Extend, Combine and Edit Animations from Mixamo in Blender using the Mixamo Blender Rig Plugin

ATTENTION! THERE IS AN UPDATE TO THE VIDEO: The Mixamo Rig Plugin DOES NOT WORK with Blender 4.0 and above. I have a new tutorial that provides a fix, found here: • Video
Hello friends. This is a comprehensive tutorial covering a lot of ground regarding the use of the Mixamo Blender Rig Plugin for Blender 3.9 and earlier.
The Plugin can be downloaded here:
substance3d.adobe.com/plugins...
Music info:
Void Edge - Lesion X / lesionxbeats​
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Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/al-void-edge​
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animaza.com

[@chimdiokwamma6334]

Thank you so much... I've really needed this tutorial... You deserve all the subscribers....I hope your channel grows so big . Thank you

[@stephinroy3816]

I had been looking for this for so long!! This cleared a lot of doubts I had. Thank you!!

[@flonkplonk1649]

What a hell of an important tutorial! Exactly what i was looking for so long... 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😊

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JonnyRecaps]

Great tutorial. Very clear and straightforward.

[@taffboyslim]

This is exactly what I was looking for. I have just started using Blender and need to animate a character carrying a large object, then pointing it into a room. Looking forward to trying this tomorrow

[@AnimazaStudios]

Excellent

[@ihassan1001]

This saved me so much time and you made it super easy to understand. Thank you!

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it helped!

[@GloryVictor]

Wow thanks for this tutorial.. I followed others tutorials and got lost at some point. But this is golden... Thank you very much....

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it helped!

[@jc3777]

You answered what ChatGPT, blender docs and many other KZbin videos couldn’t. Thank you!

[@AnimazaStudios]

lol thanks. Happy to help.

[@bobdobs8855]

Excellent! Thank you👌

[@snowmanplan]

Everything you said worked, thanks for making this

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it helped

[@SajeelYousafzai]

that was amazing

[@qadirqureshi7805]

Thanks alot i am searching this tutorial from long time

[@AnimazaStudios]

You are most welcome

[@feliperibeirosilva900]

great tutorial

[@AnimazaStudios]

Thanks!

[@tufanaydin6340]

You saved my life thanks

[@Max_Cypher]

Excellent tutorial....you just leveled me up! ... but curious why no IKs?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. This is just a basic tutorial to get everyone going quickly. To include IKs would be a more advanced tutorial. I might include IKs in a future video.

[@Max_Cypher]

Gotcha... it may not work, I just tried it with an IK model... while I can adjust the Z origin by keyframing the CTRL_Master your auto key method does not work... it inserts keys but does not interpolate them into the existing animation... probably because the auto key is writing onto a new pushdown track instead of the added action strip which has the interpolation controls.@@AnimazaStudios ...EDIT : Update : I got it to work(ish)... in the NLA editor, after adding the new action strip, click on the new push down action AND the new NLA strip and set them both to "Nothing/Combine" then in the new strip at frame 0 and the very last frame, set a key frame... after doing that it started working OK... there is still something off with the interpolation though. Otherwise the model was doing very weird stuff...

[@AnimazaStudios]

Thank you for sharing your solution. I believe it is a bug in Blender. I am sure they will get it working eventually. In the meantime there is a plug in for Blender called Animation Layers that many users have said produces excellent results. You have to pay, but if you are using Blender in a professional environment it might be worth purchasing.

[@Max_Cypher]

Many thanks for that suggestion! :)@@AnimazaStudios

[@TalhaNiaz-mt1bp]

@@AnimazaStudios please upload a video with including IKs, please

[@enigmatic_e]

Thank you for this!

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it was helpful!

[@henryying3258]

Thanks really helpful.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it was helpful!

[@diegomartinezbaquero136]

Thanks boss!!!! ❤

[@pansitostyle]

this is a hell when you want to turn your character to another side, however for mixamo animatoins i'd recommend using the skeleton, for manual animations use the IK/FK.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Yes that is certainly an option.

[@nithishpb9070]

u tha hero u tha hero

[@ih4269]

This is excellent. I am having a problem when I try to add the action strip at 4:19. I have the armature skeleton selected, I'm in pose mode as soon as I click action the character explodes to hundreds of times the size and the armatures stays put. I have to control Z 3-4 times to return it to size. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Make sure the right bone is selected to select all the bones and is done so in the proper order. If something is off it could create problems. Also you can try to bake the bones before running the process. Select the bone of the character and hit Ctrl-a. Then select All Transforms to bake in the animation, then run the blender rig conversion followed by the rest of the process.

[@nickfai9301]

Thanks for sharing this knowledge. In time stamp 3:06 you have created a line for Z location. Is it possible to edit the line's gradient so the movement of the character become slower?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. The best way to slow down the movement is to select all the character and extend all the keyframes before you follow the tutorial. That way the speed is baked in.

[@nickfai9301]

@@AnimazaStudios Thank you.

[@cemilsaintson3688]

Nice video but i have one questions. For example, I want his neck to look to the right throughout the entire animation. Can I have all keys approved at once?

[@AnimazaStudios]

After you exit out of the NLA track and back to the timeline, you will be able to make the head adjustment by setting just one keyframe and the head will remain in the position you set throughout the animation.

[@THEDEVBOIS]

holy fuck so guess what i just figured out. you can copy and paste an edited mesh using NLA. i just had a break through after 12 hrs of trying to figure it out. when you create the new action make sure you select the tab then go back to timeline and edit the mesh how ever you want now the first keyframes itll be a long ass line copy that first set of lines and go back into NLA and select the tab that says Armature Actions thats the tab that holds your old edit then once you selected that tab go back into time line. aight so now go line by line and paste the new edited action into the old one YES you can delete the old keyframes and the animation will still play with the new inserted keyframes🙏🏾 small edit i did this because it helped with the twisting of the mesh the wrist was twisted and weight paint as well as bendy bones wasn’t helping so this solution is like another alternative to applying a different position.

[@AnimazaStudios]

lol excellent thank you for sharing the solution. Much appreciated.

[@fauzannrifai]

How do you export the finished animation? I got a ton of unused bones when I exported the mesh and animation as FBX, I found this by importing the FBX to Blender again. Does anyone have the same problem as me?

[@AnimazaStudios]

I have the same problem as you. I have yet to find a solution but what is common in all 3d software is that once a character is rigged it is very hard to export it without the rig breaking when importing it.

[@MW.1803]

Hello that was a great tutorial! How can i change the underlying animation after i used non linear animation? i need more frames between two animations i already merged into an action strip :(

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. I think the best way to do it is to change the underlying animation before using the nonlinear animation. A lot if people here on the channel have reported success with Animation Layers. That is a paid plugin that allows you to stack animations. It might be of value to you to check it out.

[@HATERFREENATIONSQUAD]

hi im following step by step and at around 7:20 is my issue im doing a simple walk and stop walk to an idle animation but when i do that part it just continues to snap back to the location please help

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Yes that is a tricky part. Make sure when you move the curve that it is at the proper angle and distance. You might have to experiment to get good results.

[@frankfenriz]

such a great tutorial, and so much more easy, than the other i have seen, - very good and simpel- Thanks alot. Though a qustion : when i get to the adjustment, with the 2 NLA editor layers, and i adjust, a leg tex, then the leg is totally bound to this adjustment, the rest of the animation, and my whole animation then dont work. What am i doing wrong? It seems like i following along to your tutorial, and using auto keying, and does it exatelly as you, - but i cant make it work. Do you have any advice? regards Frank Fenriz DK

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Make sure it's in pose mode. To get to pose mode, click on top where it says object mode to pose mode, then make the changes. Hope this helps.

[@frankfenriz]

@@AnimazaStudios Thanks for trhe advice - but i was in posemode ( i dont thinks its possibil to adjust the bones otherwies) - so this wasnt the problem. It seems that my adjustment is affecting the whole animation, Is there some place where i should un link or something? i did work in the top 2. layer as in your tutorial, What do you think is the problem ?

[@AnimazaStudios]

@@frankfenriz Try selecting the bones in the scene collection instead. It's possible they are grouped together in pose mode.

[@MathewHills1]

Straight and very easy to understand. Thank you so much Subscribe forever great help

[@AnimazaStudios]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[@MM-od9gr]

i already pushed down and created the rig but i have the ik on when i move the hips the arms dont come with it, is it bc of that? im editing in NLA and edit the stashed actions

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Try creating additional animations on the main timeline itself and not using the NLA. The NLA in this case is being used to only combine the base animations from Mixamo.

[@MM-od9gr]

yes, i know. i created a control rig using the mixamo addon and have existing animations from thema and adding mine . but sometimes the location from them starting is different and im trying to fit this with adding keyframes in a new action and then pushing down the action and using it to add in the layeres. its more i have to do it manually with the hands hips and feet, but in some videos i saw u could do it only with the hips but that doesnt work with mine.. @@AnimazaStudios

[@AnimazaStudios]

For complex animations, I would break them down into separate animations to make them easier to animate, then export each as an fbx. Then re-import each fbx and combine them together for the final animation. Once they are combined, then apply it to the rig. Its a roundabout process, but it could work.

[@appuzzzappuzzz7601]

bro can you help plzz. when i add an action strip and after adding another changes to my rig as you shown .it avoids the mixamo animations and takes the change ive made and it twist the character and jitters

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. It might be a corrupted version of blender. Install the latest version of blender with no plugins. Also only use mixamo characters for the process. The bones are perfectly set for those characters. See if this works.

[@appuzzzappuzzz7601]

@@AnimazaStudios OH IS IT

[@MaroondahJazzJammers]

Things seem to have changed a bit in Blender 3.6. The instructions given in this video no longer seem to work from about 2:50 onwards. I tried this several times and my character just breaks up when multi-cycled animation is applied

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. You are correct in that Blender 4.0 changed a few things. For Blender 4.0, instead of Add then Add Action Strip, go to Add and click Add Track. Then go back to the timeline menu and add your additional animation. Let me know if this works.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. I created a new tutorial updated to Blender 4.0 that might assist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ3IkH5shaiamacsi=pYAWkszr-baXam2o

[@AngelAceX1]

Hello! I have a problem when trying to import the .fbx into blender. It does not show as a proper mannequin. Instead, it's all jumbled up/ spread out into parts. Is there a way to make it look like the video?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Some models from mixamo do not properly import. Try setting the model in T-pose in mixamo, import into blender, then export back into mixamo and apply the animation.

[@AngelAceX1]

Thank you for Replying!@@AnimazaStudios I seem to be stuck just importing the .fbx file in general. Importing the mannequine in T pose shows the skeleton in tact but the mesh surrounding it into a mess. :c

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. When you click download from mixamo, try exporting as a dae or fbx for unity, then import into blender.

[@manatharana]

Thank you sir

[@joe_fabricator]

Great tutorial :-). I'm trying this but on a character that the animation is climbing a ladder. He only climbs 3 steps and then goes back to the start point. Guessing it's not the Z that I make cyclic?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. I made a tutorial of a character going up stairs that might help, found here:kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn7MnZRoobmtiNE

[@joe_fabricator]

@@AnimazaStudios Thanks for the reply. I will definitely check it out. Cheers 🙂

[@AnimazaStudios]

@@joe_fabricator Good luck :)

[@joe_fabricator]

@@AnimazaStudios Thank you....I'll probably need it lol

[@FilterDank]

How do I remove the extra bones that were added? My model now has 120 +

[@AnimazaStudios]

I would delete them in the scene collection window in the upper right. But I would caution that deleting the wrong bones can break the animation.

[@alex.artechtattoo]

Thanks a lot! SUB! I use the same pipe with combine in my work. Unfortunately there's an issue after the creation control rig with mixamo addon. When I export to glb, combined animation works but the animation of the control rig doesn't work at all. Fortunately, addon AutoRigPro helps with it. Anyway there're very useful things on your channel!

[@AnimazaStudios]

I think the issue is with the glb format. I would export the combined animation as a FBX to flatten the animation layers, then re-import it into Blender, then export it as a glb. But if the AutoRigPro plugin worked for you, then that is great too. Thank you for sharing your solution.

[@SachalSpeaks]

when I export the character with animation changes the character does not have those animation that I made changes what should I do for that?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. When you export as fbx from blender, make sure ‘Bake Animation’ in the export fbx settings is selected. You can find it when you go file, export fbx and the settings on the right appear. Scroll all the way down and it should be there.

[@SachalSpeaks]

@@AnimazaStudios I tried as per your steps but still did not get those changes that I have made in animation Just it shows mixamo animation but changes that I have done they can not be exported with fbx can you make a video for that please.

[@AnimazaStudios]

I believe what you need for this to work is a plugin called Animation Layers that can be downloaded from the blender store. This costs money, but it will allow you to bake the animation and export it as fbx.

[@kilo8945]

Is there any way to delete the controller made of 'create control rig'? Delete only controller, Leave the bone.

[@AnimazaStudios]

You can delete it from the scene collection menu on the right.

[@kilo8945]

@@AnimazaStudios I can right-click on Scene to delete the entire Amature, but cannot delete only Control Rig. Once create the Control Rig, cannot go back. I want to turn it on and off during rigging , but I think I need to find another way.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Rigs are tricky to work with becuase everything is interconnected. In your case you might have to use blender’s rig tools and doing it from scratch.

[@user-bl6to2pr6r]

My "click control rig" is disabled. What should I do? Please help

[@AnimazaStudios]

Use the plugin when Blender is in layout mode. If it doesn’t work, restore Blender to default settings and install the plug in again.

[@OkaSel]

Instead of walking in a straigt line my character walks downwards in a straight line, descending when the key frames end? :(

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Make sure the character imported correctly and the hip bone is selected in the right order in the graph editor.

[@abdulmugheeskhan5811]

I want to know how to increase walk cycle and combine 2nd animation i one rig I don’t need infinite walk cycle i just need 100frame of walk cycle please help!!!!!!!!!

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/joaviXpsebanrac

[@abdulmugheeskhan5811]

@@AnimazaStudios thank you

[@user-rq9bc3gu2z]

I need help please, whenever I move my character around, they just go back to the middle when i play the animation, please help, i would appreciate it

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Try this: click on the head bone, then click Object Properties, then click on Delta Transform and move the character using the Delta Transform properties

[@user-rq9bc3gu2z]

@@AnimazaStudios Oh God it works!!! Thank you so much, I have been trying to find a solution to this problem for two months, you are a life saver

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it worked :)

[@LeonardoAguiar3D]

Do you think this technique works well for changing/adding motion to parts like the head and arms only? If you want to change parts from the hips down (including the hips) the new keyframes of the top NLA layer will replace the original mixamo animation on the bottom layer and you get stuck with what you keyframed on the top NLA layer. The only way I have found to blend the two layers is by using the Animation Layers add-on which has the influence slider to control how much one layer influences the motion on the bottom layer. Has this been your experience also?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Thank you for sharing your process. So far I have only used the tutorial method for simple animations for crowds or when the character works in a straight line. I have not used the Animation Layers add-on because it is a paid plug-in. However others on this channel have remarked that the Animation Layers plug-in has worked very well for them. Definitely something to look at in the future.

[@k6nga]

when i export it doesnt save the changes i made :/

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. If fbx doesnt work, try gltf.

[@jannikf2504]

Please download the animations from mixamo as "in place". What good is this editing when my character keeps running off screen? Especially if you're using the animations for games. But other than that, his helps

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. The animation is to be used for films and not games. It is a short cut to add animation to characters that are difficult to animate by hand. It is also useful for adding motion to characters in the background of a scene.

[@jannikf2504]

I see, good to know. But it did help me with game animations, as well. so thanks

[@AnimazaStudios]

Glad it helped :)

[@Tonypec1974]

So we don't need animation layer addon

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. No addons needed.

[@ebelesaurus2]

would this work for rigify?

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. I don’t know but its worth a try.

[@keithpatience1233]

Is it possible to delete keys from mixamo animations too

[@AnimazaStudios]

Yes though it will affect the animation.

[@keithpatience1233]

@AnimazaStudios that's ok. I need a boxing animation that has a double punch I only want one punch

[@AnimazaStudios]

In that case, I would download the animation from mixamo, convert it to the mixamo rig, and delete the keyframes i don’t need

[@keithpatience1233]

Thanks I will try that

[@loveturkish_]

How to remove control rig after pose

[@AnimazaStudios]

I would export the character as an fbx and re-import it.

[@loveturkish_]

@@AnimazaStudios rig show again

[@AnimazaStudios]

@@loveturkish_ I believe once the rig is applied it can't be removed.

[@user-ye5pw6ss2u]

Have a problem to import archive bfx

[@user-ye5pw6ss2u]

Can u help me to import archive bfx

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. Unfortunately I don’t use bfx files to be able to assist.

[@user-lb9fq7gn8d]

Method for IK?

[@AnimazaStudios]

This is FK only. If you want to use IK, you create a new layer in the nonlinear editor and use IK on that layer.

[@user-lb9fq7gn8d]

@@AnimazaStudios thanks a lot, do you have a video or is there an video out there that can demonstrate that? I love your method but FK does not allow an extended animation to be used with a mixamo control rig.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Hello. I dont have another video that demonstrates what you are looking for, but it sounds like your best option is to download the mixamo character and apply a blender rig to it. Once done you can add mixamo animation later.

[@Twenty337337]

doesnt work

[@Twenty337337]

theres a certain patch for blender 4.0

[@AnimazaStudios]

Try previous versions of Blender before 4.0. Also tutorial to make it work for Blender 4.0 coming soon.

[@AnimazaStudios]

Here is a new tutorial that works with Blender versions 4.0/4.1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipTGY4ylZ9GqatUsi=LNJAzw11Z7xRL2Rb

[@FiresAndFoxes]

@@AnimazaStudios might want to update the description of the video it was a little too hard to find this update

[@AnimazaStudios]

@@FiresAndFoxes Thanks for the suggestion. It's been updated.