Motion Matching
Animation & MotionMotion Matching via Pose Search. Data-driven animation selection that replaces hand-authored state machines with automatic pose matching.
/skill motion-matching What this skill does
Motion Matching gives you expert guidance on UE5's Pose Search plugin: a data-driven animation selection system that replaces hand-authored state machines with automatic pose-to-animation matching. Instead of manually building complex state machine graphs, you feed a database of animation clips and the system selects the best matching clip every frame based on the character's current pose and predicted trajectory. This skill covers setting up the Pose Search plugin, constructing animation databases, configuring feature channels and trajectory prediction, and integrating Motion Matching into Animation Blueprints with smooth inertialization blending.
Covers
- Pose Search plugin setup and database creation
- Animation database construction and clip organization
- Trajectory prediction configuration
- Feature channels for pose comparison
- Motion Matching in Animation Blueprints
- Motion Warping for alignment
- Chooser system integration
- Blending and transition quality (inertialization)
Does not cover
- Traditional state machines → animation-playback
- IK and retargeting → control-rig
- Motion capture → face-capture
- Procedural animation → control-rig
How to use
Invoke directly in Claude Code:
/skill motion-matchingThis skill is also auto-detected when your prompt mentions motion matching, pose search, motion trajectory, animation selection, or motion warping intent. AgentUX will automatically activate Motion Matching when it recognizes you are working with data-driven animation selection.
Key Unreal Engine concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| UPoseSearchDatabase | The asset containing indexed animation clips that the Motion Matching system searches every frame to find the best pose match. |
| UPoseSearchSchema | Defines which features (bone positions, velocities, trajectory) are compared during the search, controlling match quality and performance cost. |
| Pose Search Plugin | The UE5 plugin (available from 5.3) that provides the Motion Matching runtime, database tools, and Animation Blueprint integration nodes. |
| Motion Warping | A system that adjusts root motion at runtime to align the character with gameplay targets (e.g., ledge grabs, attack targets) without re-authoring animations. |
| Trajectory Prediction | The system that projects the character's future path based on input and velocity, used by Motion Matching to select animations that match intended movement. |
| Feature Channels | Individual data streams (bone positions, velocities, trajectory points) extracted from animation clips and compared during the pose search. |
| Inertialization | A blending technique that smoothly transitions between animation clips by decaying the difference between old and new poses over time, avoiding the latency of cross-fades. |
Related skills
animation-playback
Play back and blend character animations
control-rig
Control Rig node-based rigging
enhanced-input
Enhanced Input System
ai-navigation
AI navigation and behavior
What you'll learn
- How to set up the Pose Search plugin and build animation databases
- Replacing complex hand-authored state machines with data-driven animation selection
- Configuring trajectory prediction and feature channels for responsive character movement
- Using inertialization for seamless transitions between animation clips
- Integrating Motion Warping to align animations with gameplay targets