1. Rig the character
A rig is a skeleton of bones (an armature) that moves the mesh. You have three options:
- Build it yourself: add an armature, extrude bones for spine, arms and legs, and name them left and right clearly.
- Use Rigify: Blender's built-in add-on that generates a full human rig from a template.
- Use an auto-rigging service: Adobe's Mixamo rigs and animates humanoids for free with an Adobe account. Check its current terms before you use it in a commercial game.
Low poly characters need simple rigs. A dozen bones is often enough.
2. Bind the mesh with weights
Select the mesh, then the armature, and press Ctrl+P and choose With Automatic Weights. Switch to Weight Paint mode to check each bone and fix shoulders, elbows and knees where the mesh stretches.
3. Pose, key and loop a walk cycle
In Pose mode, move a bone and press I to insert a keyframe. A walk cycle needs four key poses repeated on both legs:
| Pose | What happens |
|---|---|
| Contact | Front heel touches the ground, legs apart |
| Down | Body lowers as weight lands |
| Passing | Back leg passes the standing leg |
| Up | Body rises as the back foot pushes off |
Set the first and last frame to the same pose so the clip loops. A walk of 24 to 32 frames at 24 fps is a common starting point. Use the Dope Sheet to adjust timing and the Graph Editor to smooth the curves.
4. Export to your engine
- Name each action (Idle, Walk, Run) and push it to the NLA editor or mark it as a fake user so it exports.
- Export FBX with Bake Animation on, or use glTF.
- In Unity, set the model's rig to Humanoid or Generic and tick Loop Time on looping clips.
- In Godot, import the file and use the AnimationPlayer or AnimationTree to blend clips.
Remember scale and rotation. The import guide lists the settings.
5. Animate more than characters
Doors, elevators and rail carts are animated with simple transforms in code or in the engine. The Door System and the Elevator System show how to drive them from scripts, and the Character Customizer shows clothes following a character's bones.
Questions
A rig is a skeleton of bones attached to a mesh so you can pose and animate it.
Often 24 to 32 frames at 24 fps, but it depends on style. Start there and adjust the timing.
Yes. Export FBX with animation baked and set the rig type in Unity's import settings.
Mixamo has been free to use with an Adobe account. Check its current terms and licence for commercial use before you ship.
Who wrote this
Imersa Studios builds the Unity systems, low poly packs and field guides sold on itch.io. The code and techniques here come from shipping those products. More about the studio.