# Why does my custom character move less than Manny when retargeting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Character & Animation\ **Tags:** rig, retarget, unreal-engine, question\ **Created:** [November 12, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-does-my-custom-character-move-less-than-manny-when-retargeting/2674223 "2025-11-12T14:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![axly0](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@axly0](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/axly0)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-does-my-custom-character-move-less-than-manny-when-retargeting/2674223/1 "2025-11-12T14:49:37Z")
I’m trying to retarget animations from the UE Mannequin to my own character, which is a fairly simple model. In my first attempt, I created a completely custom rig and set up the chain mapping, but the animation didn’t transfer correctly. Then I used Manny’s skeleton, removed the finger bones, and adjusted the remaining bones to fit my character. This time it worked much better overall. However, when I disable “Run IK Rig” in the OP Stack, the animation looks much cleaner. Also, my character doesn’t move the same distance as Manny. Manny covers much more ground during the animation. I suspect the issue might be related to the IK bone positions or the root/pelvis chain setup. Has anyone experienced a similar issue or found a solution for this? ![Ekran görüntüsü 2025-11-12 150002](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/f/a/e/fae9a331d675990dff24162004e7297205f246af.png) ---
**Author:** ![56legion](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/56legion/32/1194529_2.png) [@56legion](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/56legion)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 5:46am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-does-my-custom-character-move-less-than-manny-when-retargeting/2674223/2 "2025-11-13T05:46:21Z")
Looks like a root motion problem where your pelvis of the source or the target pelvis bone. ---
**Author:** ![axly0](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@axly0](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/axly0)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 8:07am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-does-my-custom-character-move-less-than-manny-when-retargeting/2674223/3 "2025-11-13T08:07:17Z")
Do you know how can i solve it? ---
**Author:** ![brs-sebascova](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/brs-sebascova/32/1052483_2.png) [@brs-sebascova](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/brs-sebascova)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/why-does-my-custom-character-move-less-than-manny-when-retargeting/2674223/4 "2025-11-13T15:46:31Z")
Hello there! I agree, this looks like a root/pelvis misalignment. When you are implementing the auto rig, you should get a prompt like the one below, regarding the height difference between your models, so please make sure the offset is applied, or modify the bones to have the same height. ![chrome_QUMFqpD1Lf](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/optimized/4X/5/d/2/5d23e6b2afaae7c90c4984abb85eac3caeb7b070_2_517x68.png) Since running without “Run IK Rig” improves the animation, but makes the character movement not cover the same distance, that means IK is most like working in the first place, but since the root/pelvis is not properly setup, the animation plays wrong. Make sure the alignment is correct, then test setting translation mode to Absolute, which should help with the incorrect distance move. There are other methods to test for scenarios like this. Checking around the community, there’s a [video guide](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsQpSor1wdY) covering usual problems with retargeting, as well as a similar thread with further solutions. Also, it always helps to revisit UE’s docs on the subject matter. > [@Retargeting root bone Ue5](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/retargeting-root-bone-ue5/506512): > > Hello, The Question is about UE5 Preview 2! (Or any UE5 with the new Retarget system) I can not find the correct way to retarget the root bone for root motion animations. When I set “Pelvis” as the retargeting root, the animations work but the root motion is lost. When I set “root” as the retargeting root, the root motion works but the animations are buggy/broken a little bit, (maybe something about the IK?) Does someone know what to do? Is it a UE5 problem or am I missing something? UE4 > **[IK Rig Animation Retargeting in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.7...](https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/ik-rig-animation-retargeting-in-unreal-engine)** > > Share and transfer animation between characters of any size using IK Rigs and IK Retargeting.