GPR-450: Advanced Animation Programming

After taking Intermediate Graphics & Animation Programming, the logical next step was Advanced Animation Programming, which I took the following semester. Unlike the previous class, we were given the option to work in animal3D (C), Unity (C#), Unreal (C++), or any other framework that would allow us to complete our assignments. Cameron Schneider and I decided to continue to use animal3D, as we were already familiar with its quirks.

The class covered many areas of animation programming including pose-to-pose animation, forward and inverse kinematics (FK and IK), blend trees, and having animations respond to user input. There wasn't much range for us to customize our work until the final project, where we were tasked with creating something that incorporated each of the main topics of the course. Cameron and I decided to implement character control for a wolf walking up a slope.

We started by obtaining a skeleton and animation clips for a wolf, the latter of which we converted into an HTR file and loaded into animal3D. From there, Cameron implemented raycasting so we could detect whether the wolf was on a slope, and I revamped our blend tree so it would be easier to construct and modify. I also set up the code that would actually run the raycasts, which we used to determine the positions of the IK constraints.

Wolf Skeleton Walking Up a Slope

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