Technical Animation in Video Games 1st Edition

Technical Animation in Video Games — 1st Edition by Matthew Lake

Step into the engine room where artistry meets code. This authoritative guide unpacks the craft of technical animation for real-time games, delivering clear, practical techniques that help animators, technical artists, and developers create compelling character motion optimized for modern game engines.

Discover workflows and problem-solving strategies that bridge creative intent and technical constraints. Matthew Lake explains rigging fundamentals, procedural animation approaches, animation blending and state machines, performance-aware skinning and deformation, and the pipelines that keep studios moving. Illustrated with real-world examples relevant to Unity and Unreal Engine, the book emphasizes transferable skills—scripting for tool creation, animation debugging, and cross-platform considerations—that teams use across studios in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Whether you’re a student sharpening your portfolio, an indie developer building efficient systems, or a studio professional refining pipeline robustness, this volume delivers actionable guidance. It balances conceptual clarity with hands-on tips so you can reduce runtime costs, improve animation fidelity, and streamline collaboration between artists and engineers.

Written in a concise, accessible style, this first edition is designed to sit on the desk of anyone serious about technical animation in game development. Elevate your animations, increase production reliability, and future-proof your skills for the evolving demands of interactive entertainment. Add this essential resource by Matthew Lake to your library and take the next step toward polished, performance-ready character animation.

Note: eBooks do not include supplementary materials such as CDs, access codes, etc.