Character with animations

Import and material setup

• Click and drag the .fbx into Blender.
• If you put the textures in a separate folder, click on File > External data > Find missing files and choose your texture folder.
• In the 3D viewport, go to the Tark to Blend panel. Leave Clean scene disabled as it’s mostly a tool for importing maps. Click on the folder icon and choose your texture folder. Then, click Start process to complete the character’s material setup.
• Save the file.

Using animations

• Open the Animation tab.
• Open the Non-linear Animation tool in the top left corner.
• Open the Dope sheet > Action editor tool in the bottom section.

View a single animation

• Select the character rig.
• Click on the Action icon and select an animation, in the image below it’s Prapor with the Prapor_WhatTheFuck_003 action.
• Press Spacebar to play the animation.

There is also animation data for other objects in the scene (cases, quest items) but I have not tried to use them yet.

Combining animations

Here is how you can create more complex animations with the Non-linear animation (NLA) tool. It allows to mix and layer animations on top of each other, a bit like video editing tracks, making it easier to smoothly transition between animations. To learn more, you can watch Woodplanck’s tutorial.

• Select the character rig.
• Open a first action in the Dope sheet > Action editor.
• Find the rig in the NLA window. Click the Push down action button to add the animation to the track.
• Repeat the last two steps to add other animations to the track.
• In the NLA window, arrange the animations to create another complex animation. In the example below, I use three animations. The middle one has the Auto Blend In/Out option enabled to create a smooth transition.

Unfortunately, I have not found a way to use this technique with the Rigify rig we will create in the next section. For now, in-game animation and custom animations must be used separately.