Extract animation key frames using Match Pose feature of Uefy 2.1 in Blender

[@RakizFarooq]

UPDATE: I made a post on how the Match Pose feature works, what it's limitations are and how to work around them. Please be sure to check: www.rakiz.com/using-match-pose-feature-in-uefy-2-1/

[@ARMORHOUS3weplay]

This is incredible! However, I think it would be nice to create a video for shoulder pads, capes, and extra armor pieces that aren't described in detail here. This way we can follow along in the future more easily. Thank you for sharing the work flow here.

[@RakizFarooq]

Adding should pads etc in Uefy 2.1 is super easy. A character based tutorial for that is planned but you can follow kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWOmg2yQrcekZsU with "Epic Skeleton" mode and get the same result. It is even easier now that 'Preprocess' functionality has been automated away and you can go direct to 'Build Skeleton'

[@ARMORHOUS3weplay]

@@RakizFarooq I will definitely check this out. I love the new Uefy 2.1 keep up the great work!

[@ccm4210]

Hi. Thanks for the great content. I have a question on what would be the correct process of creating and exporting custom animations from Blender to UE4, which will be compatible with the UE4 mannequin. Creating animations work well until I change the armature bone rolls to match with the UE4 mannequin, then the character moves back to default pose and the animations get messed up. Any ideas on how to overcome this issue? might be that I have missed some tutorials on this topic

[@RakizFarooq]

I prefer not to use Unreal armature bone rolls on the characters I export with Uefy 2. That means I can simply create an animation in Blender and it can be exported to unreal and just work. Once that animation is in Unreal and working with the blender based bone roll character, it can be retargeted using unreal editor's tool to the original UE4 mannequin with ue rolls if that is what you want to do.

[@ccm4210]

Thanks for quick reply! The reason I am using the Unreal armature rolls options is that I need it to be compatible with ALS (Advanced Locomotion System). If I understood correctly then this is the only way for that. I followed your this tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4PLdXeYipWtmqc&ab_channel=RakizFarooq. Please correct me if I am wrong. In case I understood it wrong (which I am pretty sure I did :D), in which case would you use exporting with UE bone rolls?

[@gabrielstones6890]

I'm struggling with this, seems to only match the pelvis, but weirdly if I leave IK on I get the spine and head and the fingers matching... Can't quite figure out how to troubleshoot it

[@RakizFarooq]

This function is outdated and currently it is built only for UE4 mannequin. Newer versions of rigify have also changed the names of some of the controllers. For example 'toe.L' is now called 'toe_fk.L' additionally there are now more twist bones that are not accounted for in the UE5 skeleton. For now you can try editing 'uefy_anim_Custom.json' in scripting panel after running scan to see which bones should match with which controls to force it work. But this tool requires an upgrade. I'll try to work it into the next release.

[@gabrielstones6890]

@@RakizFarooq thanks for your reply that's really helpful, I'm using the ue4 skeleton. Will have a look at the JSON tomorrow.

[@RakizFarooq]

Rig your character in Blender, export it to unreal, retarget animation on that character and then bring those retargeted animations back to Blender. This function doesn't account for changes in character height/scale etc. So make sure the imported animations are made for that character.

[@gabrielstones6890]

@@RakizFarooq Thanks for your reply, I managed to get it working! the toe/ball names were wrong. I am using the UE4 hierarchy I meant. My character is rigged in blender following your workflow. Thanks!

[@jpm23]

Hi Rakiz, would it be possible for you to make a tutorial on how to rig a fully modular character? It’d be greatly appreciated, I’m having some trouble myself

[@RakizFarooq]

There are many ways to rig a modular character, each has it's pros and cons. How it will be handled on the engine side will decide what kind of rig you need in blender. I think probably the easiest would be to rig a regular character. Then export it multiple times with only partial mesh like head, torso, legs etc. Then you should be able to use Master Pose Component in the engine to reassemble the character. There are other ways too where the pieces can be completely independent with no shared skeleton. It depends on what you are optimizing for.

[@jpm23]

Rakiz Farooq of course.. thank you Rakiz, you’re the man!

[@sanketvaria9734]

After matching the pose my mesh (UE5 manny) is heavily distorted. The rig is in position but not the mesh.

[@RakizFarooq]

Match pose functionality is built around the ue4 mannequin. You are better off pose matching using the new tools in UE5 editor itself if you are working with manny89.

[@sanketvaria9734]

@@RakizFarooq do you have a tutorial for it and manny89? What I am trying to do is just use UE4 animation, edit it and retarget it on UE5 character.

[@RakizFarooq]

No there isn't. The addon is geared towards rigging the character and creating new animation in Blender. You can get some support for posing the character to an existing animation with the Pose Match feature but this function is now quite old and not a focus of active development at this time for UE5.

[@mathewo07]

I’m getting spine_01 not found?

[@Ambear1337]

How can I make my character move if it converted to UE4 rig???

[@tiffanywellis3099]

Hi. Does this transfer the facial rig from mixamo to ue4 skeleton too? I really need facial rigging. Thanks

[@RakizFarooq]

No .. you can use rigify's facial rig as shown in kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3u4iH2ud9-Kabs . But you will need to delete any shapekeys before rigging the character. It is possible to copy back the shapekeys afterwards but it is not an easy process.

[@mathewo07]

I keep getting spine_01 is not found

[@nanas9105]

The imported FBX Animations Feet are weird. If I use the Multi Frame Tool on my Character, the feet look a bit weird and not the same as the Animation in Unreal. They do not roll in the same way.

[@RakizFarooq]

The addon is not aware of foot bones or how they roll. It is not a retargeting system. What you can do is use the control file to select whether you want to copy location/rotations from the animation curves or determine them from the rigify controls. Usually this is enough but there is a lot of manual tweaking involved and result can vary between armatures and animations. The purpose here is get as close as possible to a pose with as little work as possible then use manual controls to fix whatever needs updating.

[@nanas9105]

@@RakizFarooq thanks for replying. In ue4 the whole feet of the character are touching the ground. When the animation is imported to blender and assigned to the mesh, the character is walking on tiptoes. Can't figure out why this happens

[@RakizFarooq]

Use the control file to turn off rotation and/or location on all foot related bones. Try different combination to see if any of them work. Otherwise you'd need to set the pose on the feet manually.

[@nanas9105]

​@@RakizFarooq think I kinda solved it. The problem was on the imported animation rig. The foot bone was not connected to the toe bone and the IK foot bone also isn't constrained to the other Bones. Did I do something wrong in the import process? (the characters feet also look squeezed) Actually I did everything like in your tutorial :)

[@RakizFarooq]

Blender may orient some bones on axis that doesn't suit us depending on it's interpretation of FBX. You can pick import options to control this to an extent but at times you may have to update some bones. For example in kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGm4l4tsZ7iff5I around 7 min 45 sec onward I fix the arm bones. In this case you have side stepped the issue by changing the import bone orientation. But the tool provided by the addon is the control file as mentioned above or manual update if it doesn't work out.

[@TanNguyen-tu3fe]

please make tutorial with your own character ( mesh only ) and animate it from a-z

[@Akishaqs]

Rakiz I bought the script a while ago, how do I get the update?

[@RakizFarooq]

Use the same emailed download link you used last time. It will give you the latest version. Send a reply to the email if there is a problem and I'll sort it out.

[@prophetdenis8413]

this doesnt work

[@mathewo07]

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[@mathewo07]

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