I didn’t know animation setup could feel this overwhelming.
One wrong option, and nothing works.
This was my first real animation confusion.
This post is part of my daily learning journey in game development.
I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress —
from the perspective of a beginner.
On Day 15 of my game development journey, I learned the basics of using Mixamo for character animations.
What I tried / learned today
I started with the Mixamo website to prepare animations for Unreal Engine.
I learned why Mixamo is beginner-friendly:
- Free and fast character auto-rigging
- Large library of ready-made animations
- Easy export options for Unreal Engine
I selected a character in T-pose, because a T-pose makes rigging clean and predictable.
Then I explored basic game animations:
- Idle
- Walk
- Run
- Jump
I also noticed Mixamo shows different skeleton previews.
I learned that staying consistent with the same character skeleton is important so animations fit correctly.
For Idle, I downloaded the animation with In-Place disabled, since the character doesn’t need to move forward.
For Walk, Run, and Jump, I downloaded them In-Place, so movement can be controlled inside Unreal Engine instead of being baked into the animation.
What confused me
I didn’t understand why some animations moved the character forward and some didn’t.
At first, this felt random.
What worked or finally clicked
I learned that In-Place animations keep the character in one spot, while Unreal Engine handles movement speed and direction.
That made everything much clearer.
One lesson for beginners
- Mixamo is great for learning animations quickly
- Always use a T-pose for clean rigging
- Use In-Place animations for better movement control
Slow progress — but I’m building a strong foundation.
If you’re also learning game development,
what was the first thing that confused you when you started?
See you in the next post 🎮🚀
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