Why Is My Root Motion Not Working as Expected in UE5 Animation Blueprint?

Development Character & Animation
3

Hey @ChasityBurrell — welcome to the Unreal community! Root motion can definitely be tricky to get working properly, especially with Mixamo → UE5 retargeting in the mix. You’re close — sounds like one or two small tweaks will fix it. Let’s break it down :magnifying_glass_tilted_left:

:gear: Why Root Motion Looks Fine in Preview but Not In-Game:

This is usually because Unreal’s Character Movement Component is still driving your capsule, which ignores root motion unless configured exactly right.

Here’s a quick checklist to debug:

:white_check_mark: 1. Enable Root Motion in the Animation Asset

  • Make sure your animation asset has EnableRootMotion = True
  • The Root Bone (usually “Hips” or “Root”) must be animated with real translation, not just in-place poses

:white_check_mark: 2. Use “Root Motion from Everything” in the Anim Blueprint

  • Sounds like you’ve done this — good!

BUT this only works if your Montage or AnimSequence is played directly by the AnimBP or Montages, not by the Character Movement logic.

:white_check_mark: 3. Movement Mode: “Root Motion” Only Works When the Character Movement Mode Is Configured

If you’re using a Montage, check that:

blueprint

CopyEdit

CharacterMovementComponent → MovementMode = “Flying” or “None”

Otherwise, the character controller keeps trying to drive movement, which conflicts with root motion.

For locomotion (walk/run), you often want to use “in-place” animations + manually apply velocity. Root motion is best reserved for:

  • Rolls
  • Vaults
  • Get-ups
  • Knockbacks
  • Special attacks

:white_check_mark: 4. Ensure Retargeted Root Bone Is Mapped Correctly

With Mixamo → UE5, sometimes the Root bone becomes the Hips, and you lose actual root motion unless retargeted to a valid Root.

Check:

  • Skeleton → Retarget Root = “Root” or “Root_M”
  • Preview animation with “Show Root Motion” checked to confirm

:brain: Bonus Tip: Don’t Lose Track of These Fixes

If you’re retargeting 10+ animations, tweaking skeleton settings, and dealing with capsule sync issues — things can get confusing fast. We’ve been there.

That’s why we built Asset Optics — a plugin that helps you:

  • :pushpin: Leave notes like “Rolling_Montage needs flying mode for root motion”
  • :white_check_mark: Track animation tweaks, skeleton retargeting settings, etc.
  • :counterclockwise_arrows_button: Sync all of it to a clean dashboard so you’re not chasing fixes across 50 animations

Especially useful for Mixamo imports where root motion is inconsistent.