Intro to Animation Rigging & Procedural Animation in Unity

Learn the fundamentals of the character animation pipeline, how animation rigging in Unity can help us to create procedural animations, and to break down Unity's hidden gem: the animation rigging package!
This intro episode is the first in a new series dedicated to understanding Unity's animation rigging package. Stay tuned the other videos in the series to continue learning!
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Animation Rigging Package GDC: • Extending the Animatio...
►TIMESTAMPS:
Intro: 0:00
Character Animation Pipeline: 0:23
What is Procedural Animation: 1:17
Animation Rigging Package Explained: 2:42
What are Rigs and Constraints: 3:17
Initial Rigging Setup in Unity: 4:06
Animation Rigging Hierarchy: 7:17
Head Tracking Section: 8:04
Unity Tip: 9:04
Multi Aim Constraint Explained: 09:32
A.R.P. IS AWESOME: 12:00
Coming Soon: 12:45
Thank you for stopping by and checking out my tutorial -- Hope you all enjoy! Please feel free to leave any questions & feedback you may have. This will help shape the direction and style for upcoming videos!
Thanks again for watching!
#indiegame #gamedev #indiedev #2022

[@noblephantasms7250]

Finally a video about procedural animations for unity that isn't years old 🙏🏽

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you Noble! More to come!!

[@JavaScripting64]

This comment gonna age like milk

[@deborah5710]

​@@iHeartGameDev We appreciate your hard work

[@SnakeEngine]

@@JavaScripting64 It will become old, but not obsolete.

[@JavaScripting64]

@@SnakeEngine Yea just joking it's a good tutorial

[@iHeartGameDev]

✨Who else is ready to learn procedural animations?! 🤘I am so ready to start this new series and hope you are all as excited as I am! Comment below telling me what you want covered next! VOTING ON THE NEXT VIDEO TOPIC IS LIVE FOR PATRONS: www.patreon.com/posts/75077014 Shoutout to Unity for reaching out to sponsor this video and providing this community with an exclusive discount! Remember to use code “IHEARTGAMEDEVBF22” to get an extra 10% off all orders over $100. Check out the Unity Asset Store Sale (affiliate link): assetstore.unity.com/?on_sale=true&orderBy=1&rows=96&aid=1011lexqa Want to join the awesome growing iHeartGameDev community? Check out the discord! discord.gg/2AxUvsa If you watched the video, enjoyed it and want to support the channel: consider hitting that like button to help the video get picked up by the algorithm! Cheers!🍻 -Nicky

[@Tryste]

Great news I was looking for in-depth explanation about this topic :)

[@calvinms7503]

Please keep making this top quality and super detailed tutorial :D

[@RadianceCOD]

We always needed this 🙏

[@DotNetCookbook]

A normal, in-depth PuppetMaster tutorial would be great because this is the only plugin in its league, is very popular and also has nearly no up-to-date tutorials. I also believe that PuppetMaster was created when Animation Rigging was missing in Unity so it could be that what it does is actually achievable with Animation Rigging alone. If that's the case - a tutorial on how to implement that would be priceless.

[@ethanmckinnell8261]

whenever i need help with animations in unity your channel is my no.1 go to and I usually end the video having learned so much, your videos are well edited, not overly long, has nice audio, your channel is without a doubt underrated, keep up the work!

[@AntMairlonPRocha]

Man, Thank you for all your videos! the quality of each is remarkable!

[@brutalgamer1507]

I am waiting

[@Tarodev]

DUDE! What an amazing tutorial. The rigging package has come a long way since I last tried it... may even be good enough to replace Final IK once and for all. It'd be cool if you made some bite-sized shorts covering the remaining constraints.

[@iHeartGameDev]

Cheers for the kindness, Taro 🍻 Also, anyone reading this who hasn’t should consider subscribing to his channel if you haven’t already. Top tier Unity vids 👏

[@weckar]

Please not 'shorts'. You can't rewind shorts, which makes them terrible for tutorial content.

[@libberator5891]

@@weckar If you have access to the url (i.e. not watching on mobile app), change /shorts/ to /watch/ and you'll get the regular view. There are also browser extensions to do it for you

[@ColorfulVideoScrapbookof-ty5eh]

Really well explained and laid out. Definitely an aspect of unity that needs to be demystified, and you did that. Thanks!!

[@dmtr_art]

This tutorial is pure gold! Thank you!

[@kingetame]

Thanks a lot for this tutorial, one of the best on YT (I love the schema you draw to explain things) !

[@praxedishaze1346]

Fast-paced, not filled with a bunch of 'um's in the narration (thank heaven!), and concise. Had to do a bit of research to figure out how he opened all the child objects at once, but that was the only thing that I got left behind on. Nicely done. GIVE ME MORE! Yes. More please.

[@duancoviero9759]

nailed it with this video! There were a couple things i was confused about that you cleared up, thank you 👍🏾

[@sambitkumar8145]

Respect man❤, you are teaching unity in free. We need practical use cases of all constraints

[@TurboMakesGames]

This is good stuff, nice work! This seems like a really fun package to play around with (plus I always appreciate when the computer can take care of things on the art/animation side 😊) Side note - I really liked how you did that quick little cutaway to show a practical use of the "Properties" window - such a nice feature. Happy Thanksgiving!!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Hey Johnny - thanks so much for checking out the vid! I appreciate the kind words 🙏 Happy Thanksgiving and holidays!

[@timandersen8030]

Looking forward to this procedural animation series!

[@kashyapparmar4317]

thank you, sir I was looking for this for so long

[@willgoldstone]

Your videos are so so good, thank you for everything you put into them.

[@mkeyla_creates790]

so excited for the next video!

[@mitchelstanley5841]

Wonderfully done. Please do make more videos about procedural animation in unity. This is a topic that needs so much more how to instruction and your clarity and style are a joy to watch and learn. Kudos to you!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you so much Mitchel! More to come for sure

[@gazeth]

Such a good reference. In the past it took me ages to figure out how to make a character hold and aim a gun

[@AlexStrook]

Needed a refresher on Animation rigging, and this tutorial was amazing the quality and clarity of the video is outstanding!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Hey Alex! Thanks so much! I'm a big fan of your work on twitter!

[@Ptah1130]

Nicky is back!!

[@iHeartGameDev]

It’s me!! 😊

[@theglobol]

Great tutorial, I appreciate it.

[@renebarrow.virtualreality]

Awesome! Exactly what I needed!

[@Joshua-hb7cs]

Amazing tutorial! Thank you so much

[@devklebinho]

This video is really awesome!!! Please, make more about animation rigging. You are doing perfect

[@oravrahamy]

OMG that right click Properties tip is a life changer! No more locked inspector windows!

[@edwintumusiime6938]

Thank you sooo much Nicky!🙏 I needed a tutorial like this. You've just saved me so much time and pain. Subscribing to your channel is an excellent choice for any new Unity Game dev in my opinion. Great job!🤘

[@iHeartGameDev]

That is amazingly high praise! Thank you Edwin! I really appreciate it!

[@ofeklivny]

This is SO proffesional, clear and detailed. Visually and verbally. amazing.

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you so much for the kindness

[@FrankThePlank925]

Thanks Nicky! Your videos are always so clear. I'd love a video about constraints.

[@ciaxeresregio7694]

Really thank you for the video i hope for more videos like that

[@ewwitsantonio]

Great video! Really nice production and organization :)

[@shisharupu]

We should definitely see a video about all constraints! It would be useful for learning how to recreate a complex rig like the Meta Rig found in Blender or the Human IK Rig in Maya.

[@junyan2604]

You had the best unity animation tutorial on yt, excited to learn more about your new animations video.

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you JunYan! :)

[@alexwebster7521]

Great video ! Would be really interested to see more on this, as well a perhaps a comparison with final ik. Unity still have much to improve. Would be keen to see how to simulate setups like ALS in unreal, as well as better use of it's additive animation abilities.

[@shsstudios5292]

Thank you!, you are helping me to achieve my dream!

[@biocronic2986]

Very good work! Thank you very very much!

[@TeamEK420]

w0w, thank you . thats what i need!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Awesome -- Happy to hear that, Eliran!

[@iamgruff]

Great vid IHGD, really nice intro to anim rigging, very informative , looking forward to the continuation of this series :)🤘

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks so much Gruffy!! I’m excited to learn and share more!

[@iamgruff]

@@iHeartGameDev Very much looking forward to it. Thank you for all your hard efforts in delivering quailty content :)

[@GrahamOfLegend]

Nicky always coming thru with the things I'm thinking about when I need em. Great video fam!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Appreciate the kindness, Graham!! :)

[@deivid-01]

Amazing!

[@furkan4657]

Awesome video, thank you so much !

[@AlexBlackfrost]

Can't wait for parts 2,3,4,5,6. Also, awesome unity tip, I can't believe I've never noticed that properties option lol

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks Alex! Pretty hyped that we are finally here using the package. I also might have to make a little Unity tips video 🤔

[@danieldubinko9561]

@@iHeartGameDev Heyo, will there be more videos for this playlist?

[@lucasmontec]

AMAZING video.

[@pop2147]

Finally I get a good understanding of procedural animation is. Its just constraint that react with armature. However I lke Animation workflow in unity more rather than blender for its realtime and highly scripted. Really hope to see touching wall, climbing and wall jump in the future. Thank you for the quality tuts.

[@syedmeesumalizaidi2152]

aesthetic sense of explaining

[@peileed]

so much work went on this, thanks

[@iHeartGameDev]

Hey thank you! That means a lot

[@peileed]

no worries, great quality, I would be up for watching your workflow, my videos rarely get more than 5 views no matter the effort I put on them, it is super hard to be an indie dev and still have time to make good videos

[@V0LAT1LE_]

These tutorials are great

[@AetherXIV]

can't wait for next video on this topic. blender animations have been such a pain and if I can do it all in Unity that would be huge especially for my simple game.

[@bots_op]

amazing video!

[@zacksth3469]

Omg... i try to search this tutorial everywhere. Thanks for making one bro. I appreciate it.

[@iHeartGameDev]

It's my pleasure

[@superfunnypranks463]

FINALLY I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks again!

[@weckar]

Nice intro! Two requests: 1. Talk through how this combined with traditional animations on the same model (I see you already did this with running bananaman) 2. How to best constrain limbs, lengths and joins. Perhaps with spider-man like climbing?

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks so much Weckar! I will definitely mention the combined animations in the future, and doing a climbing video would be really cool :)

[@BrendanSymington]

Yes please, more please, do all the animations :o

[@xskodemedia746]

yes please understanding these constraints is important for making the animations act correctly

[@SerhiiKonovalenko]

Thanks a lot 👍

[@kimsouza259]

awesome!!!

[@mladennikolic996]

More of this please! Constraint the legs and arms. Tnnx!

[@RapidTech]

Awesome! More videos on Animation rigging please!!

[@cmdkaboom]

Very cool!!!

[@emirhan2419]

THATS GREAT! I LOVE YOU

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you Emir! :)

[@TheSateef]

very very very very very useful information, thanks

[@hamsterhaunter5718]

Wow! I'm impressed

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you Hamster Hunter! I appreciate that!

[@iwannamustache2367]

You seem like a joy to be around

[@aa-xn5hc]

very interesting, yes, ideally explain all constraints that relate to humanoids

[@octaviotastico]

This is one of the best channels out there for unity explanations fr

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you 🙏

[@mikszalktis2783]

Thanks for the GameObject Properties tip.

[@jahidalislamrizvee5673]

Absolutely awesome

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks very much!

[@haim96]

super cool! next tutorial: procedural weapon use!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Added to the list!!

[@akiller28]

amazing!!!!!

[@GameDevBox]

super cool! Im always enjoy your content 😍

[@iHeartGameDev]

Glad you enjoy it! Thank you!

[@philipbanks8067]

Thanks for the tip about opening up a new property window when moving game object references into a component's slots to prevent the inspector changing to other game objects. I also found out today that you can click the lock button in the top right of the inspector it will no longer change to the other objects you click on.

[@iHeartGameDev]

I love the little tips like that!

[@ataerenaktun2661]

dope tutorial

[@jaqrus6184]

You are a god among men. Thank you very much

[@user-cc8uw9dp2k]

please make a video for each constraint

[@Churagawa]

Phew, advertising Unity when making unity guide is just.. blessed

[@iHeartGameDev]

It's pretty cool :)

[@LifeHacker8]

You're the best. PLease make a video on the contrains. I would like to know more about them. Thanks :)

[@hakanviajando]

Great video, thanks.

[@iHeartGameDev]

thank you for watching!

[@IngoLingoAnimations]

Great video! If you make a follow up on this, I would love to see the effect you mentioned with Uncharted. Having the character procedurally interact with the environment like that would make a good tutorial. It would also teach how and when you can turn on and off your procedural animations. Because you don't always want your character to be trying to touch a nearby wall when they're in a fight for their life.

[@iHeartGameDev]

Very true! We'd probably only turn it on in a given state

[@rokeyabegum139]

great explanation bro

[@iHeartGameDev]

Bro thank you :)

[@midniteoilsoftware]

Very helpful video. Thanks!

[@iHeartGameDev]

Awesome -- happy to hear that!

[@dreamisover9813]

Great topic! I noticed for some reason that I was bell button subscribed but I didn't get a notification for the upload this time

[@iHeartGameDev]

That's unfortunate and something I will have to look into. But thank you for watching anyway :)

[@4ertz]

thank you very much, without you I would have suffered much more.

[@FAHOOD-we6hk]

This is EPIC

[@iHeartGameDev]

thank you :)

[@nickfoster8721]

I expect I am utterly dumb, but do the rigs in the "Control Rig" replace blend trees or vice versa, or have I totally missed the point? Superb and concisely presented video, with excellent grpahics to highlight the points you make. My apologies I am fairly new to animations.

[@lotussaxe]

Would love to see some of the classic usercases like walking/running on uneven ground and pushing a door/button grabbing a ledge.

[@ColorfulVideoScrapbookof-ty5eh]

4:43 Say if you want to do your animations in Unity itself, like animating FPS hands. I can create the rig and the constraints, but can I record/key frame them into new animations using the rigging tools to pose them into keyframes? I think you may have mentioned that you need to have the Animation window in Preview mode to actually pose the character with the rigging toolset? Insight on this would be grateful. Thanks

[@Betruet]

This was great, a bit deeper would be nice. Can't wait for your future videos :)

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thanks very much! More to come :)

[@marvellousmoonvalley7085]

Great Videos! I watched them all (12 in this playlist)! Unity should hire you to create tutorial videos. :) Do you have tutorials about changing a character's clothing/attire/costumes on the fly? How about having the characters use different weapons? I have been wondering about these features. Perhaps you can explain them next!

[@FrankTank7777]

Thank you so much for this video, great intro into procedural animations. I previously saw a video of how to do a ragdoll effect on another channel in unity, but it was a bit of work swapping between the pre-built animation and then the ragdoll effect. Is there a way to use procedural animation to simulate a ragdoll effect, where all limbs just collapses at the same time with maybe a force pushing it backwards?

[@iHeartGameDev]

I love this idea - I will explore it myself and see if I can figure it out for a future video

[@joshuafoster4214]

I'd quite like to see how climbing would be done :D Great video as always, super informative :D

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you Joshua!

[@Itsme-wt2gu]

Plz reply me when ai animation the 3rd one implemented like Cascaduer to unity, you made about it.

[@3000Lane]

I like to see how to aim with a grande or other throwable in the hand, because a lot of tutorials only show aiming with guns but not aiming and throwing other objects^^

[@superfunnypranks463]

THIS IS OUR NEW BRACKEYS

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you :)

[@nkofr]

Thanks, very nice video! As you say at 01:19, do you know a tool that could work with Unity to "easily" generate AI Animations?

[@rakaneko4229]

Hello! I'm learn about this animation but mesmerized by your game project (cool snake!). Can you make vid about it more? Anyway subscribed

[@brodakarat6340]

Could you do a tutorial on creating custom constraints from IRigConstraint? fore example I need a constraint which sets the rotation as the sum of the source rotations. not the average like multi-rotation does.

[@mracipayam]

Great success sponsored from Unity

[@iHeartGameDev]

Thank you :)

[@lifeonplanet1547]

Would love to see something on the Chain IK with a tentacle example.

[@wort3120]

nice video! But what I wonder: How do I combine my baked animations with procedural animations?

[@fredqq2003]

May I ask If we have two different animations for rigging, Do I just set up one by one in the scene and activate or deacitvate by scripts at right time?