How to Make an Animation Loop in Unity

To make an animation loop in Unity, you typically enable the "Loop Time" property on the animation clip itself or configure the state in an Animator Controller to loop.

Making an animation repeat continuously, or loop, is a common requirement in game development for actions like idling, walking, or environmental effects. Unity provides several straightforward methods to achieve this.

Understanding Animation Looping

Looping an animation means that when the playback reaches the end of the clip, it immediately jumps back to the beginning and starts playing again. This creates a seamless, repeating cycle.

Primary Methods to Enable Looping

Here are the main ways to set up animation looping in Unity:

1. Via the Animation Clip Settings (Loop Time)

This is often the most direct way to make a specific animation clip loop regardless of where it's used.

Locate the Animation Clip: Find the .anim file in your project's Assets folder.
Open Inspector: Select the animation clip to view its properties in the Inspector window.
Enable Loop Time: Check the Loop Time checkbox in the Inspector.
- Note: For older, "Legacy" animation systems, looping was controlled by the Wrap Mode property on the Animation component, often set to Loop. For the modern Mecanim system, Loop Time on the clip asset is the standard.

2. Via the Animator Controller State Settings

When using the Mecanim animation system with an Animator Controller, you can control whether a specific state loops.

Open Animator Controller: Double-click the Animator Controller asset controlling your character or object.
Select the State: Click on the animation state node you want to loop in the graph view (e.g., "Idle", "Walk").
Enable Loop Time: In the Inspector window for the selected state, ensure the Loop Time checkbox is checked.
- This setting overrides the clip's Loop Time setting if the clip is assigned to this state.

3. Via Scripting

You can also control animation playback and looping through C# scripts. This offers dynamic control.

Get Animation Component: Obtain a reference to the Animator (Mecanim) or Animation (Legacy) component on your GameObject.
Control Playback:
- For Animator: Use animator.Play("YourStateName") or manage transitions. Looping is usually handled by the state settings as mentioned above, but you can control playback speed and other properties via script.
- For Animation (Legacy): Set the wrapMode property of the Animation component or individual AnimationClips.
```
// Example using Legacy Animation component
public Animation anim; // Assign in Inspector

void Start()
{
    anim.wrapMode = WrapMode.Loop; // Make all clips loop by default
    // Or for a specific clip:
    // anim["ClipName"].wrapMode = WrapMode.Loop;
    anim.Play("ClipName");
}
```

Optimizing Your Animation Loop Point

Sometimes, simply enabling "Loop Time" results in a visible pop or hitch at the loop point if the end pose doesn't perfectly match the start pose. Unity provides tools to help create smoother loops when editing the clip in the Animation window.

When editing an animation clip in the Animation window:

Adjust Start/End Points: You can drag the Start or End points of the animation clip markers in the timeline view.
Observe Looping Fitness Curves: As you adjust these points, you will see the Looping fitness curves for all of the parameters based on which it is possible to loop. These curves provide visual feedback on how well the animation data aligns at the chosen loop point.
Find Optimal Points: If you place the Start / End marker in a place where the curve for the property is green, it is more likely that the clip can loop properly with minimal visual discontinuity. Green indicates a good match between the start and end values for that animated property at the selected points.

By using the Looping fitness curves and adjusting the clip's start and end markers, you can often find points within the animation data that create a much more seamless and visually appealing loop.

In summary, enabling Loop Time on the clip or state turns looping on, while utilizing the Looping fitness curves during clip editing helps you make that loop smooth.

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