I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to do something. I want to be able to apply bvh mocap data files to metahuman characters (both playable and NPC’s), but I’m flummoxed about how to do it.
Searches here produced the following seemingly related links:
I’m not sure how to get my bvh mocap data into the required formats for each of these processes - how is that done? It seems like I need a 3d program to map the bvh skeleton/animation to a character mesh in some sort of 3d package first then exporting a fbx file to UE5 - is that true? I’ve got access to Blender, Poser Pro, and Daz 3D as options. It also seems like maybe Mixamo might be helpful, but I’m not sure how.
Links to any resources would be helpful (documentaion, videos, tutorials). Some of the tutorials I’ve seen on youtube require downloading magically mapped characters from sketchy sites, or using a paid plugin, and I’d rather not do either of those. I’d also like to avoid having to manually remap the bones in the IK skeleton each time I load a new animation based on the same bvh skeleton (if possible do it only the first time).
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated save my Dr. having to up my BP meds…
you need to convert the bvh to fbx
if you have several anims for the same skel
load each anim in and save it to an NLA action strip
when you export the fbx
it will come into UE with any anims that have been pushed down to nla’s inside it as well as shape keys.
no.
but it would be wise to use a test mesh
I highly suggest mb labs
it is included in blender
if the bvh is humanoid
mb labs character models will directly import bvh
then you make nla strips then export to ue as fbx
I have done it many times
mb labs addon works with sfu and carnegie bvh sets
I tried to get imports from Poser and Daz3d working , but without luck. In Blender, I didn’t have to use the NLA functionality since my test only had one animation. There were still issues trying to upload without a mesh, so I finally figured out (mostly) how to add a mesh, and was finally to successfully upload that animated character into UE5 successfully and add it to my scene. Unfortunately, I had a crash of UE5, and now the editor window only shows my scene as all black. I’ve got another post here to see if I can get some help too. Hopefully I’ll be able to fix that and see if the uploaded mocapped character will work to retarget to my metahuman.