Animator Component |
Component on a model that animates that model using the Animation system. The component has a reference to an Animator Controller asset that controls the animation. |
Root Motion |
Motion of character’s root, whether it’s controlled by the animation itself or externally. |
Animator Controller |
The Animator Controller controls animation through Animation Layers with Animation State Machines and Animation Blend Trees, controlled by Animation Parameters. The same Animator Controller can be referenced by multiple models with Animator components. |
Animator Window |
The window where the Animator Controller is visualized and edited. |
Animation Layer |
An Animation Layer contains an Animation State Machine that controls animations of a model or part of it. An example of this is if you have a full-body layer for walking or jumping and a higher layer for upper-body motions such as throwing an object or shooting. The higher layers take precedence for the body parts they control. |
Animation State Machine |
A graph controlling the interaction of Animation States. Each state references an Animation Blend Tree or a single Animation Clip. |
Animation Blend Tree |
Used for continuous blending between similar Animation Clips based on float Animation Parameters. |
Animation Parameters |
Used to communicate between scripting and the Animator Controller. Some parameters can be set in scripting and used by the controller, while other parameters are based on Custom Curves in Animation Clips and can be sampled using the scripting API. |
Inverse Kinematics (IK) |
The ability to control the character’s body parts based on various objects in the world. |