Animation Problem with Custom Dog Character / Rig

[JUDOBABY_PSL]

I made a custom dog character and my goal is to have this character played as the Starter Character using my custom run, walk, jump, and idle animations.

For getting started, I just animated a simple Tail Wag animation, and, tried to get that running on the character as the default idle.

Here’s my problem:

I tried working with the Animation script that most people use, replacing my custom idle with the existing idles in the script. This sounded simple, but didn’t work, so test a bit further, I setup a GUI text button to call a remote event that would force the idle animation to play for 4 seconds.

The GUI button does make the animation play. But the animation script does not work, which is the main goal. To test a bit further, I tried a more simplified script that only attempts to play the custom Idle animation. This did not work either and I’m guessing (I’m a novice with no CS degree, so, grasping at straws as I dig through forums) I may have made an error in the rigging, animation, or character setup, but I’m unable to resolve.

Any thoughts?

Here’s a video showing that the script animation doesn’t play, but that the GUI button works:

Here’s my simplified animation script:
local Players = game:GetService(“Players”)

local function onCharacterAdded(character)
	local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid")
 
	for _, playingTracks in pairs(humanoid:GetPlayingAnimationTracks()) do
		playingTracks:Stop(0)
	end
 
	local animateScript = character:WaitForChild("Animate")
	animateScript.idle.IdleAnim.AnimationId = "rbxassetid://4860871408"
end
 
local function onPlayerAdded(player)
	player.CharacterAppearanceLoaded:Connect(onCharacterAdded)
end
 
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerAdded)

Here’s my Character Setup:

Here’s my normal Animation script (I tested both scripts independently, neither worked).
local Character = script.Parent
local Humanoid = Character:WaitForChild(“Humanoid”)
local pose = “Standing”

    local currentAnim = ""
    local currentAnimInstance = nil
    local currentAnimTrack = nil
    local currentAnimKeyframeHandler = nil
    local currentAnimSpeed = 1.0

    local runAnimTrack = nil
    local runAnimKeyframeHandler = nil

    local animTable = {}
    local animNames = { 
    	idle = 	{	
    				{ id = "rbxassetid://4860871408", weight = 1 },
    				{ id = "rbxassetid://4860871408", weight = 1 },
    				{ id = "rbxassetid://4860871408", weight = 9 }
    			},
    	walk = 	{ 	
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507777826", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	run = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507767714", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	swim = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507784897", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	swimidle = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507785072", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	jump = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507765000", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	fall = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507767968", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	climb = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507765644", weight = 10 } 
    			}, 
    	sit = 	{
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507768133", weight = 10 } 
    			},	
    	toolnone = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507768375", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	toolslash = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=522635514", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	toollunge = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=522638767", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	wave = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507770239", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	point = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507770453", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	dance = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507771019", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507771955", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507772104", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	dance2 = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507776043", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507776720", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507776879", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	dance3 = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507777268", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507777451", weight = 10 }, 
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507777623", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	laugh = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507770818", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    	cheer = {
    				{ id = "http://www.roblox.com/asset/?id=507770677", weight = 10 } 
    			},
    }

    -- Existance in this list signifies that it is an emote, the value indicates if it is a looping emote
    local emoteNames = { wave = false, point = false, dance = true, dance2 = true, dance3 = true, laugh = false, cheer = false}

    math.randomseed(tick())

    function configureAnimationSet(name, fileList)
    	if (animTable[name] ~= nil) then
    		for _, connection in pairs(animTable[name].connections) do
    			connection:disconnect()
    		end
    	end
    	animTable[name] = {}
    	animTable[name].count = 0
    	animTable[name].totalWeight = 0	
    	animTable[name].connections = {}

    	local allowCustomAnimations = true
    	local AllowDisableCustomAnimsUserFlag = false

    	local success, msg = pcall(function()
    		AllowDisableCustomAnimsUserFlag = UserSettings():IsUserFeatureEnabled("UserAllowDisableCustomAnims2")
    	end)

    	if (AllowDisableCustomAnimsUserFlag) then
    		local success, msg = pcall(function() allowCustomAnimations = game:GetService("StarterPlayer").AllowCustomAnimations end)
    		if not success then
    			allowCustomAnimations = true
    		end
    	end

    	-- check for config values
    	local config = script:FindFirstChild(name)
    	if (allowCustomAnimations and config ~= nil) then
    		table.insert(animTable[name].connections, config.ChildAdded:connect(function(child) configureAnimationSet(name, fileList) end))
    		table.insert(animTable[name].connections, config.ChildRemoved:connect(function(child) configureAnimationSet(name, fileList) end))
    		local idx = 1
    		for _, childPart in pairs(config:GetChildren()) do
    			if (childPart:IsA("Animation")) then
    				table.insert(animTable[name].connections, childPart.Changed:connect(function(property) configureAnimationSet(name, fileList) end))
    				animTable[name][idx] = {}
    				animTable[name][idx].anim = childPart
    				local weightObject = childPart:FindFirstChild("Weight")
    				if (weightObject == nil) then
    					animTable[name][idx].weight = 1
    				else
    					animTable[name][idx].weight = weightObject.Value
    				end
    				animTable[name].count = animTable[name].count + 1
    				animTable[name].totalWeight = animTable[name].totalWeight + animTable[name][idx].weight
    				idx = idx + 1
    			end
    		end
    	end

    	-- fallback to defaults
    	if (animTable[name].count <= 0) then
    		for idx, anim in pairs(fileList) do
    			animTable[name][idx] = {}
    			animTable[name][idx].anim = Instance.new("Animation")
    			animTable[name][idx].anim.Name = name
    			animTable[name][idx].anim.AnimationId = anim.id
    			animTable[name][idx].weight = anim.weight
    			animTable[name].count = animTable[name].count + 1
    			animTable[name].totalWeight = animTable[name].totalWeight + anim.weight
    --			print(name .. " [" .. idx .. "] " .. anim.id .. " (" .. anim.weight .. ")")
    		end
    	end
    end

    -- Setup animation objects
    function scriptChildModified(child)
    	local fileList = animNames[child.Name]
    	if (fileList ~= nil) then
    		configureAnimationSet(child.Name, fileList)
    	end	
    end

    script.ChildAdded:connect(scriptChildModified)
    script.ChildRemoved:connect(scriptChildModified)


    for name, fileList in pairs(animNames) do 
    	configureAnimationSet(name, fileList)
    end	

    -- ANIMATION

    -- declarations
    local toolAnim = "None"
    local toolAnimTime = 0

    local jumpAnimTime = 0
    local jumpAnimDuration = 0.31

    local toolTransitionTime = 0.1
    local fallTransitionTime = 0.2

    -- functions

    function stopAllAnimations()
    	local oldAnim = currentAnim

    	-- return to idle if finishing an emote
    	if (emoteNames[oldAnim] ~= nil and emoteNames[oldAnim] == false) then
    		oldAnim = "idle"
    	end

    	currentAnim = ""
    	currentAnimInstance = nil
    	if (currentAnimKeyframeHandler ~= nil) then
    		currentAnimKeyframeHandler:disconnect()
    	end

    	if (currentAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    		currentAnimTrack:Stop()
    		currentAnimTrack:Destroy()
    		currentAnimTrack = nil
    	end

    	-- clean up walk if there is one
    	if (runAnimKeyframeHandler ~= nil) then
    		runAnimKeyframeHandler:disconnect()
    	end
    	
    	if (runAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    		runAnimTrack:Stop()
    		runAnimTrack:Destroy()
    		runAnimTrack = nil
    	end
    	
    	return oldAnim
    end

    function getHeightScale()
    	if Humanoid then
    		local bodyHeightScale = Humanoid:FindFirstChild("BodyHeightScale")
    		if bodyHeightScale and bodyHeightScale:IsA("NumberValue") then
    			return bodyHeightScale.Value
    		end
    	end
    	
    	return 1
    end

    local smallButNotZero = 0.0001
    function setRunSpeed(speed)
    	if speed < 0.33 then
    		currentAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(1.0)		
    		runAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(smallButNotZero)
    	elseif speed < 0.66 then
    		local weight = ((speed - 0.33) / 0.33)
    		currentAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(1.0 - weight + smallButNotZero)
    		runAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(weight + smallButNotZero)
    	else
    		currentAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(smallButNotZero)
    		runAnimTrack:AdjustWeight(1.0)
    	end
    	
    	local speedScaled = speed * 1.25

    	local heightScale = getHeightScale()	
    	
    	runAnimTrack:AdjustSpeed(speedScaled / heightScale)
    	currentAnimTrack:AdjustSpeed(speedScaled / heightScale)
    end


    function setAnimationSpeed(speed)
    	if speed ~= currentAnimSpeed then
    		currentAnimSpeed = speed
    		if currentAnim == "walk" then
    			setRunSpeed(speed)
    		else
    			currentAnimTrack:AdjustSpeed(currentAnimSpeed)
    		end
    	end
    end

    function keyFrameReachedFunc(frameName)
    	if (frameName == "End") then
    		if currentAnim == "walk" then
    			runAnimTrack.TimePosition = 0.0
    			currentAnimTrack.TimePosition = 0.0
    		else
    			local repeatAnim = currentAnim
    			-- return to idle if finishing an emote
    			if (emoteNames[repeatAnim] ~= nil and emoteNames[repeatAnim] == false) then
    				repeatAnim = "idle"
    			end
    			
    			local animSpeed = currentAnimSpeed
    			playAnimation(repeatAnim, 0.15, Humanoid)
    			setAnimationSpeed(animSpeed)
    		end
    	end
    end

    function rollAnimation(animName)
    	local roll = math.random(1, animTable[animName].totalWeight) 
    	local origRoll = roll
    	local idx = 1
    	while (roll > animTable[animName][idx].weight) do
    		roll = roll - animTable[animName][idx].weight
    		idx = idx + 1
    	end
    	return idx
    end

    function playAnimation(animName, transitionTime, humanoid) 	
    	local idx = rollAnimation(animName)
    	local anim = animTable[animName][idx].anim

    	-- switch animation		
    	if (anim ~= currentAnimInstance) then
    		
    		if (currentAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    			currentAnimTrack:Stop(transitionTime)
    			currentAnimTrack:Destroy()
    		end

    		if (runAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    			runAnimTrack:Stop(transitionTime)
    			runAnimTrack:Destroy()
    		end

    		currentAnimSpeed = 1.0
    	
    		-- load it to the humanoid; get AnimationTrack
    		currentAnimTrack = humanoid:LoadAnimation(anim)
    		currentAnimTrack.Priority = Enum.AnimationPriority.Core
    		 
    		-- play the animation
    		currentAnimTrack:Play(transitionTime)
    		currentAnim = animName
    		currentAnimInstance = anim

    		-- set up keyframe name triggers
    		if (currentAnimKeyframeHandler ~= nil) then
    			currentAnimKeyframeHandler:disconnect()
    		end
    		currentAnimKeyframeHandler = currentAnimTrack.KeyframeReached:connect(keyFrameReachedFunc)
    		
    		-- check to see if we need to blend a walk/run animation
    		if animName == "walk" then
    			local runAnimName = "run"
    			local runIdx = rollAnimation(runAnimName)

    			runAnimTrack = humanoid:LoadAnimation(animTable[runAnimName][runIdx].anim)
    			runAnimTrack.Priority = Enum.AnimationPriority.Core
    			runAnimTrack:Play(transitionTime)		
    			
    			if (runAnimKeyframeHandler ~= nil) then
    				runAnimKeyframeHandler:disconnect()
    			end
    			runAnimKeyframeHandler = runAnimTrack.KeyframeReached:connect(keyFrameReachedFunc)	
    		end
    	end

    end

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    local toolAnimName = ""
    local toolAnimTrack = nil
    local toolAnimInstance = nil
    local currentToolAnimKeyframeHandler = nil

    function toolKeyFrameReachedFunc(frameName)
    	if (frameName == "End") then
    		playToolAnimation(toolAnimName, 0.0, Humanoid)
    	end
    end


    function playToolAnimation(animName, transitionTime, humanoid, priority)	 		
    		local idx = rollAnimation(animName)
    		local anim = animTable[animName][idx].anim

    		if (toolAnimInstance ~= anim) then
    			
    			if (toolAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    				toolAnimTrack:Stop()
    				toolAnimTrack:Destroy()
    				transitionTime = 0
    			end
    					
    			-- load it to the humanoid; get AnimationTrack
    			toolAnimTrack = humanoid:LoadAnimation(anim)
    			if priority then
    				toolAnimTrack.Priority = priority
    			end
    			 
    			-- play the animation
    			toolAnimTrack:Play(transitionTime)
    			toolAnimName = animName
    			toolAnimInstance = anim

    			currentToolAnimKeyframeHandler = toolAnimTrack.KeyframeReached:connect(toolKeyFrameReachedFunc)
    		end
    end

    function stopToolAnimations()
    	local oldAnim = toolAnimName

    	if (currentToolAnimKeyframeHandler ~= nil) then
    		currentToolAnimKeyframeHandler:disconnect()
    	end

    	toolAnimName = ""
    	toolAnimInstance = nil
    	if (toolAnimTrack ~= nil) then
    		toolAnimTrack:Stop()
    		toolAnimTrack:Destroy()
    		toolAnimTrack = nil
    	end

    	return oldAnim
    end

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -- STATE CHANGE HANDLERS

    function onRunning(speed)
    	if speed > 0.5 then
    		local scale = 16.0
    		playAnimation("walk", 0.2, Humanoid)
    		setAnimationSpeed(speed / scale)
    		pose = "Running"
    	else
    		if emoteNames[currentAnim] == nil then
    			playAnimation("idle", 0.2, Humanoid)
    			pose = "Standing"
    		end
    	end
    end

    function onDied()
    	pose = "Dead"
    end

    function onJumping()
    	playAnimation("jump", 0.1, Humanoid)
    	jumpAnimTime = jumpAnimDuration
    	pose = "Jumping"
    end

    function onClimbing(speed)
    	local scale = 5.0
    	playAnimation("climb", 0.1, Humanoid)
    	setAnimationSpeed(speed / scale)
    	pose = "Climbing"
    end

    function onGettingUp()
    	pose = "GettingUp"
    end

    function onFreeFall()
    	if (jumpAnimTime <= 0) then
    		playAnimation("fall", fallTransitionTime, Humanoid)
    	end
    	pose = "FreeFall"
    end

    function onFallingDown()
    	pose = "FallingDown"
    end

    function onSeated()
    	pose = "Seated"
    end

    function onPlatformStanding()
    	pose = "PlatformStanding"
    end

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    function onSwimming(speed)
    	if speed > 1.00 then
    		local scale = 10.0
    		playAnimation("swim", 0.4, Humanoid)
    		setAnimationSpeed(speed / scale)
    		pose = "Swimming"
    	else
    		playAnimation("swimidle", 0.4, Humanoid)
    		pose = "Standing"
    	end
    end

    function animateTool()
    	if (toolAnim == "None") then
    		playToolAnimation("toolnone", toolTransitionTime, Humanoid, Enum.AnimationPriority.Idle)
    		return
    	end

    	if (toolAnim == "Slash") then
    		playToolAnimation("toolslash", 0, Humanoid, Enum.AnimationPriority.Action)
    		return
    	end

    	if (toolAnim == "Lunge") then
    		playToolAnimation("toollunge", 0, Humanoid, Enum.AnimationPriority.Action)
    		return
    	end
    end

    function getToolAnim(tool)
    	for _, c in ipairs(tool:GetChildren()) do
    		if c.Name == "toolanim" and c.className == "StringValue" then
    			return c
    		end
    	end
    	return nil
    end

    local lastTick = 0

    function stepAnimate(currentTime)
    	local amplitude = 1
    	local frequency = 1
      	local deltaTime = currentTime - lastTick
      	lastTick = currentTime

    	local climbFudge = 0
    	local setAngles = false

      	if (jumpAnimTime > 0) then
      		jumpAnimTime = jumpAnimTime - deltaTime
      	end

    	if (pose == "FreeFall" and jumpAnimTime <= 0) then
    		playAnimation("fall", fallTransitionTime, Humanoid)
    	elseif (pose == "Seated") then
    		playAnimation("sit", 0.5, Humanoid)
    		return
    	elseif (pose == "Running") then
    		playAnimation("walk", 0.2, Humanoid)
    	elseif (pose == "Dead" or pose == "GettingUp" or pose == "FallingDown" or pose == "Seated" or pose == "PlatformStanding") then
    		stopAllAnimations()
    		amplitude = 0.1
    		frequency = 1
    		setAngles = true
    	end

    	-- Tool Animation handling
    	local tool = Character:FindFirstChildOfClass("Tool")
    	local requireHandleCheck = not UserSettings():IsUserFeatureEnabled("UserToolR15Fix")
    	if tool and ((requireHandleCheck and tool.RequiresHandle) or tool:FindFirstChild("Handle")) then
    		local animStringValueObject = getToolAnim(tool)

    		if animStringValueObject then
    			toolAnim = animStringValueObject.Value
    			-- message recieved, delete StringValue
    			animStringValueObject.Parent = nil
    			toolAnimTime = currentTime + .3
    		end

    		if currentTime > toolAnimTime then
    			toolAnimTime = 0
    			toolAnim = "None"
    		end

    		animateTool()		
    	else
    		stopToolAnimations()
    		toolAnim = "None"
    		toolAnimInstance = nil
    		toolAnimTime = 0
    	end
    end

    -- connect events
    Humanoid.Died:connect(onDied)
    Humanoid.Running:connect(onRunning)
    Humanoid.Jumping:connect(onJumping)
    Humanoid.Climbing:connect(onClimbing)
    Humanoid.GettingUp:connect(onGettingUp)
    Humanoid.FreeFalling:connect(onFreeFall)
    Humanoid.FallingDown:connect(onFallingDown)
    Humanoid.Seated:connect(onSeated)
    Humanoid.PlatformStanding:connect(onPlatformStanding)
    Humanoid.Swimming:connect(onSwimming)

    -- setup emote chat hook
    game:GetService("Players").LocalPlayer.Chatted:connect(function(msg)
    	local emote = ""
    	if (string.sub(msg, 1, 3) == "/e ") then
    		emote = string.sub(msg, 4)
    	elseif (string.sub(msg, 1, 7) == "/emote ") then
    		emote = string.sub(msg, 8)
    	end
    	
    	if (pose == "Standing" and emoteNames[emote] ~= nil) then
    		playAnimation(emote, 0.1, Humanoid)
    	end
    end)



    -- initialize to idle
    playAnimation("idle", 0.1, Humanoid)
    pose = "Standing"

    -- loop to handle timed state transitions and tool animations
    while Character.Parent ~= nil do
    	local _, currentGameTime = wait(0.1)
    	stepAnimate(currentGameTime)
    end

[micheru (Natsukashii)]

I recently talked about the issue here, check this post out:

Walk/Run Animations Not Replicating

From my experience, replacing the animation ids in the default animate script will run into issues , your going to have to make a custom script , and drop into characterscripts. your then going to have to define and load the animations yourself and have them play during set conditions, they are going to override the default animations if you do it this way. For crawling just check the Humanoid.Running function and if the player is moving, and the “Downed” variable is active then an animation ca…

Hope I helped!

[JUDOBABY_PSL]

If I knew how to do any of that, it would probably be a HUGE help! I’ll dig around and see if I can figure out how to do what you’re saying and see if it helps. That said, I did try putting my scripts into the Starter Character Scripts but that didn’t work for me. I may have not done that correctly though.
Thanks!!!

[micheru (Natsukashii)]

My discord is @Drac#5808 send me a message and I can fix everything for you.

[JUDOBABY_PSL]

@micheru

@Drac#5808

That would be awesome, thanks!
It definitively helps when I can look at a working example.
Just sent the discord request.