Tech Art - Week06 - Game Animation

 

Bake Maya Animation and Import into UE

First, bake the keyed animation in Maya and export it as an FBX.

Then import the character FBX into UE (do not import animations yet).

After that, import the animation FBX (Import Animation Only) and select the previously imported character’s Skeleton.

Set Up the IK Rig

Create an IK Rig. Open it and set the Skeletal Mesh to the character you just imported.

Create Leg IK

Create two Limb IK nodes and one Set Transform node.

Create IK Goals at the key positions.

Connect each Goal to its corresponding bone.

Set the Start Bone on each Limb IK (i.e., the starting bone for the IK chain).

For easier tweaking, adjust the IK controller size.

Tip: When testing IK, click Reset to return the character to its original pose.

Download Mixamo Character and Animations

Go to Mixamo (https://www.mixamo.com/) and download a Character.

Import it into UE.

Return to Mixamo, pick the animation(s) you want, and download them.

Import with the same settings and select the appropriate Skeleton.

After confirming the animation imported correctly, set up an IK Rig for it in the same way.

IK Retargeting

Because we want to swap animations between characters, create an IK Retargeter.

In the IK Retargeter, choose the source/target skeletal meshes for retargeting.

Go back to the IK Rig and create IK Chains so the IK Retargeter can identify your bones.

Use the default settings to let the IK Retargeter auto-detect your rig.

Adjust Root Motion and Pelvis Motion to match root-bone animation requirements.

Preview the results and then export.

Use the same method to retarget your custom animations onto the Mixamo character.

Final Result