Import Metahuman to Maya from Bridge, head and body disconnected when exporting to FBX from Unreal

[Hype_Ldbg]

Hi guys!

I am importing a Metahuman into Maya via Quixel Bridge.
By default Metahumans wear flip flops, if you remove them the character floats a bit in the air.

After modifying the rig, I export to FBX and import into Unreal.
Everything works fine in BP_Metahuman (right on screenshot), when using the new FBX.
But when dropping body mesh (f_tal_nrw_body) and head (Lexi_FaceMesh) into the world (left on screenshot), you can already see the issue. There is a mismatch in Z by exactly the height of the flip flops.
I guess the Metahuman BP has some functionality which automatically fixes this?

Now I need BP_Metahuman as an avatar for cloth sim.
But it exports exactly like the you see in the screenshot.

That’s how it looks in Maya if I import the exported FBX’ from Unreal, same mismatch:

The root of the skeleton is below the floor and the head inside the body.

How do you fix this?

[YetiTech_Studios]

Reposition your skeleton mesh properly and then use the Move Skinned Joints tool to move the root bone to 0 0 0.

[Hype_Ldbg]

Thanks for your reply!
This looks good in Maya, but the issue in Unreal persists, the feet are still floating.

I’m not experienced enough in Maya to check it there.

If I open the exported FBX in Blender it looks good in object mode:

But in edit mode the feet jump up:

And when posing they jump down again.

Is there anything else I’d have to do in Maya?

[YetiTech_Studios]

Check your frames are not keyed but its better you learn the basics of rigging/animation before attempting to fix your issue.

[Hype_Ldbg]

For anyone reading this in the future, the solution is very easy…
Just move pelvis_drv down and export, done.

The problem I had with it still not working in Unreal was that I was using the “Import…” button to overwrite an existing skeletal mesh with a new one from FBX.
I guess something is ignored when doing that.
I had to delete the old skeletal mesh and import from scratch.