What kinds of methods can I use to animate a model?

Help and Feedback Scripting Support
#1

I would like to know what kind of methods are out there in regards to animating a model.
Im developing NPCs that do not use humanoids but rather basic parts and joints. I dont want to use the animator plugin as it requires specific parts from a character. I usually just create a complex rig of ropes and rods to simulate animation but this task is very tedious.
is there a way to animate a model without including the options above?

#2

This isn’t true. You can animate non-humanoid things with the animation editor.

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#4

The Motor6D.Transform property was introduced specifically to animate models using scripts.
Other than this, I don’t really know any other methods to animating other than using the animator itself. For me, I use Moon Animation Suite to animate everything.

#5

I tested the latest version of the animation editor. I placed down a pre-made humanoid rig
and a model with at least a primary part named “HumanoidRootPart”. the editor would only let me select the pre made rig to edit while the test model didnt even get highlighted.
if I for example added a humanoid to the model it can then be selected. but in terms of animating [[non-humanoid]] models this simply wont work.

#6

You use an AnimationController instead of a Humanoid to animate non-humanoid rigs. Insert that into the rig you want to animate. You still need a HumanoidRootPart, though.

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#7

interesting, I think I will try that, can you give me some tips on how to play the animation once its edited and uploaded to roblox?

#8

If you’ve animated with Humanoid’s before, then you wouldn’t need to change much. The API for animating with AnimationControllers is similar to the API for animating with Humanoids. :LoadAnimation(anim) on an AnimationController returns an animation track that you can :Play, the same as with Humanoid.

Make sure that the server loads and plays the animation. If you want the client to load and play it instead, then make sure that the client has network ownership over the thing you’re animating.

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#9

thanks, its been a while since ive touched the animation editor and now that I can apply it to non humanoid models it makes creating npcs much easier.