Creating Props for Game Characters
A prop is simply a drawing layer that has been marked as a prop. To make sure it follows its anchor's animation, it must be either rigged as a child or a sibling of the anchor in the rig hierarchy.
A prop can have one or several drawings. All drawings in a prop will be exported with your character, and it will be possible to switch between the different drawings for your prop in Unity.
- If the Game toolbar is not already in your workspace, do one of the following to add it:
- In the top menu, select Windows > Toolbars > Game.
- Right-click on any existing toolbar and select Game.
The Game toolbar is added to your workspace.
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Select the anchor layer to which you want your prop to be attached.
- Create a new drawing layer by doing one of the following:
- In the toolbar over the layers list, click on Add Drawing Layer
- Right-click on the layer and select Insert > Drawing Layer.
- Press Ctrl + R
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In the Add Drawing Layer dialog, type in a name for your prop layer.
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Click on Add and Close.
The prop layer will be created as a sibling to the anchor layer you previously selected. If you animate the anchor layer's parent peg, the prop will also move along with it.
TIPYou can also rig the prop to be a child of the anchor layer, like so:
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In the Timeline view, select the first frame of the prop layer.
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Create an empty drawing in the prop layer by doing one of the following:
- In the Timeline view, right-click on the first frame of the layer and select Drawings > Create Empty Drawing.
- In the top menu, select Drawing > Create Empty Drawing.
- Press Alt + Shift + R.
- In the Advanced Animation toolbar, select either the Translate, Rotate, Scale or Skew tool.
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In the Camera view, click and drag on the pivot point and position it where you want the anchor to be positioned.
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In the Game toolbar, click on Toggle Prop.
The layer will now be a prop layer. Its colour in the Timeline view will be changed to green.
In the Metadata Editor view, its Node Metadata will contain the following entry:
game.isProp
You can now start drawing your props in the prop layer.