Skele: Character Animation Tools, Cutscenes and Animations authoring tools

That's not even slated for 5!

 

I hope it would not be postponed to U6, I guess we could still expect it come by U5 some time.

 

To animate the rig / hip is perfect in unity because i used blender 2.73 to do the animation for my characters.

But I have little issues on this assets. He says me in mono develop, if i compile it, "default parameter not allowed". I use the free version of unity 4.6.1 and the new version 1.7d of this asset.

Code (CSharp):

1. ...
2.  
3. ...\Assets\Skele\CharacterAnimationTools\Editor\DaeExporter\DaeExporter.cs(63,63): Error CS0241: Standardparameterbezeichner sind unzulässig. (CS0241) (Assembly-CSharp-Editor)
4. .....
5.  
6. ...\Assets\Skele\CharacterAnimationTools\Editor\EUtil.cs(107,107): Error CS0241: Standardparameterbezeichner sind unzulässig. (CS0241) (Assembly-CSharp-Editor)
7. .....
8.  
9. ...\Assets\Skele\CharacterAnimationTools\Editor\IKSolvers\IKSolver.cs(31,31): Error CS0241: Standardparameterbezeichner sind unzulässig. (CS0241) (Assembly-CSharp-Editor)
10. .....
11.  
12. ...\Assets\Skele\CharacterAnimationTools\Editor\IKSolvers\LimbSolver.cs(38,38): Error CS0241: Standardparameterbezeichner sind unzulässig. (CS0241) (Assembly-CSharp-Editor)
13. .....
14.  
15. ...\Assets\Skele\CharacterAnimationTools\Editor\SMREditor.cs(110,110): Error CS0241: Standardparameterbezeichner sind unzulässig. (CS0241) (Assembly-CSharp-Editor)
16. .....

and much more of this issues.

Cheers,
chmmou

 

hi

can i ask how this compares to final ik? can it do all that that does? (by watching the demo it seems it can and way more...)

and hows the unity5 update going? how far off?

thanks

 

Hi, Super-cypher,

Skele provides animation editing functions, that is to say, the action is determined in editing time, not runtime.

I don't have FinalIK, so the info about FinalIK is from its public videos

Final-IK is a great runtime IK solution, e.g.: if you want to have your character's hand to follow the cursor during play, that's the runtime IK, it's not set in an animation clip.

If you have Unity Pro, you could use the IK solution provided by Unity too, there're some comparison videos about FinalIK and UnityIK on the youtube too.

Skele also has a simple runtime IK solver ( you can try it in the webdemo0.unity scene), but it's a simple one to compare with FinalIK's solutions, you could play with it in some simple circumstances.
[This simple IK solver is not included in the feature list, just think it as an Easter egg or something alike ]

---------------------------------------
Unity5-compatible update might take a little longer, I have to check and re-arrange a bunch of the Unity internal methods I called with Reflection. I should get it done in Feb.

I intended to make the update with the new U5 Director system, but it didn't come out yet, that's a pity.

Best regards,

 

Hi, chmmou,

I'm using Unity4.5.5 with VisualStudio,
I'll check with MonoDevelop now, wait for a moment...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
Just took a test, It rebuilds successfully with MonoDevelop of U4.5.5. It should be fine in U4.6 too.
Could you try checking the "Target Framework" option in the project setting?
http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/176305/default-parameter-specifiers-are-not-permitted.html

Tell me if there're still issues


Best regards,

 

Hi TMPxyz,

it was set to Mono / .Net 3.5 and I set it to Mono / .Net 4.5 and it works now perfect. I tested the same behavior in VS 2013 and that works fine without any modification.

Thank you for your help.

Cheers,
chmmou

 

Hi,

Glad it helps

If you find any issues or have some suggestions, you can always post in forum or just mail me.

Just a mention, if you want a tutorial and webdemo index,
http://skele.userecho.com/topic/479587-intro-index/

Also the youtube video channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLhQ5ZXMdmnf40mmuKsUQPQ

Best regards,

 

That is because you either need to a) retarget the projects by hand in monodevelop to the newer dotnet type (every time you open them, or there is script somewhere that does this) or you could b) use visual studio and VSTools for unity, it doesn't have that problem.

Anyways like TMPxyz said ... monodevelop/Unity compat, stupid bug. I got sick of it the second bout of it happening and just switched to VS. Other than no JS highlighting it is superior in every way.


@TMPxyz
I do have finalIK and this is nothing like it, nor does it attempt to be, nor vice-vera.
FinalIK is about simple-to-use IK-solving components that can handle complicated scenarios with minimum processor spend. ( a few complex scenarios pictured, solved with FinalIK, it's running on this example)


Quad, bi-peds, and special use-cases like webs and chains and ropes and et cetera.

As far as I can see it should /integrate/ with your solution but in no way does it attempt to be it.

I'll take a deeper look at what you have but on the face of it, this, is "zero" similar. Also the author is a great guy, doubtless if approached he would offer whatever illumination someone might require.


Happy I just picked up your thing. Hoping to use it to bring old model animations I have into the next era.

U5 + 4.6 pro here, so I will give this some U5 action.

cheers

 

Hi, twobob,

Yeah, just as you have noticed, they're two completely different plugins aiming different problems;

FinalIK provides run-time IK solutions;
Skele provides edit-time animation authoring tools (with edit-time FK/IK support).

Unity5-ready update still needs some extra time, I will try to handle it early

Best regards,

 

Okay, final 4 hours for the 24-Hour sale, Grab it quick when it's at low-price

 

Okay, only 90-minutes left for the 24-Hour sale.

Thanks for the support from all the people who bought Skele

 

Hi

I just bought Skele in the sale. I'm on Unity 5.0 beta 18. I realize you don't officially support Unity 5.0, and expect Skele to maybe be a little wonky on 5.0, so I'm not complaining as such:
When I install the package on Unity 5.0, I get compile errors on AnimationUtility.SetAnimationType(newClip, m_AnimType); which apparently isn't supported in 5.0. Do you have a workaround for that ?

 

Hi, larskroll,

Unity5 has some API changes that requires me to rewrite a bunch of code, to make things more complex, I had used Reflections to call many Unity-internal methods in Unity4.

That's why the Unity5-Ready update would needs some extra time.

Hmm, about workaround, I will poke around tomorrow to see if I can comment out some parts to make the core modules run on Unity5.
Of course, this might block some non-compatible functions on Unity5.

I'll update the workaround in this post if I work it out. Check it back tomorrow

Best regards,

 

The 24-Hour Sale is ending in 15-min;

My BIG THANKS for all the people who bought Skele package.
I will make it better with your help

 

The 24-Hour Sale is finished, let me thank all of you with a big applause

 

Awesome !

For me, the ability to make my own custom character animations using IK is the primary value of Skele (well .. It's why I bought it anyway ... there might be other use cases that will also prove important for me). So, I guess if I can't get it working properly in 5.0. I could just do my custom animations in 4.6 and then import those to 5.0 ? Still : It WOULD be a much much nicer workflow if I could simply do it all in 5.0, even if some functionality breaks. For now, I'll just comment out those lines, and see how much that breaks

*EDIT* OK....so .. that doesn't work at all . I guess I'll wait and see if you can come up with a good work around, and if all else fails, fall back to 4.6

 

Hi, larskroll,

Yeah, I will try to make the core functions work on Unity5 first.
I hope I didn't insert too much Reflection code there
================================
UPDATE:
I'm working on Unity5 b14.
You can get the FK part working if you comment out those two compile errors lines. But the IK part doesn't work yet.
But there's something weird, the internal event behavior seems very different from Unity4.
Quite confused, anyway, I'm downloading beta18, let's see if it has the same behavior;
================================
UPDATE:
I have installed the Unity5 b18.
After commenting out the two compile errors, the FK and IK seem to work fine here.
Although it reacts to the shortcut keys a little reluctantly, usually needs to move the view a little to make it take effect.
The internal event behavior is still a little different from Unity4, but much better than beta14.
=================================
UPDATE:
Skele v1.7e is published on AssetStore now. (work for Unity5 beta18 or later )
It takes out the compile errors on Unity5 and enables developers to make/edit animations with FK & IK.

 

Hi, Developers,

Skele v1.7e has been submitted to the assetstore, it might take some time to review.

This update is a patch for Unity5 beta, it doesn't affect Unity4;

Be noted that it must work with Unity5 beta18, don't try it with beta14, I've tried already

This is not a complete Unity5-compatible update yet, but it takes out the compile errors on Unity5 and enables developers to do animation authoring with FK & IK now; (Some other functions might not work properly now)

The internal event processing still feels a little odd, the GUI and shortcut might respond to input a little reluctantly... well, I think it would improve by next beta;


Best regards, Be creative,

 

Hi,

Looking through the manual I don't see how I convert animations+ model to "Generic" rig+new style animator data.

You say "Convert animations between Legacy/Generic/Humanoid rig types" do I need to click on the animation or something? I found the "Convert new to old" stuff, but didn't see the "Old to New" section. Any clues?

Thanks

 

Hi, twobob,

Legacy & Generic mostly can be used interchangeably, e.g.: I made a animation "T1" on a Warrior Legacy model, then I could directly put the animation on the Warrior Generic model,
[UPDATE: the clip can be used interchangeably until u4.5, I found since u4.6 the legacy clip cannot be used in Generic anim controller, but you can still manually duplicate the clip and change the animation type in inspector(debug) then use it in Generic anim controller]



Also take a look at this video, I have assembled three main types of conversions with examples.

Example1: Non-Humanoid => Humanoid
Example2: Transfer anim between different Humanoid models;
Example3: Humanoid => Non-Humanoid

Hope this info help, tell me if you find it unclear

Best regards, Be creative,

 

I will check it out , thanks!

 

Hi,

I have been experiencing some minor issues with Skele Animator. I made my own "simple" model using blender and rigged it. Unity Humanoid was configured smoothly. However, whenever i try to animate the model, i get : "Keyframing for humanoid rig is not supported".

Take a look : http://prntscr.com/5ucnop

I really would appreciate any help, thanks!
Thanks

 

Hi, Sanavesa,

Just replied your mail. And for other's reference, I have added a new FAQ entry in skele.userecho.com;
http://skele.userecho.com/topic/585...with-humanoid-models-whats-the-best-workflow/

Tell me if you find it not clear

Best regards, Be creative,

 

Here's a multi-mesh model downloaded from network, and rigged with mixamo's auto-rigger,
You can see the mixamo's skeleton structures on the hierarchy window.

You can think this as a simple model workflow

 

Thanks for the assistance!

This is the most valuable asset i ever purchased!
I was always a noob animator, not anymore it is!
Skele is so great yet simple!
Thanks for making this beautiful gem

 

Hi TMPxyz

I'm a complete noob to animations, so I bought Skele to help me learn a little here

I wondered whether you know what the best way might be to roll a cube around on its edges a bit like in the "Edge" cube game, whether Skele can help and where I might start? I basically want this motion to allow forwards and backwards rolling, plus rotate left/right 90 degrees to change direction.

I saw the video here for rolling a sphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84411374&x-yt-ts=1421828030&v=r_Bu2GNCXfs and seen the rolling cube, but I just wonder how easy it might be to get the cube to actually roll on the ground as opposed to going through the floor?

cheers,

Nalin

 

Hi, puzzlekings,



Just as shown in the GIF above, you could solve the penetrating problem by adding only one keyframe in the middle of the animation. Of course, you could add more details for better result.

Yeah, I have played EDGE before, be noted that such animation works best on flat surfaces, if the surfaces are bumpy, you might still see the penetration sometime.

So, if you still want to prevent such problem even on bumpy surfaces, you could try to use Physx methods to handle movement, it can handle the penetration more reliably on complex surfaces.
However, Physx is much more tricky than animation and might bring you more problems than it solves. It all depends on how your game is designed.

====================================

About the several animations you might need, after you have the forward, you might try to play it reversely as the backward animation (change the playback speed to -1);
About turn around 90deg, I don't remember how EDGE handles this. Maybe you could just make the cube rotate around Y-axis or make it jump a little during rotation? That would be an easy solution.

Best regards, Be creative,

 

Thanks so much for this TMPxyz,

I spent most of the day looking at your video of the rolling ball and trying to work out the RootMotion trick, and trying to apply this to a native Unity Cube. I found Unity root motion to be so confusing because it is so poorly documented but with your video I finally managed to achieve this, however I am a bit confused as to what the "Root Motion Trick" actually does.

In your video essentially you create the animator on the root object which needs an Avatar (else it does not work) and then animate the child object (box/sphere) by changing the position / rotation. Then the "Root Motion Trick" then is to use Skele's AnimPropCurve to change the Position.X/Y/Z from a UnityEngine.Transform type to a UnityEngine.Animator type

Please can you tell me what this wizardry actually does and how it makes root motion happen?

Also after this operation, the above attributes in the Animation Clip window change to yellow colour - what does this indicate? Also, after this operation is it possible to change the Position values of the animation? If so how to do this because the fields are yellow and been renamed.

One other thing is that after studying your GIF above, it this also using the "Root Motion Trick"?

About the several animations you might need, after you have the forward, you might try to play it reversely as the backward animation (change the playback speed to -1);

Sorry for the noob question as I am not sure where in your example there is a parameter in skinnedCube Animator for playback speed?

Thanks so much for your time, advice and help

 

Hi, puzzlekings,

========================
Just to mention it at the start, besides RootMotion, you could still use the traditional in-place animation too.
RootMotion moves the RootGO for you, and with in-place animation you move the RootGO yourself.

RootMotion is much better when handle complex character animations, but needs some setup and config.
In-place animation has the advantages of simpler concept and no setup, you could use it with unity built-in cube as well.
=========================

It's easy to tell the big idea but complex to count all the details of Root Motion.
I think it might be helpful to start with this post:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/make-root-motion-in-animation-clip.250723/

Yellow attributes(curves) means they can not be found. Such things could happen if you modified a bone's name from 'Spine' to 'LongSpine', then existing clip will no longer find the bone with the old "transform path"(e.g.: Spine/Arm/Hand)

Yeah, in that video I didn't consider too much on updating that clip.
If you want to be able to update the clip later ( which is the normal case ), don't directly use AnimCurvePropEditor like I did in that video (It modifies the existing curves) , use the MakeRootMotion function (it generates new curves )

Yep, the GIF is based on RootMotion video, and just solve the penetrating issue we mentioned,

Ah, nope, you need to change the playback speed with code. (Animator.speed for mecanim, AnimationState.speed for Legacy)
Or tweak it on a state in the Animator Controller,



You could just make a new backward animation if you don't want to handle the playback speed,
I would say making a new clip might be more efficient than tweaking the playback speed.


Hope this info helps,

Best regards, Be creative,

 

Hi, Does Skele work well with Adventure Creator?

I was thinking of using it to block out my Cutscenes

-Sean

 

Hi, TheNorthridge,

Thanks for the interest.

I don't have Adventure Creator plugin so I cannot give you my first-hand experience.
But according to others' feedback, we fixed a naming conflict long before. And since then, I haven't received any more conflicting issues on Adventure Creator.

So I think they two should get along well with each other.

Hope this info can help,

Best regards, Be creative,

 

hi, i don't know if its related here but is there a way to scale the bone permanently using this asset? i want to make some chibi models a regular human so adjusting the bones is necessary

 

Hi, cjrussel14,

Thanks for the feedback,

Of course you can scale the bone as you like and keep it as it is.
About the "Permanently", what do you exactly mean by that?

I have two different suggestions: After you enlarge the head of characters,
1. make the modified model into prefab, then you could use it anywhere;
2. Or you could export the modified model into DAE with Skele DAE exporter, then use the model or modify it with external softwares.

Check the pics below,
the first one is the original,
the second three models are prefab instances of the chibi version.
the third one is the DAE archive exported by DAE exporter.



I guess this should be able to fit your needs,

Tell me If you find it not your case or anything not clear enough,

Best regards, Be creative,

 

by permanently i mean the i can save the models with that bone scale and can still play the animation with that bone scale.

because i read in forum many time that in order to scale the bone and play the animation you need to put your scale in the lateupdate.

UPDATE: so i rescale the character then make a simple animation out of it and when i use dae exporter,the model back to where it originally sized

UPDATE: made it worked! thanks for helping me,your product rocks!

 

Hi, cjrussel14,

Glad to hear it works there

Although you have already found the way, but as I have already made the gif, so I post here anyway

Ah... I didn't quite remember seeing this, I think it doesn't require LateUpdate in this case.
However If you need to set something based on current animation value, it would be fit to do that in LateUpdate.
You can check this manual for reference.


Tell me if you found any issue or anything not clear

Best regards, Be creative,

 

Does this happen to work with ANY prefab?

 

yeah but i can't use the previous animation.. the model is returning to its original form when i use the animation,so i forced to make a new one..

is there a workaround to use the original animation without reverting to its original scale?

 

Hi, OnePxl,

You could use Skele DAE exporter on model prefab or modified model prefab to export skinned mesh(with/o animation) or non-skinned mesh,
It can export multiple "Skinned Mesh Renderer" and "Mesh Filter" in one DAE archive.

So, what kind of prefab are you trying to export?

 

Hi,

If the scale reverts when play the animation, there must be a "scale curve" in the animation, possibly on the head or neck bone.
Deleting the scale curve should do the trick. (Right click the scale curve, then click the "Remove Properties" menu item)

If your clip is READ-ONLY, check this post:
http://skele.userecho.com/topic/486762-qa-the-animation-clip-is-read-only/

 

Ok it worked but because the original model( which is chibi) is small, the modified model is somewhat buried slightly in the ground when animation played

 

Hi,

You could try moving it up a little.
For example, increment the y value of the root bone in the animation.

 

I've missed 24 hour sale! When will be next?

 

Hi, jeremiasz,

I have no idea either, I might hold another sale after several major updates, maybe in summer or autumn?
Also as publishers we could only request a sale, the exact date is on Unity guys' schedule.

So just think it as a surprise,

I will spread the words two days before sale if I'm notified beforehand.

Best regards,

 

hi i try it but i have this walk animation.. and i raise the y axis per frame , aside that it's tedious, the result animation is somewhat like the model was bouncing back and forth

is there a way to adjust it without having to move the root frame by frame?

 

Hi, cjrussel14,

We don't have a batch-modify feature yet. I think it could be added later for such use-case;

For your current case, have you tried moving the uppermost GO?

You could try moving the uppermost GO (the GO with Animator component) up a little in the scene, not in the animation.
That would be the fastest way to keep your character above ground, as long as your animation doesn't modify the uppermost GO's transfom ( which is very unlikely for character animation)

 

what is GO? global offset?

how do i do that?? sorry , newbie here


edit:i got it now, thanks..

 

GO = game object

 

Yeah, as hopeful said, GO = game object, sorry for bring you confusion

It's great that you make it work now.

Tell me If you find any other issue or suggestions,

Best regards, Be creative,

 

Hello,

I recently just purchased to do some simple animations on a bipedal character. So I am working on the character and deleted it by accident without exiting Editing Skele and I ended up with this error:

MissingReferenceException: The object of type 'ParticleSystem' has been destroyed but you are still trying to access it.
Your script should either check if it is null or you should not destroy the object.
SMREditor.OnUpdate () (at Assets/Skele/CharacterAnimationTools/Editor/SMREditor.cs:233)
UnityEditor.EditorApplication.Internal_CallUpdateFunctions ()

This stops the inspector from working. I have to close and reopen Unity. You should check for nulls before calling the scripts/Editor scripts. Not sure if this was reported before.

Thanks,
jrDev