Chapter 3. It Lives!—Character Setup and Animation

In this chapter we examine key processes for handling animated characters:

• Installing ActorX and exporting skeletal animation

• Importing SkeletalMesh content into UDK

• Morph targets and .FBX importing

• Setting up sockets

• Attachments to SkeletalMeshes without using sockets

• Setting up a custom AnimTree

• Defining animations in your AnimTree

• Configuring your character to use your AnimTree

• How to use a single bone control chain to correct an offset crouch animation

• Setting up a physics asset using PhAT

• Adding limits to physics asset joint rotations

• Adding a physics-driven tail to a key framed SkeletalMesh

• Enabling the head to face in a given direction for tracking purposes

• Setting a LookAt target for head rotation in code

• Setting morph weights in code

• Calling up SkeletalMesh animations using Matinee

• Associating sounds with character moves in Matinee

• Sounds for non-Matinee controlled animation