Simple questions for Animation pros

[A_Box]

Hello,
It’s about time i start learning how to animate, and i have a couple of questions that i’m sure have obvious answers for you pros.
The documentiation i find around says mostly how to set up stuff, rather than what does what and what
practices are recommended.

In the animator component, what is the function of the Avatar?
Is it best to put the animator component in the root of the body parts, in case i want to use animation rigging?
If i’m using a rigged character, should i animate directly the limbs or animate targets for constraints such as the Two Bone IK?
How do i prevent an object to teleport to the point where i made the animation when i move it on runtime?
How can you have different animations for different parts of the same character working at the same time without looking weird (like having animations for walking legs and arms using a weapon, and being able to change them independently)?

I’d appreciate any kind of tips, as i am completely new to this side of gamemaking.
I might have more questions in the future, but for now thanks a lot for your time!

[Freakish]

@A_Box

It’s about time i start learning how to animate, and i have a couple of questions that i’m sure have obvious answers for you pros.

Not a pro, but I will attempt to answer anyway.

@A_Box

In the animator component, what is the function of the Avatar?

It’s the bit that tells the animation system what kind of animation, So Unity has Generic and Humanoid types, and a Human Avatar will apply humanoid animations to the correct bits like head, arms etc.

You also have Avatar masks, which means you can mask say the head, and just apply the animation to the head etc.

@A_Box

Is it best to put the animator component in the root of the body parts, in case i want to use animation rigging?
If i’m using a rigged character, should i animate directly the limbs or animate targets for constraints such as the Two Bone IK?

Yes, I usually have the Animator on the base object, not necessarily the root bone structure. I’m using TwoBoneIK from the new animation system, and it’s working out quite well for most cases.

@A_Box

How do i prevent an object to teleport to the point where i made the animation when i move it on runtime?

It will depend on how you animate, and the use of Navmesh for navigation. There are usually ways to minimise such issues on a case by case basis.

Take a look at the scripts here. The velocityx/y locomotion script is useful, after you setup a walking animation.
https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/nav-CouplingAnimationAndNavigation.html

But you may be talking about root motion, which is another topic ll together…

@A_Box

How can you have different animations for different parts of the same character working at the same time without looking weird (like having animations for walking legs and arms using a weapon, and being able to change them independently)?

Animation Layers and Avatar Masks.

It can be quite daunting, but it’s really not that scary. I’ve found once you find the right setup, it is easy to reuse Avatars and Controllers with a lot of base options set. I use layers for Base, Head, Right Arm,Left Arm etc, each with an Avatar mask, You then usually trigger transitions between states with a bool or float parameter, and use weighting on the layers to bring it all together.

Hope it helps.

[A_Box]

Thanks for the answers!