Forum rules - please read before posting.
Animation tools and Adventure Creator
I have checked the tutorials and read AC documentation, but I'm still trying to decide how to animate characters in my game. I have drawn the characters and have made some small games with Unity, but animation is something I'm still trying to figure out.
Spritesheets are probably the most common way to animate the characters for AC, but I feel bone-based animation might help with the workload. Chris B (from YouTube) used Moho's bone tool and exported the animation in PNG format (seems to be working without problems). Spine is also well-known 2D animation software, but for my understanding Spine integration documentation (from AC Wiki) is not up to date and doesn't work anymore. Could I just export PNG format from Spine and use that? Or are there disadvantages with this approach? Then there is also Puppet2D, Creature, Anima2D, Spriter Pro etc.
But like I said, I don't have good knowledge of 2D animation and therefore, I would like to know which tools did you use to animate your characters?
Spritesheets are probably the most common way to animate the characters for AC, but I feel bone-based animation might help with the workload. Chris B (from YouTube) used Moho's bone tool and exported the animation in PNG format (seems to be working without problems). Spine is also well-known 2D animation software, but for my understanding Spine integration documentation (from AC Wiki) is not up to date and doesn't work anymore. Could I just export PNG format from Spine and use that? Or are there disadvantages with this approach? Then there is also Puppet2D, Creature, Anima2D, Spriter Pro etc.
But like I said, I don't have good knowledge of 2D animation and therefore, I would like to know which tools did you use to animate your characters?
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
Welcome to the official forum for Adventure Creator.
Comments
AC's "Sprites Unity Complex" animation engine is the best choice when it comes to using extra animation tools, as it gives you much more control over when/how animations are played. AC takes control over certain parameters (such as a float mapped to the "movement speed") and you can then map your controller accordingly. An example is provided in AC with the "Brain_SpritesUnityComplex" player prefab file.
As for which animation tool you'd like to use, it would be good to get the opinions of other users here - Anima2D has been covered in a few discussions that you can find via the search box, and the wiki also has a script to help with the integration.
Hooking up any 2D animation tool with AC is theoretically possible, though some will require more custom scripting than others. If the animation tool relies on Unity's Animator component for animation playback - as with AC's own "Sprites Unity Complex" mode, then the integration requirements should be quite minimal. Exporting a PNG sequence from Spine should work just fine with AC "vanilla", since the animation tool is kept out of Unity itself.
I have been comparing different 2D animation tools probably couple of weeks and more I learn, more difficult it seems to pick the "right" tool. Sure, I probably could achieve the results I want with any of these tools, but I would like to find the "best" one: (potentially) best looking animation with least amount tweaking, good documentation and easy integration to Unity / AC. Some of the tools are free and some of them costs up to $299, but I don't mind spending little bit, if it makes my life little bit easier. I used to do animation with Adobe Flash (now, Animate CC), but bone rigging and using them in Unity is new to me.
Anima2D was actually my first choice (mostly because it is free), but it seems to be missing some useful features, such as FFD. However, is FFD really necessary to create (semi-)realistic animation or is it more useful for cartoonish characters? I first though FFD is needed to bend joints (if you haven't drawn different leg parts separately), but from Anima2D trailer it seems you can do that without FFD (?).
I also made small comparison between different tools:
* Maybe Spine is just the most popular tool, but some of the artists have created amazing things with it - not that I could create such things without many years of experience, but it shows the potentiality of the tool. Very advanced features, but also the most expensive tool (never goes on sale).
* I really liked Moho's UI and simplicity, but forums are full of complains how it is not suitable for game development (but maybe this is just for the FBX format?). Goes on sale quite often, but upgrading is expensive and new version comes annually.
* Spriter Pro seems quite ok and is cheap (often -50% on Steam), but doesn't have FFD and the feature is not coming for at least couple of years.
* Creature feature list is impressive (auto-rigging, motion capture etc.), but in the showcases all characters seems quite "floaty". Not sure if it is because of the tool itself, or the artists making the animations.
* Puppet2D is cheap and has some advanced features (like, auto-rigging).