Dynamic bone is a must have asset from the Unity asset store, but it is not useful for all. In this post we will see where dynamic bone is used in game development and whether it will be useful for you.
What exactly does it mean to add physics to the character bones or joints and how is it different from character animation is what we are going to see? A link to current available offers on dynamic bone is available at the end of the post.
Difference between Unity Dynamic Bone and Animation
Animation is predefined motion of the character in a particular manner that is rigged already. But adding physics creates a responsive motion to the character based on the motion. To understand it better, Take a horse character. Walk, run and jump are animations rigged for the horse. If the animator has not considered the neck hair and tail during the rigging process then, those parts won’t move when the animation is played. When physics is applied to those parts, it starts moving based on the characters motion. This is what is done using dynamic bone in a simplified manner.
Advantages of Dynamic Bone
- Very easy to setup, just buy and import the asset from the asset store.
- Easily add physics factors like elasticity, stiffness and damping factor to any bone you want within minutes.
- Works with Mecanim and legacy animation.
- Support all versions of Unity.
- Full source code is included with the package, so you can make changes based on your requirements.
How to setup and use Dynamic Bones
- Prepare a properly setup character, both Mecanim and legacy rigs are supported.
- Select the game object you want to apply Dynamic Bone.
- In the component menu, select Dynamic Bone -> Dynamic Bone.
- In the inspector, select root object.
- Adjust dynamic bone parameters.
Parameters that you can adjust
Root:The root of the transform hierarchy to apply physics.
- Update Rate
Internal physics simulation rate, measures in frames per seconds. - UpdateMode
Normal: Normal update.
AnimatePhysics: Updates during the physics loop in order to synchronize with the physics engine.
UnscaledTime: Updates independently of Time.timeScale. - Damping
How much the bones slowed down. - Elasticity
How much force is applied to return each bone to its original orientation. - Stiffness
How much bone’s original orientation is preserved. - Inert
How much character’s position change is ignored in physics simulation. - Friction
How much the bones slowed down when collide. - Radius
Each bone can be a sphere to collide with colliders. Radius describes sphere’s size. - Damping Distrib, Elasticity Distrib, Stiffness Distrib, Inert Distrib, Radius Distrib
How parameters change over hierarchy chain. Curve values are multiplied to corresponding parameters. - End Length
If the End Length is not zero, an extra bone is generated at the end of transform hierarchy,
length is multiplied by last two bone’s distance. - End Offset
If the End Offset is not zero, an extra bone is generated at the end of transform hierarchy,
offset is in character’s local space. - Gravity
The force applies to bones, in world space. Partial force applied to a character’s initial pose is cancelled out. - Force
The force applies to bones, in world space. - Colliders
Collider objects interact with the bones. - Exclusions
Bones are excluded from physics simulation. - Freeze Axis
Constrain bones to move on specified plane. - Distant Disable, Reference Object, Distance to Object
Disable physics simulation automatically if the character is far from camera or player.
If there is no reference object, default main camera is used.
Dynamic Bone Collider component description:
- Center
The center of the sphere or capsule, in the object’s local space. - Radius
The radius of the sphere or capsule will be scaled by the transform’s scale. - Height
The height of the capsule, including two half-spheres, will be scaled by the transform’s scale. - Direction
The axis of the capsule’s height. - Bound
Constrain bones to outside bound or inside bound.
Simple demo by VRChat on using Dynamic Bones
Conclusion
Dynamic bone is really useful for anybody making a 3D game. It is one the best assets from the asset store that all developers must include in their tool-set. You can just apply physics to any of your characters and make it look more realistic in a matter of minutes. When it comes to cloth and hair animation, dynamic bone is easily the best solution available in Unity. It’s only $20 in the assets store and is definitely worth the price. You can check out the link below to see if any deals are available at the movement on this asset.