Summary

Using Animation Curves in Unreal Engine 5, you can accelerate specific parts of an animation like a quick punch, sudden dodge, or jump. A very useful feature!

Environment

• Unreal Engine 5.6

Main Steps

Step 1: Create a Curve

• Open the animation sequence in the Animation Editor
• Click "Add Curve" in the Curves Panel

• Name it something like PlayRateMultiplier (Float type)

Step 2: Set Keyframes

• Right-click the timeline to add keyframes
• Normal speed: 1.0
• Accelerated section: 2.0 (e.g., 2x speed)
• Adjust tangents for a smooth transition

Step 3: Use in Animation Blueprint

• Open the character's Animation Blueprint (ABP)
• In the Anim Graph, add a “Get Curve Value” node
• Set Curve Name to PlayRateMultiplier

• Select the animation node, click Play Rate, and choose “Expose as pin”

• Connect the output of Get Curve Value to the Play Rate input of the animation node

Result: Now you can dynamically control speed within a single animation!

This also works with Animation Montages—give it a try!

References

• Speed up a part of a animation