godot-animation Checked

Animate in Godot 4.7 three ways: AnimationPlayer for keyframed clips (incl. call and signal tracks), AnimationTree with state machines and blend spaces for character animation, and Tween for short procedural/UI tweens via create_tween(). Use when working with AnimationPlayer/AnimationTree nodes in a .tscn, blending character states, sprite-sheet animation, or code-driven Tweens.

Godot Animation (4.x)

Choose and drive the right animation tool: AnimationPlayer (clips), AnimationTree

(blending/state machines), or Tween (short procedural moves). Targets **Godot 4.7**.

Animate in Godot 4.7 three ways: AnimationPlayer for keyframed clips (incl. call and signal tracks), AnimationTree with state machines and blend spaces for character animation, and Tween for short procedural/UI tweens via create_tween(). Use when working with AnimationPlayer/AnimationTree nodes in a .tscn, blending character states, sprite-sheet animation, or code-driven Tweens.

Godot Animation (4.x)

Choose and drive the right animation tool: AnimationPlayer (clips), AnimationTree

(blending/state machines), or Tween (short procedural moves). Targets **Godot 4.7**.

When to use

• Use when playing keyframed animations, blending walk/run/idle states, animating a

sprite sheet, or tweening UI/objects in code.

**When *not* to use:** the movement *logic* that decides which state to play →

godot-2d-movement; UI layout (vs. UI tweening) → godot-ui-control; shader-driven

effects → godot-shaders.

Core workflow

1. **Pick the tool:**

• AnimationPlayer — author keyframed clips (transforms, properties, method calls,

audio, even other animations). The source of truth for clip data.

• AnimationTree — blend and transition between those clips at runtime with a state

machine and/or blend spaces. Needs an AnimationPlayer to pull clips from.

• Tween — fire-and-forget procedural interpolation in code (create_tween()); ideal

for UI pops, fades, and one-off moves.

2. **For 2D sprite sheets:** use AnimatedSprite2D + SpriteFrames, or keyframe the

frame property in an AnimationPlayer.

3. **For characters:** build clips in AnimationPlayer, then add an AnimationTree

(active = true), set its anim_player, and design an AnimationNodeStateMachine or

AnimationNodeBlendSpace2D as the tree root.

4. **Drive transitions from code** via the playback object (travel) or by setting blend

parameters.

5. **React to clip events** with the animation_finished signal and call/method tracks.

Patterns

### 1. AnimationPlayer: play a clip and await it

@onready var anim: AnimationPlayer = $AnimationPlayer

func attack() -> void:
    anim.play("attack")
    await anim.animation_finished     # resume after the clip ends
    anim.play("idle")

### 2. AnimationTree state machine: travel between states

@onready var tree: AnimationTree = $AnimationTree

func _ready() -> void:
    tree.active = true                # the tree drives animation; AnimationPlayer is the source

func set_state(state: StringName) -> void:
    # The playback object controls an AnimationNodeStateMachine root.
    var sm: AnimationNodeStateMachinePlayback = tree.get("parameters/playback")
    sm.travel(state)                  # transitions using the graph's connections

func _physics_process(_d: float) -> void:
    set_state(&"run" if velocity.length() > 5.0 else &"idle")

### 3. Blend space: blend run direction by a 2D parameter