Hello. Is it possible to replace our default characters with a custom skeletal mesh built in Maya? I saw a good video on how to do this with verse code and it works good except at the very end it’s shown how the character movement is jittery and not smooth. That video is 2 years old so I was thinking this was resolved by now?
I tried TelleportTo and MoveTo in verse on an animated mesh device but both jitter too much for use.
Hi @MaderMax,
Yes, it’s possible to replace our UEFN characters with a custom skeletal mesh.
What UEFN doesn’t currently allow is replacing the playable character in Fortnite’s public mode (this is restricted by Epic for cosmetic and security reasons), but you can use your custom mesh in private experiences, as NPCs, or as actors controlled via Verse.
So, once you import your skeletal mesh , you’ll need to use IK Rig and IK Retargeter to adapt the standard Fortnite skeleton animations to your custom skeleton.
Here’s the official Epic documentation where everything is explained step-by-step, along with some videos that might be useful as a guide
Documentation
Video Tutorials
As for movement: if you use TeleportTo or MoveTo directly in Verse on an Animated Mesh Device, the result tends to be jittery and still isn’t fully resolved. It’s not ideal for precise or smooth motion.
What I recommend is using Control Rig together with Verse, and moving the character by interpolating values frame by frame. That way, you get a much smoother and more natural movement. As you can see in the following documentation and a video tutorial.
Hope it helps and good luck!!!
" As for movement: if you use TeleportTo or MoveTo directly in Verse on an Animated Mesh Device, the result tends to be jittery and still isn’t fully resolved. It’s not ideal for precise or smooth motion."
Thanks for the response. Dang, been two years since this was an issue and figured it would have been resolved by now.
I was hoping to make some big characters that could replace the default small player characters in a custom experience but perhaps that functionality isn’t available yet. I’ll take a look at those videos you posted and see if I can come up with something. Thanks again for the help.
It is possible to make custom player characters with smooth movement. You have to use MoveTo() for moving a prop that has a control rig setup for smoothly moving a skeletal mesh. Then you also need to setup input for triggering animations on the skeletal mesh, or use another control rig for procedural animations.