Should I keep the animations frame rates at 60 FPS? Is that smart? What are the main concerns?

Unity Engine
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1

Hey everyone,

I’m new to mocap and currently working on a pipeline that involves capturing motion in iClone 8, exporting it as an FBX to Blender, and aiming for a final implementation in Unity.

My main goal is to reduce the storage size of animation files while preserving animation quality. Ideally, this could also improve performance, but that’s a secondary benefit. Here are a few things I’ve tried and some issues I’m facing:

  1. Keyframe Density & Storage: I’ve experimented with cleaning up mocap data to reduce keyframe density and save storage space. However, most methods I’ve found either significantly reduce animation quality or alter the frame rate, which I want to avoid.

  2. Frame Rate Adjustments: Another approach I tested was exporting at different frame rates (like 30 FPS) from iClone 8, which saved around 40% storage space. But this led to timing inconsistencies—animations appear shorter in Blender but are correct in Unity. I can scale the timeline in Blender, but this raises concerns about how well the files will integrate post-export, especially for facial animation adjustments.

  3. Decision to Keep 60 FPS: Given these issues, I’m currently leaning towards keeping animations at 60 FPS and sacrificing storage savings to maintain quality. However, I want to avoid any technical pitfalls down the line and ensure this approach is sustainable.

Here are my main questions:

  • Is maintaining 60 FPS without cleaning methods a smart choice for retaining quality in Unity?

  • Are there any effective ways to reduce mocap storage without compromising frame rate and animation quality?

  • Could this approach lead to future issues that we aren’t upfronting? We also concern with Unity’s storage plan,. (We may need an upgrade with Unity’s Plastic SCM storage limits.)

Any tips, advice, or warnings would be very appreciated!

Specs:

  • Unity 2021.3.3f1

  • Blender 4.1

  • iClone 8

2

I don’t have the answer but I think there is a reason why so many people online complain about capped games at 60 frames. they may see something I don’t see. probably when they use those high refresh screens. if you have one of those screens try doing some test see if there is any difference.

jut to be clear I know they complain about the game running at 60 fps not the animations. just saying that you should do some test just in case it looks bad

3

The animations were recorded on 60 fps, so the cap would be on lower FPS such as 30, for the animations of characters only and not necessarily the whole game. The thing is that the game is a visual novel, so the emphasis will be on them characters and lore.