I’m having issues with figuring out how to animate with control rig and I’m having multiple issues. I’m a new user, and I’m using UE5 EA. I have built a rig with a preview skeletal mesh. The rig moves the character fine within the Control Rig editor.
If I pull that control rig into Sequencer, I can animate the same skeletal mesh…but if I try to export the animation (render), it reverts back to its initial pose and I cry.
The skeletal mesh also has multiple grooms (hair, eyebrows). And I can attach those to the skeletal mesh, but when I export (render) the sequence, they detach and I cry.
So I made a character blueprint (skeletal mesh actor) and attached the grooms and it looks great. If I plug a canned animation into the blueprint, it will play in sequencer and looks great…but I need to be able to animate the character (keyframe) in sequencer and export the animation so I don’t cry.
So I added the control rig to the character blueprint as a component. Now, I can pull the blueprint character into sequencer, and the grooms are attached…and the control rig is visible and I can animate it, but it doesn’t move the character…and I cry.
So somewhere in all of this mess there has to be a solution where I can add my character (Skeletal Mesh, Blueprint, or Control Rig) to Sequencer and animate him, and then render and export the animation. I just can’t figure that part out. Help!
Welcome to the Unreal Engine community! I’m so sorry to see that you are having multiple issues with your project. Have you tried any of the UE5 Tutorials? Here is one regarding Control Rig and Animating in Sequencer: Control Rig in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.0 Documentation
If you are beyond the information offered in the tutorial, I do want you to know that we deeply appreciate you posting your issues here - as other members may be experiencing the same issues you are. Please let us know if the tutorial assisted you or not, and perhaps others with a higher level of expertise can help figure this out.
Hey, thanks! I did look through that exact set of documentation, and watched several tutorial videos and asked a lot of questions in places like this. Still, it’s broken. I ended up going back to UE4.27 and copying as much of the control rig there as I could, and then rebuilding. I have none of the same issues in 4.27. I do have some new and different issues in 4.27, but I can at least bring in my character with grooms and animate his rig in sequencer. I’d love a mentor for cinematics in UE4. That would really help out a lot.
You’re most welcome! I’m sorry to learn that your rig continued to be broken, but happy that you were able to figure out a workaround so that your character remains in tact. Even though the documentation and some tutorials may not address your exact issue, there are Unreal Online Learning Courses to consider for gaining even more knowledge.
If you peruse the forums a lot, there are a handful of members offering expert-level advice to others. We are one big, happy family of like-minded individuals - creators and builders, dreamers and innovators. I feel that our forums are a great place to start in seeking out individuals to network with. I wish you the best of luck and success with your project. I hope to see your work some time in the near future in our Work in Progress or Released Projects forums! Have the most amazing weekend, demonauthor!
This is driving me crazy. In Unreal 5, I cant edit an animation with Control Rig. As soon as I remove the Control Rig - the animation plays fine. When I add a control rig - the animation doesnt play at all. See attached image.
Can anyone please advice how to edit an animation sequence with control rig?
I’m so sorry to see that you are having multiple issues with your project. Have you tried any of the UE5 Tutorials? Here is one regarding Control Rig and Animating in Sequencer: 
