Godot Version
4
Question
Hello,
I am trying to introduce a second idle animation that plays after a set amount of time while the first idle animation plays. I have tried using a timer before asking if the first idle animation is playing to play the second idle animation.
The timer seems to work fine, but the second idle animation skips frames and gets stuck as the default animation, even while the character is moving (a problem with the if statement?)
The AnimatedSprite2D node does not seem to have any other methods for checking whether a specific animation is playing, only that if an animation is playing.
Not sure if the AnimationPlayer node can be linked to this either.
Is there any way to get around this problem without using an AnimationTree node?
Quite new to Godot, so any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Using a DevWorm tutorial.
Before setting new animation (line 124) you should check if it still playing idle animation (youâre checking is playing any animation, it means that it could be played even if player is moving or jumping or âŚ)
To check which animation is playing at the moment just use it:
if animation_player.animation == âidleâ:
Then, I want to ask you - from where youâre calling this function? If youâre calling it from _process or _physics_process funcs - thatâs why your animation is stuck, cause youâre repeating it every frame. Like an example:
Youâre saying every second start to play animation, again, again, again and again - thatâs why it canât continue to play it (cause it starts every frame)
To avoid it, before calling animated_sprite.play() - you should check which animation is playing, hereâs an example to your 120 line:
> if !velocity:
> if animated_sprite.animation != "idle":
animated_sprite.animation.play("idle")
I hope it makes sense to you 
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Thanks!
This was really helpful. The function is being called in _physics_process, and the animation stopped stuttering after I checked which animation was playing.
Can .animation be used for an AnimatedSprite2D node as well? I have tried using:
but this causes the first idle animation to play a few times (for 5 seconds) before speeding up and slowing down again, rather than stopping or buffering (the first idle animation is on loop). Should a signal or separate function be used instead?
Well, if I understand you right, your question is - has AnimatedSprite2D .animation or something similar to it? - answer: yes, I want to guide you how to find this kind of âinvisibleâ properties:
Look, every properties in insperctor could be called from code, if you just hover any property with your mouse - you can see description about this property + how to call it from script. In this photo we can see that AnimatedSprite2D has property Animation which could be called in code by âanimationâ tag and youâll get âThe current animation âŚâ
One more information:
Every node has an image-button called DOC:
If you just press it - youâll see all Properties, Methods, Signals, Description:
Like an example, thereâs property called âanimationâ, which returns StringName parameter and you can set it and even get (set_animation, get_animation)
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It would be much better to make counter or signal to play second animation (and check if second anim is playing - not to play first anim). I believe, that method with timer isnât good, cause itâs not have logic âstart after finishing itâ, instead it has logic âwhen to startâ - it means that doesnât matter finished animation before or not - just play it when times come
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This makes a lot more sense! Thank you. The DOC function is very useful.
I have placed the - check if secondary_idle animation is not playing - and this seems to work much better. All animations play respectively, and there is no buffering/speeding up/slowing down.
However, the secondary animation itself does not play when the timer is up, or even if there is no timer present. I printed the current animation playing, and all animations play at the appropriate time. Only the secondary animation does not play, although the current animation being printed shows that it is (with or without the timer).
The secondary idle also entirely replaces the first idle after any other movement animation is completed, rather than returning to the first idle animation.
Any idea why this may be? Sorry Iâm still very much a novice to all this.
If I were to use a signal instead of the timer, would I have to connect a new animation_finished() signal to a function (that plays the secondary idle) and call that function within this movement function?
I believe I would need to specify which animation I want a signal emitted for when it is finished.
Once again, thank you so much for all the help.
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Itâs not playing the first idle animation because youâre setting every frame it to second idle animation in line 128
Like: youâre resetting every frame to Idle animation on line 125 and then on line 127 checking if itâs not second idle animation - play second idle animation
Every frame youâre rechanging it now)
If you understood everything above, then I want to advice you to add idle_anim_counter variable. Which should count every time when idle animation is finished (and reset this counter only if animation different from idle animation)
On line 127 (where youâre checking if itâs not second idle animation) just write this:
if animated_sprite.animation != âsecondary_idleâ and idle_anim_counter % 5 == 0:
It means that every time when idle animation have played N times (here Iâve put 5 but it doesnât matter) secondary idle will be played
Also, look at your line where youâre setting idle animation, youâre not checking if itâs already playing
If you misunderstood something, donât feel dumb, just say it, Iâll explain it more detailed later, cause Iâm writing it now on my mobile phone 
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Is this how I use the counter? (the counter var is set to integer)
It works perfectly, and the animation always returns to the first idle animation (after any other animation like run/jump),
but the secondary animation either does not get enough time to play out fully, or does not play at all.
It does play at the correct time as expected with the counter, however.
Just for my own knowledge, if I understand correctly, my earlier mistake was that every frame was being set to the first idle animation â immediately checking if it is not the secondary idle animation â play the secondary idle animation. Because this occurred every frame, the player was stuck on secondary idle animation?
Thanks
Yes, you understood me right)
Second animation canât be played fully cause youâre not checking if itâs playing second idle animation before 125 line
Look:
Youâre checking if Idle animation has played 10 times and youâre not already playing second animation â play it
However, youâre not checking if youâre playing second animation right now before playing first animation
I know, it feels like something annoying (it is) but it has logic. When youâre starting to play your second animation â you immediately playing first idle animation, cause youâre not checking if second animation is playing. I hope it was explained OK)
You should start to play idle animation only when second animation has been played, if you canât do it - Iâll help you)
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So for each frame, the first idle animation is played regardless of whether the second idle animation is played or not, so the second idle animation is not given enough time to play despite the counter triggering it?
From what I understand, by checking if the secondary idle is playing, we remove the first idle animation overlapping it and resetting the counter.
Anyhow, this worked! The first idle animation transitions smoothly into the second, and there is no stuttering or animations getting stuck.
Using a counter like so is a useful alternative to a timer or signal. I have certainly learnt a lot.
Thanks so much for your help, this is exactly what I wanted!
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Exactly, I hope you fully understand everything that I tried to explain)
This is not the best solution but works fine)
And the last thing I want to check - is after second idle animation finished first idle starts working?
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The second idle animation is kind of a âsitting-downâ animation, and it stays static until the player moves again. After that, the first idle animation starts working again as normal, if that is what you mean. Technically, this animation is not looped, so no - after the animation is completed the player stays seated on the last frame, which works well for me.
But if youâre talking about an animation like a weapon-inspect or something that returns to the original idle, Iâm not sure - I donât think it would return to the first idle unless the player moves (is no longer under the - if !velocity - statement).
Is there a way to do this?
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Oh, I understood you, itâs cool. Cause in your code I see that after second anim it wonât play first idle anim until you start to move/jump
And Iâve noticed that youâre increasing your anim_counter each frame (itâs not good, because on each device will be different frame rate per second)
You should increase it only after idle_anim finished playing, like this:
If you want to return to idle animation after pickup weapon or something like this - just set your idle_counter to zero
Also, instead of:
if velocity:
..
if !velocity:
..
You can just write:
if velocity:
..
else:
..
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This makes a lot more sense to do.
But since the idle animation is a loop of a short animation, it seems the secondary idle animation plays after a single play of the first idle animation, instead of waiting N number of times for the first animation to finish playing.
Is this because of the animation_finished signal?
Yeah you are right âifâ and âelseâ is simpler than âvelocityâ and â!velocityâ
Oops⌠if animation is a loop - then it wonât emit animation_finished signal, instead of loop Iâd recommend you now to repeat it from your code
func on_animation_finished(anim_name: String)
if anim_name == âidleâ:
animation_sprite.play(âidleâ)
idle_anim_counter += 1
else:
idle_anim_counter = 0
I have disabled the loop on the animation itself, but it seems the same problem still occurs.
So it plays once, during the movement func, and then the signal picks up that it is an idle animation and repeats it using the on_animation_finished func.
Is there something I need to change within the movement function as well?
If I understood you right - second animation isnât playing
It will be played after 600 times idle animation have been played as I see in your script)
Try something lower)
Also, lines 19 and 21 (I guess not these lines, I canât see exact lines) - you donât have to check double times if itâs not second animation, you can delete it on line 21 if you want (not condition after AND)
If the problem will still occur after it, Iâll check it on my PC later
No it seems the problem is similar as when I first introduced the signal func:
âit seems the secondary idle animation plays after a single play of the first idle animation,â
but this time, according to the printed script, the first idle animation never plays after a movement.
My bad, I didnât take a proper screenshot.
Well, after some tests Iâve noticed that Iâve made a mistake - I was testing with AnimationPlayer instead of AnimatedSprite
AnimatedSprite a bit different from animation player, for example - you canât play animation if itâs already playing
But itâs easy to fix - just set Frame to 0 and then Play (like my 41-42 lines)
Also, Iâve noticed that if your run/jump animation is a loop, you should do it as my lines from 44 on first photo. However, if your anim isnât a loop, then just do this:
To be shorter: for loop animations - do like 44-47 lines, for unloop animations - do nothing (just add 49-50 lines and it would be cool)
Everything works fine, Iâve finally tested it and decided to use condition like in my 29 line, instead of idle_anim_counter % 5 == 0, cause itâs a bit harder to understand and idle_anim_counter mustnât be zero in that scenario
If you didnât understand something - reply me)
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