How To: Roblox Studio Run Script With Animation - Guide

Roblox Studio: Making Your Animations Really Come Alive with Scripts

Okay, so you’ve got a cool Roblox game idea. Maybe it's a sword fighting game, a role-playing adventure, or even just a silly hangout spot. Whatever it is, you probably want your characters (and even objects!) to move around and do stuff. That's where animation comes in, and where the real fun begins when you combine it with scripting!

But just having animations isn't enough. You need to trigger them, control them, and make them interact with the game world. That's where Roblox Studio's scripting capabilities come into play. Let's dive into how you can run scripts alongside your animations to bring your Roblox creations to life.

Setting Up Your Animation

First things first, you need an animation. I'm assuming you've already got one created in Roblox's Animation Editor. If not, quickly hop in there, create a dummy character (if you don't already have one), and make a simple animation. Something like a wave, a short run cycle, or even just a head nod will do for this tutorial.

Once your animation is done, make sure you export it properly! The key is to:

  1. Save it to Roblox: Click the "Save to Roblox" button in the Animation Editor.
  2. Copy the Asset ID: After saving, Roblox will give you an Asset ID. It’ll look something like rbxassetid://00000000000 (but with actual numbers, of course!). Copy this – you'll need it later.

The AnimationController and Animator Objects

Before you can script, you need to understand two important objects: the AnimationController and the Animator. Think of them as the brains behind your animation operation.

  • Animator: This object actually plays the animation. It’s what talks to the rig (the character model) and tells it which poses to take. It must be located inside the character model itself.
  • AnimationController: This object acts as an intermediary. You load your Animation objects into it, and then you use scripts to tell the AnimationController which animation to play at any given time. You can also use it to control things like animation speed. It typically lives inside a Humanoid or HumanoidDescription.

Now, most characters already have a Humanoid object (think of it as the AI controlling the character), and the Humanoid will usually automatically create an Animator instance. So you likely won't need to create these yourself!

Loading Your Animation with a Script

Okay, here's where the scripting magic happens. You'll need a script – usually a LocalScript if you want the animation to be visible to the player, or a regular Script if it’s something that should happen server-side (for all players).

Here's an example of a LocalScript that loads and plays your animation when the player joins:

-- Get the player
local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer
-- Wait for the character to load
local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait()
local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid")
local animator = humanoid:WaitForChild("Animator")

-- Your Animation ID (replace with your actual ID!)
local animationId = "rbxassetid://00000000000" -- put yours here!

-- Load the animation
local animation = Instance.new("Animation")
animation.AnimationId = animationId
local animationTrack = animator:LoadAnimation(animation)

-- Play the animation (loop it so we see it over and over!)
animationTrack.Looped = true
animationTrack:Play()

Let's break this down:

  1. Getting the Player and Character: We find the local player and wait for their character to load. This is important because the character isn't always immediately available when the script starts running.
  2. Finding the Humanoid and Animator: We get the Humanoid and its child Animator.
  3. Creating the Animation Instance: We create a new Animation object.
  4. Setting the Animation ID: We set the AnimationId of the new Animation object to the ID you copied from Roblox Studio. This is where your animation is actually linked to the script.
  5. Loading the Animation Track: The animator:LoadAnimation(animation) line is crucial. It creates an AnimationTrack object. Think of it as the player for your animation.
  6. Playing the Animation: Finally, animationTrack:Play() starts the animation! We also set the Looped property to true, so the animation repeats forever.

Just paste this script into StarterCharacterScripts to have it run whenever a new player's character spawns. Don't forget to replace the placeholder Animation ID with your actual ID!

Triggering Animations with Events

Simply looping animations is nice, but the real power comes from triggering them based on events. Maybe you want to play an animation when the player presses a button, clicks on an object, or collides with something.

Here's a simple example that plays a different animation when the player presses the "E" key:

-- Get the player
local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer
local userInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")
-- Wait for the character to load
local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait()
local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid")
local animator = humanoid:WaitForChild("Animator")

-- Animation IDs (replace with your actual IDs!)
local idleAnimationId = "rbxassetid://idle" -- Put your idle animation ID here
local attackAnimationId = "rbxassetid://attack" -- Put your attack animation ID here

-- Load the animations
local idleAnimation = Instance.new("Animation")
idleAnimation.AnimationId = idleAnimationId
local idleTrack = animator:LoadAnimation(idleAnimation)

local attackAnimation = Instance.new("Animation")
attackAnimation.AnimationId = attackAnimationId
local attackTrack = animator:LoadAnimation(attackAnimation)

-- Play the idle animation initially
idleTrack.Looped = true
idleTrack:Play()

-- Listen for the "E" key press
userInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input, gameProcessedEvent)
  if input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.E and not gameProcessedEvent then
    -- Stop the idle animation
    idleTrack:Stop()

    -- Play the attack animation
    attackTrack:Play()

    -- After the attack, resume the idle animation
    attackTrack.Stopped:Wait() -- Wait until animation stops
    idleTrack:Play()

  end
end)

In this script:

  1. We get the UserInputService to listen for key presses.
  2. We define two animation IDs: one for an idle animation and one for an attack animation.
  3. We load both animations.
  4. We initially play the idle animation.
  5. When the "E" key is pressed, we stop the idle animation, play the attack animation, and then wait for the attack animation to finish before resuming the idle animation.

This is just a basic example, but the possibilities are endless. You can use all sorts of events – Touched, MouseButton1Click, ProximityPrompt.Triggered, etc. – to trigger animations in your game.

Beyond the Basics

This just scratches the surface! You can also:

  • Control Animation Speed: Adjust the PlaybackSpeed property of the AnimationTrack to make animations faster or slower.
  • Fade Between Animations: Use AnimationTrack:FadeIn() and AnimationTrack:FadeOut() for smoother transitions.
  • Weighting Animations: Use animation tracks from multiple animations and blend them together with weight to make more advanced and interesting movements.
  • Using Animation Events: Inject event calls from inside of the animation editor that can be used to trigger things within a script

So go ahead, experiment, and see what awesome animations you can create! Combining animations and scripts is a powerful way to make your Roblox games more engaging and interactive. Good luck, and have fun!