Since I updated to 4.4 today, I’ve noticed something off with my character that was using the stock animations that come with the third person template. They all seem to jerk when they loop. Here, I’ve recorded a short video to demonstrate said issue.
I made a fresh project, using the 3rd person template, on 4.4, 4.3.1 and 4.2.
Said “jerk” does not appear in the older versions, only in the newest 4.4 release.
AnimSequence.bLoopingInterpolation flag is removed. If you’d like to add interpolation from end frame to first frame, please use the menu in Persona (Add Looping Interpolation).
It has to do with this change. I tried using the recommended fix that they are suggesting above but it does not work well in 4.4.0. It seems to not take into account the correct speed to insert the frame (or perhaps it just needs more than 1 frame to do it correctly) so in the case of the Run animation for the Default Character the left moving from the last frame to the first frame that it inserts is too quick compared to the rest of the animation and it looks jarring still.
Can we get a better fix for this perhaps? Put back in the old option as an option or update the Add Looping Interpolation to use the older code so it smooths better even if it needs more than 1 frame to do it?
Hi Niuva and MathewW,
Thank you for the report. The information provided by MathewW is correct, and I do see the inconsistency in timing when the Looping Interpolation is added. I have logged a report as TTP# 344594 for this to be investigated for improvement.
Cheers!
Thanks Stephen! I’m glad I found this thread. I was wondering what was causing my idle cycle to jerk slightly right at the loop position.
Adding a duplicate of the 1st keyframe to the end of the animation in Blender smoothed it out, or using the “Add Looping Interpolation” option in UE4, (which appears to do the exact same thing?). It’s strange behavior, though, as the animation will loop perfectly fine inside Blender, the traditional way, creating a 30 frame animation and looping the first 29 frames. However, in UE4, all 30 frames (including the duplicated last one) are required to avoid the choppiness.
Is this the “new” workflow for creating animation to work in UE4, or is Epic planning to restore the traditional looping behavior in a future fix?
Hi AJ_Graphix,
Standard procedure for creating looping animations for games is to create a frame at the end of your animation that is duplicate to your start frame. The key to making it blend smoothly is to adjust your curves so that they end on the same slope as the spline on the first frame (see image).
That last frame should blend directly into that first frame smoothly without it appearing to hold on that pose. I’m attaching an FBX with an example of this.
This image is from Maya, but note how the X (red) spline begins on a downward slope, then I ensure that it ends on the same (or close to) downward slope. The Y and Z axis follow this same rule.
[Example FBX][2]
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