I am trying to make a game with Unreal engine 4.2.
I have made a skeletal animation in Maya, which I am trying to import, but a problem occurs.
When extracting my animation (the skeleton is not too complex) - I get some errors, they say there are some constraints not needed, and I guess that is fine (I export as FBX), the error happens both when and when not baked.
So, I try to import it to Unreal, and when doing so, the mesh itself is fine, but when trying to import the animation, it is telling me some constraints are missing (probably due to the Maya error).
Now, when I insert the model to the game, with the animation applied, and play the animation, the model is just rocking left to right, there is not animation, just the model going left to right.
I was wondering if anyone could help me with this?
I am quite new to the whole game-making process, I have tried looking for answers online, but could not find any, so I am sorry if it is very simple.
There are a few reasons you would get the error about constraints not needed, including selecting your IK handlers upon export -but you mentioned your skeleton is not that complicated. The other reason may be that one or more bones are not skinned to the skeleton.
So I would unbind and rebind the mesh to the skeleton. Then in the Outliner make sure you have the mesh and all joints selected -but no IK handlers, etc.- and export selected FBX.
When importing if you are still encountering errors try importing with “no skeleton” selected. It sounds strange, but I have seen this fix a couple of people’s issues as it imports their skeleton regardless.
Also, if you are using Maya 2014 or earlier, I’d be happy to take a look at your file if you want to post it in a zip file.
I’m getting the same error: “//Error: line 0: Error reading file” and when I researched this, people with this error where trying to open files created in later versions of the software. Try sending an fbx.
I was able to open your fbx file in Maya however the IK handlers were not functioning at all. Therefore, I definitely think there is a problem with the IK Handlers. I also noticed when I selected two of them, almost every other frame was keyed for 90 frames. The purpose of the handlers is to reduce the number of key frames: like if you move the foot with the IK handler the knee is adjusted automatically without having to be keyed.
In any event, I created a simple nod animation and successfully imported it into UE4 using these settings (Export from Maya, Import to UE4: *Be sure you have Smoothing Groups selected.)
We have not heard back from you in a few days, so we are marking this post as Resolved for tracking purposes. If you are still experiencing the issue you reported, please respond to this message with additional information and we will offer further assistance.
