3 · Pre-Render Sprites for 2D Video Games: Organizing and Preparing Mixamo Animations in Cinema 4D

🎮🎨 Organizing and preparing Mixamo animations for your Sprite Sheet project.
🌟 Key Highlights:
File Organization: Start by opening the 3D model you've rigged in Mixamo. It's a good practice to give it a distinct name to avoid any confusion with your original model. Your scene includes a preset camera that doesn't obstruct your view and is ready for use.
Understanding the Model: Explore your 3D model, which has a child modifier called 'skin' containing information about how bones influence the model's polygons. At this stage, your timeline is animation-free, and your scene is clean and ready to be saved in C4D format. Ensure you give it an appropriate name.
Organizing the Bones: To create an organized structure for the animations you've downloaded, you'll need to create a null object for each animation that will be part of your final set. Number and title them appropriately, starting with the first one, such as "Zore Origin." These null objects will contain the hierarchy of bones with your model's original pose.
Proper Organization: Proper file and project organization is crucial to keep your workflow smooth. Take your time to create a null object for each animation.
Importing Animations: Locate your previously downloaded animations, select them all, and drag them directly into Cinema 4D. Ensure the "Tracks" checkbox under the animation tab is turned on. Go through them one by one to ensure they imported correctly.
Cleaning Up: If, like in some cases, you've accidentally imported animations with extra skin information, you can remove the excess objects. This step helps to keep your project organized and lightweight.
Assigning Animations: Copy the bones from the parent object in each scene, paste them into your master scene, and place them within their respective null objects. Turn off the visibility of these objects.
Customizing Animations: Depending on your project's needs, you may require multiple animations. In the tutorial, the creator needed different knockdowns and standups for a zombie character. They carefully organized these animations accordingly.
Preparation for Motion: At this stage, your model hasn't yet adopted the animations, but you're all set to assign the motion. The next lesson will guide you on how to do just that.
Save Your Work: Don't forget to save your master project after completing these crucial organizational steps. A well-organized project is the key to successful animation in Cinema 4D.
Stay tuned for the next lesson, where you'll learn how to bring these animations to life and create stunning Sprite-sheets from #cinema4d all the way to #Aseprite. Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with the latest tutorials and animation tips. Your journey to becoming a pro animator starts here! 🚀

[@TheLastGamer327]

I would love it if you actually explained how to create the Null object for your animations. Or how to set up your Blender page so mine looks like yours and I could follow along. Because, as you stated in Vid1, these videos are for people with no artistic skills or time.