My next project is gonna be a 2D game, and I want to use UE4 to build it.
But when I dug in, I found that the 2D skeleton is not supported.
So I came up with a solution that works well, and I want to share with the community.
Let’s look at the final result first.
Firstly, prepare your sprites.
In my case, I’ve prepared 2 pieces of sprite just for testing.
I grabbed mine from google.
I’ll skip some details for 3DSMAX because this is not a 3DSMAX tutorial.I assume you are familiar with 3DSMAX or the tools you use for building the 2D skeleton.
A body.
And an arm.
I’m using 3DSMAX for building the 2D skeleton, but the same method should apply to any other 3D modeling software.
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Create a new scene and change to Front with by pressing F key.
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Place a plane with the size of your sprite, in my case, I’m building Body so I set my plane size to 38x112.
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Set material for your plane.
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Draw outline.
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Select your line and go to modify panel, select bevel from the modify list.
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Apply material, adjust UV mapping.
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Convert your model to the editable poly by clicking right mouse button.
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Enter edge mode and add lines carefully to those place that need to be bent. In my case, I only added some lines in the neck and the hip.
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Create your bone chain.
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After you skinned your model like a regular 3D model, you should have your body ready.
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Now do the same process to the arm without skinning, then place arm behind your body.
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skin your arm using the bones previously created. Only skin with the bone that controls the arm.Now you’re ready for some animation.
- Export to UE4.
- Edit material for both body and arm.
Now you have a 2D skeleton sprite. You can use it just like a regular 3D skeleton model, add animation BP or something else.
I admit this is kind of awkward way but at least it works well:)
Here is the final result.
If any of you got any question, just ask.