3D Animations with Open Source Workshop

In this repository you will find the Godot and Blender files that will be used during the workshop.

• Workshop description
• Workshop slides

All the workshop is covered by this LICENSE except Mixamo © contents which are free to use.

Initial scene in Godot

• Start from the empty 3D world
• Add a Node3D (3D Scene)
• Add a floor using the Box (CSGBox3D)
  • Set the dimensions (Size: 10, 1, 10)
  • Zoom out (mouse wheel) to see the floor
• Add a Sphere
  • Set the position (Transform -> Position: 0, 5, 0)
• Configure 2 view (View->2 View ports alt)
• Add a camera
  • Click on Preview in the second view
  • Set the position
    • You can move the camera using the color arrows to view the scene
    • Or you can move it directly to 0, 4, 20
• Add the SUN and the World Environment using the menu displayed clicking in the 3 buttons over the 3D view
• Save the scene as initial.tscn
• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You should see the same as in the Camera Preview view

First animation scene in Godot

• Save the previous scene as "initial_animation.tscn"
• Add a new Node "AnimationPlayer"
• In the Animation Player press in "Animation" button to create a new animation. Call it "new_animation"
• Select the sphere and in the properties Inspector panel, click in the key icon next to Transform->Position
  • Confirm the creation of the key
• In the animation player go to second 1
• Select the sphere and in the properties Inspector panel, change the y position to 0 in Transform->Position->y and click in the key icon next to Transform->Position
• Press in Play in the Animation Player and check that the sphere goes from y=5 in second 0 to y=0 in second 1

Animation scene in Godot based on physics

• Save the initial scene as "initial_physics.tscn"
• Add a StaticBody3D node to the Root node (Initial)
  • Move inside it the Box
  • Add to this node a CollisionShape3D
    • In the properties select BoxShape3D
      • Click in BoxShape3D and define the same size as the floor: 10, 1, 10
• Add a RigidBody3D node to the Root node (Initial)
  • Move inside it the Sphere
  • Add to this node a CollisionShape3D
    • In the properties select BoxShape3D
      • Click in BoxShape3D and select SphereShape. Position it at 0, 5, 0
• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see the ball falling due to the gravity until it collides with the floor.

Character model in Blender basic

• Remove the initial cube
• Build a basic character with
  • A sphere as head (use G+)
    • Add sphere
    • Move it to Location 0, 0, 6
  • Cubes for
    • The body
      • Scale Z to 2 and move to Location 0, 0, 3
    • The arms
      • Two boxes
        • Left arm: Scale 0.3, 1.5, 0.3 - Location 0, 2.5, 4.5
        • Right arm: Scale 0.3, 1.5, 0.3 - Location 0, -2.5, 4.5
    • The legs
      • Two boxes
        • Left leg: Scale 0.3, 1.5, 0.3 - Location 0, 1.5, 0 - Rotation -45, 0, 0
        • Right leg: Scale 0.3, 1.5, 0.3 - Location 0, 1.5, 0- Rotation 45, 0, 0
• Save the blender scene as "basic.blend"

Animation rigging in Blender

• Save the blender scene as "basic_anim.blend"
• Add Armature (it adds an initial bone, which is the spine)
  • Change to Location 0, 0, 1.5 - Scale 3, 3, 3
• Change to Wireframe view (top right icon with an empty circle with wires) so you can see the armature
• Change to Edit Mode and create the rest of the skeleton
  • Select an extreme of the current bone en press "E"
  • From the upper extreme add 2 bones for the arms and 1 bone for the neck
  • From the bottom extreme add two bones for the legs
• Change to object mode and select all the cube for the model using CTRL+left-mouse-button and select also the armature as the last one
• Press right-mouse-button over the selection and select Parent->Armature deform->With automatic weights
• Go to Pose mode, select left leg bone, move it, and check that the left leg will also be moved. The bones move also the model.

Creating animations in Blender based on the rigging

• Save the blender scene as "basic_anim_rigging.blend"
• Go to Pose Mode
• Select all the bones (a key)
• Press right-mouse-button->Insert KeyFrame->Location and Rotation
• Move the skeleton to the final desired position
• Go to second 5 in the Timeline view (drag it up from the bottom of the main window)
• Select all the bones (a key)
• Press right-mouse-button->Insert KeyFrame->Location and Rotation
• Go to second 1 and copy the keyframes
• Go to second 10 in the Timeline view and paste the second 1 keyframes
• Set the total duration for the timeline to 10s (100)
• Save the scene
• Export it as a glTF 2.0

Using Blender animation in Godot: Import and coding

• Add a new scene to Godot with a 3D node and save it as blender_animation
• Add a camera, the SUN and the World Environment as before
  • Camera: Position 10, 2, 0 - Rotation: 0, 90, 0
• Drag and drop the "basic_anim_rigging.glb" file to resources panel (In the FileSystem tab)
• Drag the file from Godot resource panel to 3D view
• Add code to the scene so the animation is played
  • Select the root node and press the paper with a green +
    • Press the Create button in the modal dialog that appears
    • In the func _ready() add the code to start the animation

    func _ready():
      $basic_anim_rigging/AnimationPlayer.play("ArmatureAction")

• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see the model animated

Cinematic Scene Generation

• Godot can generate cinematics (video) from the scene
• Go to Project->Project Settings->Editor->Movie Writer and define where the movie file must be generated (basicRigging.avi)
• Then select the Film icon (the last one in the top right) and play the scene as usual

Using Mixamo animations in Godot

• MoCap is powerfull to capture animations directly from the real world
  • Mixamo is a sample of it. The characters and animations are royalty free for personal, commercial, and non-profit projects (FAQ). Free as a beer.
  • Auto-rigger and animation libraries are for bipedal humanoids only.
• Go to https://www.mixamo.com/#/, create an account, select a character and an animation and download it
  • Use Ty character with Falling animation
  • Press Download button and use the default config (FBX format)
• Open Blender, remove the cube, import the Falling.fbx and export it as a glTF 2.0
• Open Godot project
  • Add a new scene to Godot with a 3D node and save it as mixamo_animation
  • Drag and drop the "Falling.glb" file to resources panel (In the FileSystem tab)
  • Drag and drop the file "Falling.glb" from Godot resource panel to 3D view
    • Position at 0, 10, 0
  • Add a camera, the SUN and the World Environment as before
    • Camera: Position 0, 0, 0 - Rotation: 90, 0, 0
  • Add code to the scene so the animation is played
    • Select the root node and press the paper with a green +
      • Press the Create button in the modal dialog that appears
      • In the func _ready() add the code to start the animation

  func _ready():
    $Falling/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")

• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see the model animated

Add fall animation

• Open in Godot the mixamo_animation scene
• Save it as mixamo_animation_falls
• Add a RigidBody3D node to the Root node (Mixamo)
  • Move inside it the Falling node
• Change the scene code to

func _ready():
    $RigidBody3D/Falling/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")

• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see the model animated falling

Add fall animation with floor

• Open in Godot the mixamo_animation_falls scene
• Save it as mixamo_animation_falls_with_floor
• Add a floor using the Box (CSGBox3D)
  • Set the dimensions (Size: 10, 1, 10)
• Add a StaticBody3D node to the Root node (Mixamo)
  • Move inside it the Box
  • Add to this node a CollisionShape3D
    • In the properties select BoxShape3D
      • Click in BoxShape3D and define the same size as the floor: 10, 1, 10
• In the RigidBody3D
  • Add to this node a CollisionShape3D
    • In the properties select BoxShape3D
      • Click in BoxShape3D and define the same size to contain the Ty model: 1, 1, 3
    • Move it to Position 0, 11, 0 (Ty model must be inside it)
• Transform the camera to Location 0, 4, 10 - Rotation 0, 0, 0
• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see the model animated falling
  • When Ty hits (collides) the floor he stopped
• Create a cinematic with it
  • Go to Project->Project Settings->Editor->Movie Writer and define where the movie file must be generated (TyFalling.avi)
  • Then select the Film icon (the last one in the top right) and play the scene as usual
• You can change the bounce property of the floor to simulate it is an elastic bed

Combining several models: A dance party

• Create a new scene and save it as "dance.tscn", and add the flor of the previous scenes but with 0.1 for y size
• Import in the Godot project the models "ClaireDance" and "TuyDance" from the repository mixano folder
  • Position ClaireDance model at -3, 0.05, 0
  • Position TuyDance model at 3, 0.05, 0
• Add the AnimationPlayer node create a new animation with for 10s:
  • "ClaireDance" moving from its original position to 1, 0.05, 0 (only x changes)
  • "TuyDance" moving from its original position to 1, 0.05, 0 (only x changes)
• Change the scene code to

extends Node3D


# Called when the node enters the scene tree for the first time.
func _ready():
	$ClaireDance/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")
	$TuyDance/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")
	
	var newTuy = $TuyDance.duplicate()
	var newClaire = $ClaireDance.duplicate()
	
	newTuy.position = Vector3(0, 0, -2)
	newTuy.find_child('AnimationPlayer').play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")
	newClaire.position = Vector3(0, 0, 2)
	newClaire.find_child('AnimationPlayer').play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")
	
	var danceRoot = get_node(".")
	danceRoot.add_child(newClaire)
	danceRoot.add_child(newTuy)
	

# Called every frame. 'delta' is the elapsed time since the previous frame.
func _process(delta):
	pass

• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see four models dancing

Combining several models: A dance party with moving camera

• Save the "dance.tscn" scene as "dance_moving_camera.tscn"
• Remove the script selecting the root node and pressing the paper icon with a red cross
• Add a new script pressing the paper icon with a green plus
  • Save ths script with the name "dance_moving_camera.gd"
  • Copy the "dance.gd" contents to "dance_moving_camera.gd"
• Select the camera node and animate it moving to Position
  • At 5s to -2, 1.5, 3
  • At 10s to 0, 1.5, 2
• Press in the Top right second Play button (F6) to start the "game"
  • You must see four models dancing with the camera approaching the dance

Combining several models: A dance party with collisions detection

• Let's create a new scene from "dance_moving_camera.tscn", "dance_moving_camera_collision.tscn"
• The goal is to detect a collision between the two dancers
  • When they "touch" they must stop dancing
  • They must rotate so they can look to each other
• In order to detect the collision let's create two RigidBody3D
  • Inside each RigidBody3D we move the character, and also we create a CollisionShape3D, box, with the character inside
  • The CollisionShape3D must be animated to be moved with the characters
  • In the RigidBody3D we need to activate the Contact Monitor property and change the Max Contacts Reported to 10
• Connect the RigidBody3D body_entered signal for one of the characters to this code

func _on_claire_rigid_body_3d_body_entered(body):
	if body != $StaticBody3D:
		print(body)
		$AnimationPlayer.stop(true)
		$ClaireRigidBody3D/ClaireDance.rotate_y(deg_to_rad(90))
		$TuyRigidBody3D/TuyDance.rotate_y(deg_to_rad(-90))
		$ClaireRigidBody3D/ClaireDance/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")
		$TuyRigidBody3D/TuyDance/AnimationPlayer.play("Armature|mixamocom|Layer0")

• When the two characters collide they rotate to look to each other and the dance continues

Combining scenes

An example Character model in Blender with metaballs

Blending animations