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Tags

Tags serve as a robust way to manage unstructured animation data, commonly found in Motion Matching systems. This feature enables you to categorize each animation file using multiple tags and query them in real-time using boolean operations.

How to Add Tags

  1. Navigate to the MotionMatching/Animation Viewer from the top menu to open a new scene along with an accompanying window.
  2. Reference your Animation Data within this window.
  3. A stick-like character appears to help you visualize the animation effectively.
  4. Click on the New Tag button to add a new tag.

Animation with three tags and multiple ranges each. The green query tool is set to `walk | idle`.

Use double left-click on the timeline to add a new tag range. To delete a range, right-click and select the relevant option. Once you're done, click the Return button on the top-left to change to the previous scene.

Querying Tags at Runtime

Single Tag Queries

The MotionMatchingController component exposes methods to enable or disable tags during the search. To search for a specific tag, use SetQueryTag(string name). To disable all tags and search the entire database, use DisableQueryTag().

Warning

Minimize calling DisableQueryTag(), SetQueryTag(string name) or other query methods every frame to maintain optimal performance.

Boolean Expression Queries

The system supports complex boolean queries for tags, enabling a variety of operations:

  • Intersection (&): Includes poses in both tags (e.g., happy & walk).
  • Union (|): Includes poses in either of the tags (e.g., walk | run).
  • Difference (-): Excludes poses in the second tag (e.g., walk - happy).
  • Parenthesis: Alters operation precedence (e.g., ((walk | run) & male) - sad).

To use boolean queries, utilize the class QueryTag. Use bool QueryTag.Parse(string expression, out QueryTag query) for parsing and SetExpression(QueryTag query) to apply it in the MotionMatchingController component. For efficiency, consider parsing and caching the query tags at the beginning of your script.

Example

See the sample for an in-depth guide on querying tags.

Tip

The TagSwitchHelper component simplifies using boolean queries. Add it to the same GameObject that contains the CharacterController. You can alter the query using SetExpression(string expression) or disable it with DisableQuery(). Feel free to manipulate the expression directly in the component inspector or through scripting.

Use the preview query tool in the Animation Viewer to simulate the result of a complex query.

Last update: 2023-11-10
Created: 2023-11-10