TLDR: How to make my MakeHuman based models and skeletal meshes compatible with the default UE4 mannequin skeleton when I import them?
Hey everybody, I would like to create some characters for Unreal with their own set of animations. I was wondering if there is a way to make their skeletal meshes / armatures in such a way that the models and their animations are compatible with the standard mannequin skeleton asset. For now, i am using MakeHuman to create the body meshes, and Blender to add some clothing. Makehuman assigns its own rigs to the models, but those are not compatible with the skeleton asset in Unreal. I need animation retargeting to transfer the animations to another model, which is not ideal.
I recently started modeling and i would love to begin animating as well, but first i would like to get into the correct workflow. It would be a waste of time if i started animating all my models in their current MakeHuman rigs, only to start over using the Unreal rigging later. One day i would like to publish some things on the asset store and I have read that they want you to make all humanoid characters use the standard skeleton asset.
So i was wondering:
-What do i have to do in order to make the meshes compatible with the default skeleton asset when i import them into UE4?
-Is it just a matter of naming convention, or do i need to re-rig the models entirely?
-Ideally, i’m looking for a way to quickly convert the MakeHuman rigs into something more useable.
-What are the exact requirements for a skeletal mesh to be compatible with the mannequin skeleton.
These may seem like obvious questions and I’ve been searching for a while now, but I don’t seem to find the answer.
Also: feel free to tell me if you think that it’s a waste of time to adapt all skeletal meshes to match the mannequin skeleton. From the submission guidelines, i got the impression that most of the characters and animations in Unreal are made using this skeleton, but i might be wrong.
Any help would be much appreciated!