Unity Error: Animation Event has no function name specified

by Michael Sacco Published August 21, 2023

I recently ran into a weird error in Unity. I wanted to create a simple animation to move a cube in my scene. Basic stuff. But, Unity suddenly reported an error in the Console. The error in the console said that the “AnimationEvent has no function name specified”. I thought the warning was a bit vague. It turns out that the warning is perfect.

About the Error

The error occurs when you create an AnimationEvent in your animation clip and don’t specify a function name for that AnimationEvent. Surprisingly basic.

You can use animation events. Animation events help call a specific function. The animation clip triggers the event at a predefined point. This happens during an animation’s playback.

Most likely, you accidently created an animation event in your animation. But, you did not assign a valid function name for that animation event. (Why would you?).

To resolve this error, you need to assign a function name to the animation event. Or, you need to remove the animation event.

In this article, I will explain:

  • How to assign a function name for the AnimationEvent, and
  • How to remove the AnimationEvent

How do I assign a function name to the AnimationEvent?

You can use an animation event to trigger a function from your animation timeline. This is an easy way to add interactive events to your game. You need to specify a function name for the AnimationEvent to trigger.

  1. Open your Animation tab (Window > Animation > Animation).
  2. Click on the blue pointer at the top of the timeline.
  3. In your inspector, click the “No Function Selected” dropdown.
  4. Pick a function from the options.

How do I remove the AnimationEvent?

Like me, you probably created the AnimationEvent by accident. It’s easy to remove the AnimationEvent.

  1. Open your Animation tab (Window > Animation > Animation)
  2. Right-click on the white pointer at the top of the timeline in the row above
  3. Click “Delete Animation Event.”

How do I create a new AnimationEvent?

You can create a new animation event in your Animation window. You can add as many events as you like. Here’s how to add an animation event.

  1. Open your Animation tab (Window > Animation > Animation)
  2. In the top left, click the Event button

The function can have either zero or one parameter. The function should return void.

What else do I need to know?

That’s pretty much it. AnimationEvents are a nifty way to tie animations to functions. If you create an AnimationEvent and don’t tie a function to it, Unity will complain. To fix it, either remove the AnimationEvent or assign a function to it.

Free download: Indie Game Marketing Checklist

Download now

Category

unity basics

Don't forget to share this post!

Free Indie Game Marketing Checklist

Learn how to make your game successful with this handy checklist.

Download for free