A small plugin with a collection of actor and scene components which can help with the animation of actors and their parts.

The plugin can be used in both C++ and Blueprint projects.

At the moment, the package is compatible only with Unreal Engine 4.

1. Download package file;
2. Unzip the package to the Plugins folder in engine folder, e.g. C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_4.27\Engine\Plugins;
3. Restart the project;

In this case the plugin can be used for any blueprint project.

1. Create the Plugins folder in the project directory;
2. Create the TrickyAnimationComponents folder in the Plugins folder;
3. Download the plugin source code into that folder;
4. Rebuild the project;

The plugin contains:

1. RotationAnimationComponent;
2. FloatingAnimationComponent;
3. EaseAnimationComponent;
4. TimelineAnimationComponent;
5. SplineAnimationComponent;

A scene component which rotates along the chosen axis.

1. RotateX - toggle rotation along the X axis;
2. RotateY - toggle rotation along the Y axis;
3. RotateZ - toggle rotation along the Z axis;
4. RotationSpeed - determines the rotation speed along each axis;

1. SetIsRotating - toggles rotation along XYZ axis;

A scene component which create oscillation animation for location, rotation and scale.

1. IsEnable - toggles all the animations;
2. For location, rotation, scale:
   1. AnimateX - toggle animation along X axis;
   2. AnimateY - toggle animation along Y axis;
   3. AnimateZ - toggle animation along Z axis;
   4. Amplitude - determines the animation amplitude for each axis;
   5. Frequency - determines the animation frequency for each axis;

1. SetIsFloating - toggles floating animation along XYZ axis;

An actor component which moves the actor towards a target using interpolation functions.

1. IsEnabled - toggles the easing animation;
2. FollowActor - switches between using location from a target actor or a specific world location.
3. TargetActor - an actor which world location will be used as a target location;
4. SpecificLocation - a world location which will be used as a target location;
5. LocationOffset - location offset relative to the target location;
6. EasingFunction - a type of the function which will be used for moving an owner;
7. Alpha - determines the speed of the movement;
8. Exponent - blend exponent, used only with EaseIn, EaseOut, EaseInOut easing functions. The higher the steeper the graph.
9. SubSteps - the number of substeps for the Step easing function;

An actor component which animates transforms of the chosen scene components of an actor using a timeline.

1. Add the component to the chosen actor;
2. Fill the AnimatedComponents array using the SetAnimatedComponents function in the construction script;
   • Only for scene components;
   • Omits nullptr entries;
3. Fill the TransformOffsets array by hand;
   • The number of offsets must be equal to the number of animated components;
4. Create or use the existing curve float object for the AnimationCurve variable;
5. Setup animation behavior in blueprints;

1. InitialState - the initial state of the animation on begin play;
2. AnimationTime - the length of the animation;
3. AnimationCurve - a float curve object used by the timeline component for the animation. It's better to use a curve with length equal 1.f;
4. TransformOffsets - an array with transform offsets for each scene component in the AnimatedComponents array. The number of offsets must be equal to the number of animated components;

1. Start - starts the animation;
2. Reverse - reverse the current animation. Works only if current state is a transition state;
3. Pause - pauses the animation;
4. Resume - resumes the animation;
5. SetAnimatedComponents - fills the Animated components array with the chosen scene components. It'll omit nullptr entries;
6. CanPlayAnimation - returns if the animation can be played or not;

An actor component which moves an actor along a spline component using a timeline component.

1. Add component to an actor;
2. Create or use the existing curve float object for the AnimationCurve variable;
3. Place the actor in the world;
4. Choose an actor with a spline component as TargetActor;
5. Setup animation behavior in blueprints if needed;

1. AnimationMode - a mode which determines how the animation will work;
2. SplineActor - an actor which contains a spline component;
3. AnimationCurve - a float curve object used by the timeline component for the animation;
   • It's better to use a curve with length equal 1.f;
4. AnimationTime - length of the animation;
5. AnimationSpeed - used for calculation of the animation time;
   • Great for splines with many points and when the animation time between them must be constant;
6. StartPointIndex - the point index from which the animation will be started;
7. IsReversed - determines if the order of points will be reversed or not;
8. StopAtPoints - toggles if the owner will stop at the spline points during the animation;
9. WaitAtStart - toggles if the owner will "stop" at the start point;
10. UseCustomStops - enables custom stops adjustments;
11. CustomStops - map with point indexes and wait time;
12. WaitTimer - how long the owner will wait at the point;
13. SplineOffset - the offset along the spline;
14. LocationOffset - location offset relative to the current location along the spline;
15. InheritRotation - determines if the rotation along spline must be applied to the owner;
16. InheritScale - determines if the scale along spline must be applied to the owner;

1. Start - starts the animation;
2. Stop - stops the animation at the next spline point;
3. AnimateTo - animates to the chosen point. Works only in the manual mode;
4. Pause - pauses the animation;
5. Resume - resumes the animation;