andrewknoll / blender-animation-addons

blender-animation-addons

This repository includes two add-ons for Blender (>=2.93) to handle the animation of rigged models.

Installation

• In Blender, click on Edit > Preferences.
• Once there, on the Add-ons tab, click on Install.
• Navigate and select animation_transfer.py.
• Enable the Add-on.

Animation Transfer (JSON)

This add-on takes the animation of a rigged model and applies it to another model using a JSON file encoding the relations (see ###JSON-format for more details).

Usage

• Import the two models with their rigging: The one with the original animation (we'll call it "origin") and the one to which the animation will be applied (we'll call it "target").
• Select, in this order, the original object and the target object (you can either select the Mesh or the Armature from them).
• In the 3D Viewport (while in Object mode), click View > Sidebar.
• On the sidebar that just appeared, click on Tool > Animation Transfer > Animation Transfer (JSON)
• On the window that just appeared, select the JSON file encoding the relations.
• Now, both the target and origin objects will have the same animation (if the target object had an animation prior to this, it will be deleted).

Make Stationary

Some animations that involve a movement, like walking, swimming... move the object forward, so their initial position does not match their final position. This has some disadvantages if you want to control the movement in an external program, independently from the animation (for example, manually setting the speed of movement). Therefore, it is common to have the position of the model be fixed rather than the animation moving it forward. This add-on deletes all the translation that may have been applied to the "root" bone and sets it to the origin of the axes in Blender (position (0,0,0)).

Usage

• Import the model with its rigging and animation.
• Select the object (you can either select the Mesh or the Armature from it).
• In the 3D Viewport (while in Object mode), click View > Sidebar.
• On the sidebar that just appeared, click on Tool > Animation Transfer
• Set the Root bone property to the name of the bone (the end of the name) which you want to make stationary.
• Click on Make Stationary
• Now, all the bones will move in the same manner as before, but the root bone will remain in place.

Legacy Animation Transfer

This add-on takes the animation of a rigged model and applies it to another model with the same bone structure. The format that is used is compatible with u3d (Universal 3D format) (see )

Usage

• Import the two models with their rigging: The one with the original animation (we'll call it "origin") and the one to which the animation will be applied (we'll call it "target").
• Select, in this order, the original object and the target object (you can either select the Mesh or the Armature from them).
• In the 3D Viewport (while in Object mode), click View > Sidebar.
• On the sidebar that just appeared, click on Tool > Animation Transfer > Legacy Animation Transfer
• Now, both the target and origin objects will have the same animation (if the target object had an animation prior to this, it will be deleted).

Skeleton Format

The skeleton format that has been chosen to build these scripts is compatible with u3d (universal 3D) and uses the following naming convention:

• root, hip, spine_01, spine_ 02, spine_03, head, head_end, jaw, jaw_end, neck
• The following bones end with _l or _r depending on the side where they are placed (left or right, respectively):
  • eye, eye_end, eyelid, eyelid_end, eyebrow, mouth
  • shoulder, upperarm, upperarm_twist, lowerarm, lowerarm_twist
  • upperleg, upperleg_twist, lowerleg, lowerleg_twist, foot, ball, foot_end
  • thumb_01, thumb_02, thumb_03, thumb_end
  • index_01, index_02, index_03, index_end
  • middle_01, middle_02, middle_03, middle_end
  • ring_01, ring_02, ring_03, ring_end
  • pinky_01, pinky_02, pinky_03, pinky_end

In the case any of these does not match on the two skeletons at the same time, they will be ignored.