UAnimInstance::BlueprintInitializeAnimation
#include "Animation/AnimInstance.h"
Access: public
Specifiers: virtualUFUNCTIONBlueprintImplementableEvent
Description
Blueprint event called once when the anim instance is initialized, before any animation updates. Override this in your Animation Blueprint to cache references to the owning pawn, set up initial state, and prepare variables used during animation updates.
Caveats & Gotchas
- • This event fires only once during initialization — if you need to re-initialize state when the pawn changes, listen for pawn-change notifications separately rather than relying on this being called again.
- • Runs on the game thread before any parallel animation work begins, so heavy logic here delays the first animation frame. Keep initialization lightweight and defer expensive lookups to lazy evaluation during updates.
Signature
virtual void BlueprintInitializeAnimation()Return Type
void Example
Cache pawn reference on initialization C++
// In your Animation Blueprint event graph:
// 1. Override BlueprintInitializeAnimation
// 2. Call TryGetPawnOwner and cast to your character class
// 3. Store the result in a variable for use in BlueprintUpdateAnimation
// C++ equivalent in a custom UAnimInstance subclass:
void UMyAnimInstance::NativeInitializeAnimation()
{
Super::NativeInitializeAnimation();
OwningCharacter = Cast<AMyCharacter>(TryGetPawnOwner());
}See Also
Version History
Introduced in: 4.0
| Version | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5.6 | stable | — |
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