animation

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Game-ready animation in Blender including walk/run/idle cycles, combat, mechanical animation, camera animation, constraints, Graph Editor, and NLA workflows via MCP.

14installs

Sourcearjun988/blender-skills

Added on2026-10-24

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add arjun988/blender-skills animation

SKILL.md Content

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Animation

Game-ready motion with clean keyframes. Readable silhouettes in motion. Engine-compatible export.

When to Use

Character locomotion (walk, run, idle)
Combat animations
Mechanical/prop animation
Camera animation
Object animation with constraints

Workflow

Reference → Blocking → Breakdown → Splining → Polish
    → Cycle Validation → NLA Strip → Export

Locomotion Cycles

Cycle	Key Poses	Frames (30fps)
Walk	Contact, Down, Pass, Up × 2	24–32
Run	Contact, Drive, Flight, Recovery	16–24
Idle	Breathe, weight shift, blink	60–120 loop

Naming:

AN_[Char]_[Action]_[Variant]

Animation Principles (Applied)

Timing — Weight through spacing
Arcs — Natural limb paths
Overlap — Secondary motion offset
Anticipation — Wind-up before action
Exaggeration — Style-dependent (see style skills)

Mechanical Animation

Use constraints over bone deformation
Hinge: Limit Rotation constraint
Pistons: Stretch-to or Copy Location
Gears: Driver for synchronized rotation
Doors: Empty pivot + rotation keyframes

Graph Editor Workflow

1. Block stepped keys (Constant interpolation)
2. Splining: Bezier with auto handles
3. Ease: Weighted handles for acceleration
4. Cycle: Copy first/last frame; verify loop seam
5. Clean: Remove redundant keys

NLA for Game Export

1. Action created and named per convention
2. Push down to NLA strip
3. Strip set to Repeat for cycles
4. Single strip active for export
5. Scale: 1.0; no NLA time remapping unless intentional

Camera Animation

Smooth Bezier interpolation always
Avoid sudden direction changes
Match focal length to subject scale
Camera shake: noise modifier on location (subtle)

MCP Integration

Insert keyframes via MCP if supported
Query action names and frame ranges
Validate bone/object animation data exists pre-export
Set frame range via MCP
Export animation with rig via export-pipeline

Game-Ready Requirements

Root motion decision documented (in-place vs root motion)
Loop seam invisible (walk/idle/run)
No bone scale keyframes (engine issues)
Animation length matches engine state machine
Facial animation on separate action layer if needed
Frame rate: 30fps default (confirm project spec)

Constraints

MUST DO

Reference video for locomotion
Block in stepped mode before splining
Name actions
```
AN_
```
prefix
Test cycle loop before export
Match animation style to art direction

MUST NOT DO

Linear interpolation on organic motion
Scale keyframes on rig bones
Over-animate idle (subtle is better)
Export without action assigned to NLA
Skip root motion documentation

Reference Guide

Topic	Reference	Load When
Walk cycle breakdown	`references/walk-cycle.md`	Locomotion
Combat timing	`references/combat-animation.md`	Action games