Hello,
I have 2 separate animation systems in my project. One for unarmed animations, the other when my character carries a weapon. Everything is blueprint and my animgraphs use different skeletons. I would like to merge the two but I do not know how to do it. Indeed I have problems when I want to retarget animations from one skeleton to another. Does anyone have an idea for me?
You cannot merge skeletons (or anim blueprints because they are bound to skeletons). Animation data is bound to the skeleton as well but you can retarget the animations to another skeleton.
First you need to make sure both skeletons are using the same retarget rig, and are in the same base pose. There is a built in “Humanoid” rig already made that you can use, or you can setup your own by right clicking a skeleton → create → rig. (If you have a different bone hierarchy then the ue4 mannequin.)
To assign a rig, open both skeletons → window → retarget manager. You will see a place to select a rig. Select your rig for both skeletons and click “AutoMap” then ,make sure all the source and target bone match up. (It’s okay if some targets are empty, or named differently as long as they represent the same bone). This is also the place to make sure the base poses are the same. (By default they should be). At the bottom of the retarget manager you will see two buttons to view and modify the base pose. Save everything.
Now you need to right click on a skeleton and click retarget to another skeleton. Because both skeletons have the same rig, you should see the option to select the mannequin skeleton. This will make all the animation assets work with the other skeleton.
(These poses could match a little bit better by adjusting the mannequin skeletons shoulders rotation so his arms are closer into his body, then setting his new base pose inside the retarget managers → modify pose → use current pose.) If your base poses are to different then the animation data will not transfer over cleanly and you will have some weird distorted animations.
Thank you i tried and it works great!
Thank you i tried and it works great!
You are welcome! I’m glad I could help. Could you please mark my solution as a correct answer (green check mark to top left of my comment) so that others with a similar issue can easily find the answer as well? Thank you!