Animation: Creating Shortnames
In this guide, we will cover how to add or edit Shortnames using the UUID Object Editor. The guide assumes that you have already launched the BG3 Toolkit and created/loaded a mod. If you don't know how to do this yet, please refer to Getting Started: Creating a New Mod.
What Are Shortnames?
When you create retargets for a player animation, you must ensure that a Shortname has been created. A Shortname can be seen as a package where all retargeted export files can be linked for a specific animation. This means that when that player animation is played in game, it will look for the Shortname, where it can pull the correct animation for the rig that is being used.
Example: The player is a female dwarf. This means that the character needs to play the DWR_F animations, which will have been retargeted from the original HUM_M. The game needs to find the Shortname and play the DWR_F animation. If this does not exist, it will try to play the HUM_M animation, which will not look right.
What Needs a Shortname?
Shortnames are required for any animation that can play on more than one rig. For example:
- Player animations
- Companion animations (where the scene can play out in the same way but on different companions)
- Construction animations (because they can play on player rigs and NPC rigs)
How Do We Name a Shortname?
The name of a Shortname will be the same name as the animation, just without the rig prefix. For example:
HUM_M Animation export:
HUM_M_Rig_SCENE_END_BrainBattle_FinalDecision_SitOnThrone_Idle_PLYR
Shortname:
SCENE_END_BrainBattle_FinalDecision_SitOnThrone_Idle_PLYR
UUID Object Editor
When you load or create a new project, a window will prompt you to “Create” or “Open” a level. You can safely close this window.
Open the UUID Object Editor via the spreadsheet icon located on the Editor's main toolbar.
Creating or Editing Shortnames in the UUID Object Editor
By default, you can find Shortnames in Projects > Shared > Animation, or by searching for “shortname” in the sidebar. There are two relevant files: ShortNameCategories and ShortNames. Only users with developer rights will be able to edit them, but you can use them as a reference to create your own.
In the sidebar, expand the dropdown for your mod (in our case, “NewMod”) and navigate to the section called Animation. Create two new files by clicking on the + and selecting ShortNameCategories and ShortNames in the resulting dropdown.
ⓘ You don’t need to create a ShortNameCategory in order to create a Shortname; you can use preexisting categories in Projects > Shared. For the sake of this guide, we will also explain how to create categories.
Initially, all fields in both files will be blank. First, let’s create a new ShortNameCategory. Open the ShortNameCategories file and fill in the Name. The UUID column should automatically populate itself. Then press the Save icon in order for the Category to be loaded correctly. Here, we've simply named our new ShortNameCategory Category so it's easy to distinguish.
To create a Shortname, simply open the ShortNames file, and fill in the Name column. Again, this will populate the UUID column automatically. Now, we can choose the Category we just created (or a preexisting one) in the Category dropdown, and press Save.
To create additional Categories or Shortnames, just press the + icon next to the save icon to create a new row in their respective files.
Common Issues
- Sometimes, newly created Shortnames won’t appear inside newly created Categories in a resource's AnimationSet. File > Resave All fixes this.
- If a new Category isn’t appearing in the dropdown, changing rows and saving or File > Validate All fixes this.
FAQ
How do I implement these in a mod?
You need to override an AnimationSetResource, set the desired animation for the new shortname, and click 'Apply'.
If I were to create a new shortname through a mod I made, how do I see the ShortName being shown?
You would see it under its specific category when opening an AnimationSetResource.
How do I see this in-game?
If you change the target animation for a shortname, you would see the change in-game when playing that animation. When an animation is played in game, it will look for the Shortname, where it can pull the correct animation for the rig that is being used. For example, if a Bear attacks, it will look for Combat (Category) > CMBT_Melee_RHand_01_Attack (Shortname), and its assigned animation will play.
Done!
You should now be able to use the newly created Shortnames and/or Categories in your mod.
