Animating Fighter style 3D hitboxes: ¿Current methods?

I’m trying to figure out ways to set up, either per-frame or animated, collision boxes, corresponding to animated attacks (or hazards) that play for a certain time when executed, like a sword slash or a non-projectile continuous laser beam for instance.

Except, I won’t have a 3D model where I can attach hitboxes to its bodyparts. The hitboxes will be 3D however.

Link to example pic with 2D hitboxes.

The problem I have is how can I “set them up” to be reproduced when executed. I’ve found several interesting ways but each of them has its own limitations:

  • Matinee can animate actors in a way
    that seems pretty practical, but, it
    can only animate already spawned
    actors, and not unspawned blueprint
    actors as far as I know. I don’t know
    if it can animate components locally
    since I haven’t found a way yet. This
    means that I cannot easily replicate
    the attack/skill itself.

    If I could find a way to both
    replicate (instancing or applying
    animations) and apply in local
    coordinates animated hitboxes then
    that would be pretty much what I
    need.

  • You can also move them through
    code/blueprints, but this requires
    one of two things: Either you do it
    by code using a mathematical formula (like a moving projectile,
    which I already did) or you have some
    sort of way to “read” frame data as
    in hitbox location, size and
    orientation per frame
    . Click for visual
    example.

    The main problem with this second one is that writing
    location/size/orientation vectors in
    a txt and then reading them each
    frame isn’t very intuitive and I
    would prefer to find a more visual
    way to do this, even if I have to do
    it frame by frame. This is currently
    my biggest concern.

Some interesting features that I would like to have or implement later if needed would be the ability to play, stop, resume, reverse, change speed of the animation, and change the animation’s starting point. Matinee has them but with the limitations I mentioned before.

Any help and/or orientation concerning this topic would be appreciated. Also, if I need to do anything through code instead of blueprints, that won’t be a major concern. I can deal with both. Finally, feel free to request any information or clarification I can provide you with.

Thank you very much in advance.

Hey, so what did you end up settling on for this? Just curious on how people approach hit boxes for fighting games in particular.