TrickyAnimationComponents

A small plugin with a collection of actor and scene components which can help with the animation of actors and their parts.

Installation

The plugin can be used in both C++ and Blueprint projects.

Blueprint projects

1. Download package file;
2. Install the plugin either in your project or for all projects in engine:
   • Unzip the package into Plugins folder of your project, e.g. D:\UnrealProjects\MyProject\Plugins;
   • Unzip the package to the Plugins folder in engine folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.0\Engine\Plugins;
3. Restart the project;

In this case the plugin can be used for any blueprint project.

C++ projects

1. Create the Plugins folder in the project directory;
2. Create the TrickyAnimationComponents folder in the Plugins folder;
3. Download the plugin source code into that folder;
4. Rebuild the project;

Components

The plugin contains:

1. EaseAnimationComponent;
2. EasingAnimationSceneComponent;
3. FollowAnimationComponent;
4. OscillationAnimationComponent;
5. RotationAnimationComponent;
6. SplineAnimationComponent;
7. TimelineAnimationComponent;

EaseAnimationComponent

An actor component which can animate owners location, rotation and scale using easing functions.

Variables

1. AutoPlay - toggles if the animation will start on begin play or not;
2. bPlayFromEnd - if true, PlayFromEnd function will be called on begin play, else PlayFromStart;
3. AnimationBehavior - Determines behavior of the animation:
   • Normal plays once;
   • Loop loops normal behavior;
   • AdditiveLoop increment target values by their initial value each cycle;
   • PingPong animates from initial values to target and back;
4. EaseFunction - ease function which will be used for the animation;
5. TargetLocation - target world location of the animation;
6. TargetRotation - target world rotation of the animation;
7. TargetScale - target world scale of the animation;
8. Duration - animation duration;
9. IsPlaying - shows if the animation is playing;

Functions

1. PlayFromStart - starts the animation from initial location/rotation/scale;
2. PlayFromEnd - start the animation from target location/rotation/scale;
3. Stop - stops the animation;

Delegates

1. OnAnimationFinished - called when the animation cycle finished;

EasingAnimationComponent

A scene component which can animate its location, rotation and scale using easing functions.

Variables

1. AutoPlay - toggles if the animation will start on begin play or not;
2. bPlayFromEnd - if true, PlayFromEnd function will be called on begin play, else PlayFromStart;
3. AnimationBehavior - Determines behavior of the animation:
   • Normal plays once;
   • Loop loops normal behavior;
   • AdditiveLoop increment target values by their initial value each cycle;
   • PingPong animates from initial values to target and back;
4. EaseFunction - ease function which will be used for the animation;
5. TargetLocation - target relative location of the animation;
6. TargetRotation - target relative rotation of the animation;
7. TargetScale - target relative scale of the animation;
8. Duration - animation duration;
9. IsPlaying - shows if the animation is playing;

Functions

1. PlayFromStart - starts the animation from initial location/rotation/scale;
2. PlayFromEnd - start the animation from target location/rotation/scale;
3. Stop - stops the animation;

Delegates

1. OnAnimationFinished - called when the animation cycle finished;

FollowAnimationComponent

A component which interpolates an owning actor location towards a target location/actor.

Variables

1. FollowActor - toggles if the component will interpolate position towards a target actor or a specific location;
2. TargetActor - an actor which world location will be used as a target location;
3. Location - the world location which will be used as a target location;
4. TargetLocationOffsetz - location offset relative to the target location;
5. Speed - determines the speed of interpolation;
6. IsFollowing - shows if the component follows the target location;

Functions

1. StartFollowing - start interpolation;
2. StopFollowing - stops interpolation;

OscillationAnimationComponent

A scene component which create oscillation animation for location, rotation and scale.

Variables

1. IsEnabled - toggles all the animations;
2. For location, rotation, scale:
   1. AnimateX - toggle animation along X axis;
   2. AnimateY - toggle animation along Y axis;
   3. AnimateZ - toggle animation along Z axis;
   4. Amplitude - determines the animation amplitude for each axis;
   5. Frequency - determines the animation frequency for each axis;

Functions

1. SetIsEnabled - toggles oscillation animation;

RotationAnimationComponent

A scene component which rotates along the chosen axis.

Variables

1. RotateX - toggle rotation along the X axis;
2. RotateY - toggle rotation along the Y axis;
3. RotateZ - toggle rotation along the Z axis;
4. RotationSpeed - determines the rotation speed along each axis;

Functions

1. SetIsRotating - toggles rotation along XYZ axis;

SplineAnimationComponent

An actor component which moves an actor along a spline component using a timeline component.

Setup

1. Add component to an actor;
2. Create or use the existing curve float object for the AnimationCurve variable;
3. Place the actor in the world;
4. Choose an actor with a spline component as TargetActor;
5. Setup animation behavior in blueprints if needed;

Variables

1. AnimationMode - a mode which determines how the animation will work;
2. SplineActor - an actor which contains a spline component;
3. AnimationCurve - a float curve object used by the timeline component for the animation;
   • It's better to use a curve with length equal 1.f;
4. AnimationTime - length of the animation;
5. AnimationSpeed - used for calculation of the animation time;
   • Great for splines with many points and when the animation time between them must be constant;
6. StartPointIndex - the point index from which the animation will be started;
7. IsReversed - determines if the order of points will be reversed or not;
8. StopMode - determines the rules how the owner should stop at the points;
9. WaitAtAnimationStart - toggles if the owner will "stop" at the start point;
10. UseCustomStops - enables custom stops adjustments;
11. WaitTimer - how long the owner will wait at the point;
12. SplineOffset - the offset along the spline;
13. LocationOffset - location offset relative to the current location along the spline;
14. InheritRotation - determines if the rotation along spline must be applied to the owner;
15. InheritScale - determines if the scale along spline must be applied to the owner;

Functions

1. Start - starts the animation;
2. Stop - stops the animation at the next spline point;
3. AnimateTo - animates to the chosen point. Works only in the manual mode;
4. Pause - pauses the animation;
5. Resume - resumes the animation;
6. IsPlaying - returns true if the animation is playing;

TimelineAnimationComponent

An actor component which animates transforms of the chosen scene components of an actor using a timeline.

Setup

1. Add the component to the chosen actor;
2. Fill the AnimatedComponents array using the SetAnimatedComponents function in the construction script;
   • Only for scene components;
   • Omits nullptr entries;
3. Fill the TransformOffsets array by hand;
   • The number of offsets must be equal to the number of animated components;
4. Create or use the existing curve float object for the AnimationCurve variable;
5. Setup animation behavior in blueprints;

Variables

1. InitialState - the initial state of the animation on begin play;
2. AnimationTime - the length of the animation;
3. AnimationCurve - a float curve object used by the timeline component for the animation. It's better to use a curve with length equal 1.f;
4. AnimateWholeActor - if true, the whole actor will be animated. Doesn't require call of SetAnimatedComponents;
5. TransformOffsets - an array with transform offsets for each scene component in the AnimatedComponents array. The number of offsets must be equal to the number of animated components;

Functions

1. Start - starts the animation;
2. Reverse - reverse the current animation. Works only if current state is a transition state;
3. Pause - pauses the animation;
4. Resume - resumes the animation;
5. SetAnimatedComponents - fills the Animated components array with the chosen scene components. It'll omit nullptr entries;
6. CanPlayAnimation - returns if the animation can be played or not;
7. GetAnimationProgress - returns progress of the animation;