Animation State Machine and Animation Mixing

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

When using the Stride game engine, I find it challenging to manage and blend complex character animations effectively. I'm always frustrated when I can't achieve smooth animation transitions and state switches.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would like Stride game engine to introduce a feature for animation blending and animation state machines. This would allow me to create more intricate animation logic, including smooth transitions between various states (like walking, running, jumping, etc.) and seamless switching among these states. What I'm envisioning is a clear and user-friendly interface where I can define these states and transitions and how they blend together.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I've considered managing animation states and transitions directly through code, but it's tedious and prone to errors. An in-built tool for animation blending and state machines would alleviate this burden significantly.

Additional context

This feature would enhance the user experience of the Stride game engine, enabling more developers to craft more complex and lively animation effects.

To address the provided guiding questions:

• Use cases: The creation and management of game character animation states and transitions.
• Expected options/settings: There should be options to define various animation states, set transitions between states, and blend different animations.
• Pseudo code: None, as this should be a graphical interface.
• Does the feature affect behaviour in the editor? Yes, a new interface or panel should be added in the editor for managing the animation blending and state machines.
• Is there a component or data structure? None, but new user interface elements are needed.
• Documentation: The user manual should include instructions on how to use this new feature.
• Should there be an example project? Yes, an example project demonstrating the use of this new feature for animation blending and state machines would be beneficial.