Animations can bring life and movement to your Twinmotion scenes. You can import files that contain animated objects and create videos and sequences with them, or include them in images and panoramas.
This page provides a brief overview of animated files in Twinmotion. For information on how to import animated files, refer to Importing Animated Files.
Skeletal Mesh Animations and Static Mesh Animations
Twinmotion supports the import of both skeletal mesh animations and static mesh animations.
Skeletal Mesh Animations
Skeletal mesh animations are composed of skeletal meshes that are deformed by bones and which are used to animate complex 3D objects. The video below shows a skeletal mesh animation in Twinmotion.
Imported skeletal mesh animations can contain one, or several, animation sequences. The number of sequences is defined in the source file when it is created. You can view the available sequences and select which one to play in the Properties panel below the Global animation properties.
The skeletal meshes inside a skeletal mesh animation appear in the Scene graph, under the root of the animation.
Static Mesh Animations
Static mesh animations are composed of static meshes that cannot be deformed but have animated transforms—such as translation, rotation, and scaling—that animate over a period of time. The video below shows a static mesh animation in Twinmotion.
Supported Animated File Formats
Twinmotion supports the following animated file formats:
| File Format | Description |
|---|---|
.fbx | FBX (Filmbox) is a file format owned by Autodesk. It is designed to allow the exchange of data between digital content creation (DCC) applications. To import static |
.gltf, .glb | GL Transmission Format is an open-standard file format for static or animated 3D scenes and models. It is created and maintained by the Khronos Group and designed to be compact and load quickly.
Files in this format use either the The GLTF and GLB file formats have the following limitation:
To import static |
Twinmotion does not currently support:
Animations without meshes associated with them, such as certain motion capture files.
Animated cameras or animated lights are not supported and cannot be imported.
Any kind of point-level animation, including but not limited to morph targets and blend shapes.
Materials
The materials on objects in imported animated files are processed in one of two ways:
Textures embedded in the file and materials are automatically applied to the objects.
Textures that are not embedded in the file but provided in a separate folder function differently:
If the path to the folder is set correctly in the animated file, the materials are automatically applied to the objects.
If the path to the folder is not set correctly, you must apply the materials to the objects manually. To apply the materials, select the animated object with the Material picker, and in the Properties panel add the texture maps to the material.
The materials applied to the objects are displayed in the Materials dock.
You can modify these materials as you would for any other object by selecting the materials and changing their properties in the Properties panel. You can also apply materials to animated objects by dragging materials from the Library onto the animated object.
Media
Videos and Sequences
You can preview animations in videos and sequences with the video controls (Previous, Play / stop , Next) or the scrubber or playhead.
Images and Panoramas
When you create images and panoramas that contain animated files, you can display the animations in Static or Real time mode.
In Static mode, the animation does not play. You select the frame you want to show by using the Duration slider to preview the animation. Once you select a frame, clicking the Refresh icon on the thumbnail of the media saves the animation state in the image or panorama.
In Real time mode, the animation plays. This can be used if you want the animation to play when you view images or panoramas in Presenter mode, or in Local or Cloud Presentations.
Known Issues
The animation feature in Twinmotion has the following limitations:
Scene graph:
The hierarchy of imported animated objects cannot be modified in the Scene graph. However, you can parent an animated object to any Twinmotion object.
Animated objects or their subparts cannot be saved in the User library.
Custom paths: Animated objects cannot be added to a Custom path.
Paint and Scatter tools: The Paint and Scatter tools cannot be used on animated objects.
Sketchfab library: Animated objects dragged from the Sketchfab library are not animated in the scene. Only imported animated
.fbx,.gltf, or.glbfiles are supported.Compatibility with the Render engine:
Skeletal meshes, such as Twinmotion characters, may appear black in Lumen reflections if they are not visible by the camera.
Skeletal meshes do not create Lumen mesh cards, and therefore are not taken into account by the Lumen global illumination solution.
Static meshes that are scaled after import, whether they are animated or not, can have issues with the Lumen global illumination rendering mode.