by frederico4d·Workflow
Images © frederico4d. Used for product review; image policy.
Action Loader earns its place by automating the fiddly parts of juggling many actions on a single rig, from frame ranges to fake users. All of its commissions go to the Blender Development Fund.
Action Loader is a Blender add-on for displaying and loading actions into a model, built to manage multiple animations on the same character for game animation. In Blender, actions store animations for objects and armatures, each holding a complete animation for an entire rig, including its constraints and keyframes. Actions work interchangeably between objects and rigs, so different characters with different proportions can share the same animations as long as their bones use the same names.
To use it, select an object, usually an armature, and pick actions from the list. A single click saves the current frame range on the current action, applies the newly selected action, sets the scene frame range from it (optionally from the first and last keyframe), and zooms in on the Timeline, Dope Sheet Editor and Graph Editor. You can also switch between animations while playing in loop for a quick preview.
Action Loader adds fake users to actions automatically so you don't lose them, and a name-based filter narrows large libraries. The list displays each action's name, frame count, duration in seconds, user count and fake-user status, plus the total and filtered animation counts. All commissions go to the Blender Development Fund.
Action Loader is best for blender artists managing multiple actions on the same character for game animation.
Action Loader is completely free to download and use.
Action Loader is offered across a wide range of Blender releases. There's a version ready for Blender 5.0 and up, a build covering Blender 2.8x through 4.5, and a legacy version for Blender 2.79. Individually listed versions include 4.2, 4.1, 4.0, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1, 3.0, and older releases down to 2.79. Pick the build that matches your Blender version on the developer's page, since the tool is split into separate versions for the newest, mid-range, and legacy branches.
Action Loader does not include any animations. As the developer notes, it's purely a tool to manage the animations you already have. In Blender, actions are how animations are stored for objects and armatures, and Action Loader displays them in a list and switches between them with a single click. So you bring your own actions to a model or rig, and the add-on handles browsing, loading, filtering and previewing them rather than supplying animation content.
Action Loader lets actions work interchangeably between objects and entire rigs. Different characters with different rigs and totally different proportions can share the same animations, as long as their bones use the same names. You can also keep specific bones for each character, with the animations tied to those bones stored accordingly. Since each action holds a complete animation for a rig, including constraints and keyframes, you can reuse one library of actions across multiple characters and switch between them from the list.
Action Loader is listed as free here in the catalog, and it's distributed under the GPL license. 100% of the add-on's commissions go to the Blender Development Fund. It's a tool to manage your animations and does not include any animations itself. For current licensing details and to grab the build that matches your Blender version, head to the developer's page directly.
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