anim Graph Editor -- Control your Animations Visually!

Community Showcases
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THE PRICE WAS JUST PERMANENTLY DROPPED FROM $95 TO $75!!!

Our next asset has just been released into the asset store! Sage: Anim Graph Editor!!!

Asset Store Link: Sage: Anim Graph Editor | Animation Tools | Unity Asset Store
Full Documentation: http://alteredr.squarespace.com/storage/sagedocumentation/SageDocumentation.pdf

Site License \w Source Code available on our website: http://www.alteredr.com/sage
– $75 off coupon available for current owners of Sage, email me for details. –

Sage is an Animation Graph Editor built directly into the Unity Editor. It can be used to quickly setup animation state machines and blend graphs. It makes it easy to blend between different animations based on input variables. In order for Sage to drive animation on a character, all that is required is using C# to call a few accessor functions to set variables, start/stop state machines and optionally trigger manual state transitions. Everything is is completely abstracted and automatic!

It is the first and only graph based editor extension tailored specifically for working with animations. I plan to continually support and add to it so that it can continue to grow and improve even further.

For more detailed info on Sage, full documentation, and planned updates, check out the our website at: www.alteredr.com/sage

For a Web Player Demo, go here and scroll to the bottom: Sage

Here are some screenshots for Sage. As well as a game implementation walkthrough tutorial. They should give a very good general overview as to what Sage is, and how it works.

Screenshots




Game Implementation Walkthrough – See how fast and easy it is to use Sage in your game

What’s New in v1.5 – See all the new features in Sage v1.5

If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know. I hope some of you are excited about using Sage as I am about finally getting into the hands of game developers! Enjoy! :smile:

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I’ve been using SAGE since its Alpha, and I cannot recommend this product enough. To me, this is one of the big missing pieces of Unity - I can’t imagine working on another project without first incorporating SAGE. If you’ve used Unreal’s AnimTree or other similar graph systems, you’ll feel right at home. SAGE also includes a lot of “niceities” to further speed up the workflow.

It’s really simple to incorporate into an existing project (I was originally using a custom animation controller) and inevitably saves on a LOT of code. I had only used AnimTree at a superficial level before, but it was easy enough to jump in with SAGE and get the basics of my character working - and now that I’ve dug much deeper, the true power of a system like this is really exciting.

I HIGHLY recommend giving SAGE a try, I think you’ll be extremely happy with it, and Altered Reality has been really great about responding to questions and feedback. I also like the planned future additions!

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Awesome, I’m glad you have enjoyed using it so much so far! Thanks for the kind words! And let me know if you need any help with anything or have any questions at all.

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Version 1.0.3 has been released. It includes a few misc fixes and some additions to variables. But most importantly, it includes an example level that shows how to use a Sage Library (the Asset that contains State Machines and Blend Graphs) in code. The example shows how to use the player input, along with a Sage Controller (the object that controls animation), to animate the character quickly, and easily.

I will also be posting a video demonstrating this for the next tutorial as well.

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I added a new video to the original post. This video shows a walkthrough of how fast and easy it is to use Sage from start to finish. As well, why having Sage is incredibly useful for any Game project!

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Thanks for posting the new video - it was extremely helpful to see your workflow. I’m looking forward to incorporating this into an iPad game I’ve been working on some time this week. I’ll post if I need any more guidance!

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I’m glad it was helpful to see! As always, if you need any support, just let me know. I’m more than happy to help!

Also, I should hopefully have version 1.1 done within the next week or so! So stay tuned for that! :slight_smile:

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Can you access sage state machines via javascript or is it only through C#?

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http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/12248/i-need-to-call-a-c-function-from-javascript.html

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This looks awesome, instant buy.

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My primary focus has been C# support with Sage. However, as Bantis pointed out, it is possible to use a C# dll from javascript. I will make a document that highlights the steps of how to use Sage from Javascript for those who want to use Javascript. I should hopefully have it online within the next few days.

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Does this work in publish to flash?

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I just had someone using 3.5 try it, and no, it does not work with Flash right now. It appears to be related to issues discussed here: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/117302-Build-to-Flash-fail

This is not something I am going to support right now though, as I am continuing development on Sage using 3.4.2 so that I can continue to release updates into the Asset Store. However, once 3.5 is finalized and released, I will release an update to address this issue. Sorry for any inconvenience.

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Any news on when the next video will be up?

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I’m hoping to put another up sometime this weekend. Is there any particular video you would like to see next?

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I would like to save my artist from having to create multiple animations that include much of the same things… like walk, run, idle while holding nothing, walk/run/idle while holding something in one hand, walk/run/idle while holding something in the other hand, walk/run/idle while holding something in both hands… Would Sage allow me to mix and match portions of multiple animations like AddMixingTransform, but with multiple transforms from multiple animations?

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As of the current version, this is not something that is supported. However, I am working on putting in support for this in version 1.1. With 1.1, you will be able to add specific mixing transforms to a state machine. Adding the mixing transforms to the state machine gives you the flexibility to create robust state machines for holding an object, and have complete control over what transforms to apply and how to blend the animations. I have actually decided to hold off on the next videos until I add this feature, and a few other features and release 1.1. So once this feature is released, I will have a video going over the specifics of it.

For example, in the case you describe, you would need to create a state machine for say the left hand holding and right hand holding and add the appropriate mixing transforms. Then all you would need to do is start/stop the state machines when they grab/drop objects. Then while either (or both) state machine is active, you could trigger specific states in it (such as shake, wave, throw, etc).

Please let me know if this addresses your question. Or if you have any other questions or desired features. Thanks!

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I just finished the mixing transforms feature for State Machines. Here is a screen shot showing very simple example usage…

In this example, I have a “Arms” state machine that will only apply it’s animations transforms to the “RArmCollarbone” and “LArmCollarbone” transforms, and all their children. (The checkbox indicates if it is recursive) So, whenever the “Arms” state machine is active, it will play the “StandingFire” animation and apply it’s animation data ONLY to the arms.

I have a few smaller features I want to add to this release, so I should have this new version submitted to the asset store within a few days.

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

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Version 1.1 has been submitted to the asset store! It features the Mixing Transforms (as shown above), blend node presets, and other misc improvements or tweaks. I’ll update when it has been approved.

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1.1.0 has been accepted to the asset store! Go check it out!!

Also, I have been cleaning up and tweaking the look of Sage to make it look better overall, both in the Free Skin and the Pro Skin. What do all of you think? Does it look better so far?

Old Look in Free Skin

New Look for Free and Pro Skin

Let me know what you think…Thanks!