Basics of Avatar Animation
Last updated
Last updated
MYTY Kit supports both bone animation and frame animation.
For example, to make the eyes blink, we need to separate the original image into an image of the face and an image of the eyes. Similarly, to make the hair move, we need to separate the original image into an image of the hair and an image of the head.
Each decomposed layer (sprite) can be bone-animated by “implanting” bone(s) into it (rigging).
Image layers sets are organized by the Sprite Library, and can be frame-animated.
Bones can be “implanted” to an avatar to simulate human-like joint movements.
Define parts that you want to give movement to, and decompose them into layers.
If you’d like to bind more than one bone to an image layer, use the “Bone Weight” function.
When the user makes a particular movement, a corresponding image (sprite) is is displayed. This is useful when the desired animation requires a change in the frame’s graphic elements.
For example, you can set a different graphic (sprite) for the avatar’s default Eyes&Mouthand the Laugh eyes&mouth. When the user laughs, the default Eyes&Mouthwill be changed to the Laugh eyes&mouth graphic.
For frame animation to work properly, all involved layers must be organized a certain way.
In the example above, we will frame animate the Eyes and the Mouth.
Decide which will be the default sprites (for when the person has a neutral expression) and which will be the animation sprites (for when the person is actively talking or blinking etc).
Keep the default sprites under the Face > Eyes, and the Face > Mouth folders (groups). This will result in the following three layers:
Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_R (layer)
Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_L (layer)
Face > Mouth > DefaultMouth (layer)
Create a new root folder (group) called Animation, and create children folders (groups) that mimic the organizational hierarchy of the three layers in the previous step. This will result in the following folders: Animation > Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_R (folder) Animation > Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_L (folder) Animation > Face > Mouth > DefaultMouth (folder)
Move all animation sprites and a copy of the default sprites to their respective folders. This will result in the following ten layers: Animation > Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_R > DefaultEye_R, AngryEye_R, SmileEye_R (layers) Animation > Face > Eyes > DefaultEye_L > DefaultEye_L, AngryEye_L, SmileEye_L (layers) Animation > Face > Mouth > DefaultMouth > DefaultMouth, SmileMouth, LaughMouth, AngryMouth (layers)
All image layers and folders under the “Animation” folder must retain the same organizational hierarchy as the original it was duplicated from.
All folders and image layers should be named in English
It’s a good idea to choose a case or a combination of cases, and stick to it. For example, a combination of the CamelCase and snake_case would result in “Layer_Name,” as seen in the images above.
For parts that come in left-right pairs, distinguish between “Layer_Name_L” and “Layer_Name_R”
The order of folders and image layers in the Layers Panel defines the position of each layer, and determines if a particular layer appears behind or in front of other layers.
If a layer is at the top of the stack, the objects in the layer will appear in front of all other layers.
Group layers belonging to the same part together.
For example, you can make layer groups in the following fashion: (The exact order and naming is at your own discretion)
Hair
Accessaries
Face
Body
Head
Have a question or an idea? If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, participate in the MYTY Kit Community. We’d love to hear from you.😄
