Creating the AnimationController asset

The AnimationController asset is a type of asset within Unity that handles states and transitions. It is, in essence, an FSM, but it also does much more. We'll focus on the FSM portion of its functionality. An animator controller can be created from the Assets menu, as shown in the following image:

Once you create the animator controller, it will pop up in your project assets folder, ready to be named. We'll name it TankFsm. When you select the animator controller, unlike most other asset types, the hierarchy is blank. That is because animation controllers use their own window. You can simply click on Open in the hierarchy to open up the Animator window, or open it in the Window menu, as you can see in the following screenshot:

Be sure to select Animator and not Animation as these are two different windows and features entirely.

Let's familiarize ourselves with this window before moving forward.