I have created a few actions in Blender and I’m trying to export them to Unreal. The problem is the zero frame in Unreal is the T-pose, which causes the animation to flicker when looping. I could always remove the frame from Unreal manually but that’s absurd, obviously there’s something wrong.
This is the action in Blender:
And this is the animation imported in Unreal. Notice that the zero frame is a T-pose, which causes a flicker on each loop
I have never run into this, and I can’t seem to reproduce it. What are your Blender export settings and Unreal import settings?
Hello BorisKipi,
have you tried to set the first frame of your animation to the origin (0 frame) in blender (Animations get exported starting with the zero frame, if I’m not mistaken)?
I guess you’re using the FBX file format for exporting, you could also try turning off the force start/end keying export option under the animations tab.
Regards,
Vecherka.
Hello Vecherka,
I just tried that, I’ve even uploaded the import/export settings, but no luck, it’s still the same. Is it okay if I upload my .blend file? Maybe you would have more luck with it: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZQVfWkZYak1Dtkeu3bSrRnt94eztYjTiT97
You could also try to overwrite the frame import range, skipping one frame, but I see why this wouldn’t be optimal, for that to work you’d have to change the Animation Length import parameter. I guess you tried the force start/end keying then?
What Blender version are you using, I’ve tried 2.8 and 2.79 and with both I had no problem whatsoever. As a last resort I’d go into the AnimationAction of the blend file and key everything in the starting frame (location and rotation). I used the stock version of both of them (no add-ons). You could try it with an other version maybe.
Indeed I have. Unfortunately same deal. I also tried playing with T0 as ref param on and off. I don’t get why this is so obscure…how are people supposed to use Blender with UE4 if even the most basic thing, an operation you would perform daily in a real team, is impossible? Just like Cage518 said he can’t reproduce it. Does that mean someone actually got it to work? I mean without any manual labor like cutting the frames, or adding extra keys and such.
I’ve tried with Blender 2.8 and 2.81a. Did you try that with the .blend file I uploaded or was it your own mesh/rig? if it was something of yours, and it’s not part of some project, could you uploaded so I can learn from it? Just keep in mind that I don’t have any problem exporting one animation at a time. The problem arises when I have multiple actions and I want to export them all at once. Because there are a lot of tutorials that export animations successfully, but none of them deal with more than one animation at once.
I can, and I will, but did you look at the import/export settings I post it? Are you doing anything differently? I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right. Also I don’t know what state my NLA should be in. Even when I export “Actions only” the animations seem to be affected by the NLA timeline, and not only that, but also the exact frame it’s on.
Also, could you try it with my .blend file? Because if it works on your PC with my .blend file, then most probably the problem is with my export/import settings. If it doesn’t work, then I should definitely create a new one.
Okay, I tried anew, with a really simple cube with two animations, and it works perfectly…Well I’ll be… I guess I’ll start my rig over again, not just my animations and see where things break. Maybe it’s the IK, who knows.
I think I will be okay now. I will post the result once I’m done. Thank you very much for the ideas and the allocated time, Vecherka 
No I did this in bulk (i.e. 8 different animations or so). It was my own rig/mesh, sorry, but I cannot share that one. Can you try to create a new blend file and throw something together real quick and try that one? It might be blender being blender (not really being bug free).
Your import settings are basically what the editor gives you, so I don’t see a difference there. And I don’t see any problems with the export settings.
You could try to copy everything over from your old file to a new one. I can try your file but not today, sorry, but digging through that will definitely cost some time. So if your copy attempt fails, I’ll give it a shot, just don’t expect any wonders from me.
Okay, I’m just glad I was able to help at least a little bit.
Okay, I downloaded your blend file, witnessed your issue first hand, and have been exporting and importing for awhile and I’m pretty sure I’ve figured it out:
Your IK controllers for your arms have a copy rotation modifier on them, copying the rotation from the hands that are IK targeting the IK controllers. This loop is breaking the export process on the hands, causing the first frame stutter. However, once you remove the copy rotation modifier, the Arms animation no longer exports properly if it isn’t the currently selected animation. And here’s where the underlying issues really are.
Your skeleton, and your mesh, need to be properly setup before you start animating. Everything should be at a scale of 1. Your skeleton should probably also have it’s location applied. Given how the mesh is in pieces and directly parented to the bones, rather than having an armature modifier, I’m not sure if their location and rotations should be zeroed out, but they should definitely be at a scale of 1. Once everything is fixed, then you can start animating, and everything should start working as it should.
Thank you very much! After 5 days I can finally sleep now… I was just popping by to say that I just redid my armature from the ground up and there is no more flicker. But now that I’ve read your answer I see that I might have forgotten some things. I redid the armature all the way up to the IK targets and polls, but I haven’t added any location modifiers. Also I joined all the objects into a single mesh, so the bones influence the mesh via weighted vertex groups, and not by parenting separate meshes.
I will have to test the flaws you pointed out, because I’m still not experienced enough to even understand why that would break my animation which makes me appreciate your help even more!
