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[25/50] Root Motion animations in Unreal

Stable Diffusion result for: "An art work depicting root motion animation."
Stable Diffusion result for: "An art work depicting root motion animation."

Continuing with our recent theme of animations, in this post, we talk about using animations with root motion in Unreal.

Typically, animations are of two types: one where the bones move but the mesh as a whole stays in-place (for lack of a better name) we will call these in-place animations. Then there is the other type of animation where the mesh itself displaces alongwith the bones on one or more axis and since, quite often, this displacement or motion is controlled via a "root" bone (the bone at the root of the heirarchy), it is called, well, Root Motion Animation.

To check if an animation has root motion in Unreal Engine 5, open the asset in the editor and make sure "All Hierarchy" is checked under Character > Bones menu. You should then see a Red trace along the path where the root bone is moving.

Image showing Red trace line of the root motion path in UE5
Image showing Red trace line of the root motion path in UE5

For biped animations, the root bone is usually placed on the ground or the floor.

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