In this lesson, you will learn how to build the primary AnimGraph in your Animation Blueprint to stream final pose data to your character’s mesh.
The Heart of the Animation Blueprint
The AnimGraph is the logic hub of your character. While the Event Graph handles data (like calculating speed or checking if the character is grounded), the AnimGraph is where you define how that data translates into physical movement. Think of the AnimGraph as a pipeline: you feed animation assets into it, manipulate them with logic, and output the final result to the "Output Pose" node.
Setting Up the Output
Every AnimGraph must end at the Output Pose node. This node is the final destination; whatever pose is plugged into its input pin is exactly what your character will display on screen for that specific frame.
To get started, open your Animation Blueprint and navigate to the AnimGraph tab. You will see the Output Pose node sitting alone. You can feed it directly from a single animation asset, but for most characters, you will use a State Machine.
- Right-click in the empty space and search for Add New State Machine.
- Connect the output of this new State Machine node directly to the Output Pose input pin.
- Double-click the State Machine to define your movement states (like "Idle," "Walk," and "Run").
Once you define your transitions within the State Machine—using variables you calculated in your Event Graph—the AnimGraph automatically blends between these states. If you want to refine the output further, you can place nodes between the State Machine and the Output Pose, such as a Layered Blend per Bone or an IK node, to modify the final skeleton pose before the engine renders it.
By connecting your logic flow to the Output Pose, you finalize the bridge between your animation data and the skeletal mesh component.
Key Takeaway: The AnimGraph serves as the final controller for your character's movement, where all animation states and procedural adjustments must connect to the Output Pose node to be rendered on the mesh.