How can you optimize animation for large open world games?

1 Use LODs and culling

LODs, or levels of detail, are a common method of reducing the complexity of models and animations based on their distance from the camera. By using lower-resolution meshes and simpler animations for distant objects, you can save memory and processing power, while maintaining the visual fidelity of the scene. Culling, on the other hand, is the process of removing objects and animations that are not visible to the camera, such as those behind walls or terrain. This can also improve performance by avoiding unnecessary rendering and calculations.

2 Optimize your rigs and bones

Rigs and bones are the structures that define how your models can move and deform, making them essential for creating realistic and expressive animations. However, they can be costly in terms of memory and CPU usage. In order to optimize your rigs and bones, it's important to follow some best practices. For example, use as few bones as possible to achieve the desired motion and deformation. Each bone adds more data and calculations to the animation system, so try to avoid any unnecessary or redundant bones. Additionally, utilize skinning and weighting techniques to control how the bones affect the mesh. Skinning binds the bones to the mesh, while weighting assigns values to each vertex to determine how much it is influenced by each bone. Proper skinning and weighting can help avoid unwanted distortions or gaps in the mesh. Finally, blend shapes and morph targets can be used to create facial expressions or other subtle changes in the mesh. These alternatives are more efficient than using bones for small or localized changes, as they do not require additional data or calculations.

3 Use animation compression and caching

Animation compression and caching are techniques used to reduce the size and loading time of animation data, as well as the CPU usage of an animation system. Animation compression involves reducing the amount of data needed to store and play an animation through keyframe reduction, curve fitting, and quantization. Animation caching, on the other hand, is the process of storing the results of animation calculations in memory or disk for reuse or faster access. This can improve performance by avoiding repeated calculations, but can also increase memory usage and disk space. It's important to consider the trade-offs between performance and resource consumption when using animation caching.

4 Use animation blending and layering

Animation blending and layering are techniques that can enhance the variety and quality of your animations, by combining or overlaying different animations on the same model. Animation blending is the process of smoothly transitioning between two or more animations, by interpolating between their values. Animation layering is the process of applying one or more animations on top of another, by using masks or weights to control how they affect the model. By using animation blending and layering, you can create more natural and realistic movements, as well as more expressive and responsive characters. However, animation blending and layering can also increase the complexity and CPU usage of your animation system, so you should use them wisely and sparingly.

5 Use procedural and physics-based animation

Procedural and physics-based animation are techniques that can generate animations dynamically, based on rules, algorithms, or physical simulations. Procedural animation is the process of creating animations programmatically, by using code or logic to control the motion or behavior of the models. Physics-based animation is the process of creating animations physically, by using forces, collisions, or constraints to influence the motion or deformation of the models. By using procedural and physics-based animation, you can create more diverse and interactive animations, as well as more adaptive and emergent animations. However, procedural and physics-based animation can also be unpredictable and unstable, as well as computationally intensive, so you should use them carefully and selectively.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?