the animation system how to animate

the transforms of a model.

For humanoid models these can be configured

to your own specifications.

When you select a mesh in a Project panel

the Inspector will have three tabs,

Model, Rig and Animations.

To configure the avatar click the rig tab.

For this tutorial we are assuming that

the model is a humanoid, as such

the animation type should be humanoid.

Below that is the avatar definition property.

The options are Create From This Model,

and Copy From Other Avatar.

Copy From Other Avatar simply copies

an avatar definition from one that has

already been configured.

In most cases Unity will be able to

configure your model automatically,

in which case you will see a tick mark

next to the configure button.

Otherwise it can be configured manually.

We will discuss configuring an avatar

manually in just a moment, but first

let's finish talking about the Rig tab,

specifically the Optimise Game Objects check box.

By default Unity does not optimise model rigging.

What that means is that Unity will create

many empty game objects to represent

all of the model's bones and joints.

This gives you access to the transforms of all

of the model's parts, but it is much less efficient.

In most cases you will not need this

level of control.

Therefore it is recommended to check

Optimise Game Objects.

By checking this box Unity will not create

extra empty game objects.

Obviously not managing all of those transforms

will improve the performance of your game.

However under some circumstances

we might want to reference a particular

part of a model in code or in the Hierarchy.

We might, for example, want to add a cup of

coffee to the hand of the model.

We can still complete this in an optimised model

by exposing the transforms we want.

To expose a transform click the + sign under the

Extra Transforms To Expose box.

Then simply drill down and find the

transform you want.

In this case we will drill down

to find the model's right hand.

If you change the optimisation of a model

you will need to reconfigure the avatar

definition afterwards.

To do this click on the Configure button.

You will be asked if you want to keep the

unapplied import settings you have made

to the model, choose apply to keep your changes.

If you have unsaved changes to your scene

Unity will also ask if you want to save them

because configuring an avatar is done in another scene.

The configuration scene is empty

apart from our model with it's entire

hierarchy exposed.

The Inspector has 2 tabs, Mapping and Muscles.

First we will discuss Mapping.

This is the mapping of the model's imported

hierarchy to Unity's definition for how

a humanoid should be laid out.

Immediately below the tabs is a representation

of the humanoid model with various

circles and dots.

These represent the bones of the model.

Ones that are circled with a dotted line

are optional and are not necessary

for the definition.

On the diagram you can select which

part of the model you are looking at.

The body, head or either hand

by clicking the buttons on the left side.

Below the diagram is a list of all of the bones

organised by section with a transform that

has been applied to that bone.

In order to apply a transform to a bone

you can either drag the transform from the

hierarchy to the dots on the diagram,

the specific property below the diagram

or you can use the circle select button.

Below the list of bones are 2 drop-down menus,

Mapping and Pose.

Mapping has 4 options.

Clear, Automap, Load and Save.

Clear will remove all of the bone allocations.

Automap will get Unity to try and fit the

correct transforms to their bones.

Generally this is the best approach

to start with when configuring an avatar.

Load and Save are for dealing with

humanoid templates so you can use

configurations across multiple avatars.

These are generally not required

as Unity will usually be able to automap

your avatar.

The Pose drop-down has 3 options.

Reset, Sample Bind Pose and Enforce T-Pose.

Reset removes any pose from the avatar

and sets it to it's default.

Sample Bind Pose tries to set the avatar to

the pose in which it was modelled.

Enforce T-Pose sets the avatar

in to a T pose.

This is the way that Unity prefers to

deal with avatars.

When you have finished mapping it is best

to set the avatar in to a T pose.

When you have finished mapping your avatar's bones

click Apply to keep the changes.

Then click on the Muscles tab

to deal with the model's muscles.

If you have unapplied import settings

Unity will ask if you wish to apply them.

Under the Muscles tab are 3 groups of settings.

The first group is just for previewing

the overall range of movement of the avatar.

And if you're going to adjust any of the

muscle ranges it is best to leave these

at their default by clicking the

Reset All button.

The second group of settings are the

Per-Muscle settings.

These are grouped by body areas

and each one takes the form of a slider

which can be used to adjust the range

of muscle movement.

The number's range between -180 and 180,

representing the number of degrees of

movement around that axis.

The third section is for additional settings.

The Twist settings are how much of the

twist affects the neighbouring joints.

The Stretch settings, for how much the bones

can stretch when the avatar is retargeted

to another model.

Finally the Feet Spacing

is the default distance between the feet.

You can use this to affect things

like walking animations.

Once you have set the muscles as you like

you can apply your changes and press Done

to return to your scene.

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