How to import single animation made in Blender

[anonymous_user_650f1d25]

tl;dr /

Prerequisite: Blender 2.7+ and UE4 4.16+ AND make sure no undesired anims are on the NLA stack (refer to step 3 and 4 to see how to remove them from the stack)

Keep both the NLA Editor and the Dope Sheet/Action Editor open at the same time.

①Set the rig to Pose mode

②Select all bones and then just:

• Select the desired anim in the Action Editor (Step ② below)
• Push it on the NLA stack in the NLA Editor (Step ③ below)
• Select the same desired anim (no longer any need to select the mesh). Also verify all bones are still selected and the armature is in Pose mode (it will be so long as you didn’t accidentally select a single bone or press A-key)
• Export fbx (make sure All Actions is unchecked)

way you can literally export 5 single anims in under a minute.

/ tl;dr

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tl;bwr

It’s completely unintuitive and tedious, but it works 100%, so I decided to show how to do it since all the threads I’ve found here were dated dead ends.

I’ve verified it in UE4 4.15.2 on Blender 2.78b (any UE4 4.15 version and any Blender 2.78 version should work exactly the same).

tutorial assumes you have already imported your skeletal mesh into UE4, and that it was exported as fbx 7.4 Binary, not ASCII.

① Open up your character w/ the animation you want to export. Go to the NLA editor and delete every single track there is (follow the steps in the screenshot EXACTLY).

It should look like when you’re done:

② Go to the Dope Sheet, select (right-click) the Armature and switch it to pose mode, switch to the Action Editor, and select the animation that you want to export.

③ Go back to the NLA editor and push the animation onto the NLA stack by clicking on the double-down arrow below the armature (to the right of the animation you selected in step 2)

④ Make sure the armature and animation you selected in step 2 are NOT muted.

[anonymous_user_650f1d25]

⑤ Now that the animation is on the NLA stack, repeat step ②.

Yes, repeat it; exactly the same way as you did before, in the same exact order.

Once you’ve got your character set to the animation from step ② and in pose mode, proceed with step ⑥.

Note (from here you have to do these steps in exact order. Failing to do so will most likely eff up your export.)

⑥ Select all bones for the armature while in Pose Mode (bones are highlighted in light blue when selected in Pose Mode). If you don’t know how to do : With your cursor in the 3d view window, simply press A on the keyboard once (or twice). It should look something like below, hopefully less ugly.:

EDIT: When I first made tutorial, it was required that both the mesh and rig were selected. If you’re using UE4 4.17 (or later, perhaps), you can skip to step ⑧, as there’s no longer a need to select the mesh. Just make sure all the bones are selected AND in pose mode.

⑦

a) While all bones are selected in Pose Mode, right click on the mesh. (Having done , the pose bones should become unselected (temporarily) and the mesh should be selected.)

b) With the mesh selected, hold Left Shift (on the keyboard), and then right-click on the armature. 'll make it so both the mesh and the entire armature are selected.

It should look like (where the mesh is highlighted in orange and all bones are light-blue):

(If you’re having problems with step 7, make sure X-ray mode is enabled on the armature or press Z to switch to wireframe mode. You will then need to repeat steps ⑥ and ⑦ before continuing).

⑧ Go to export the fbx as usual. I leave almost everything at default (except for Setting Geometries > Smoothing to Face, and Unchecking Armatures > Add Leaf Bones). Just make sure you UNCHECK All Actions (other settings don’t affect animations afaik) and leave the rest at default as shown here:

⑨ Change the name of the export to whatever you want, click Export, then drag the fbx anywhere into the content browser and the import dialog will be displayed.

By default Import Skeletal Mesh and Import Mesh will be checked.
Remove the check from Import Mesh, and select the skeleton the animation belongs to via the ** Skeleton** dropdown menu:

⑩ Click Import at the bottom and boom! One single animation imported!

P.S.: If the skeletal mesh contained animations the first time you imported it, each of those animations will point to the skeletal mesh fbx that contained them. Since reimporting the whole fbx won’t update animation changes (in UE4 4.16 and prior, at least), it’s recommended that you have each of your animations pointing to their own unique fbx. To do that, simply temporarily move that original fbx somewhere else, click Reimport and then point it to the newfangled fbx you exported in Step ⑨. ( is how I do it, and I have yet to experience any probs whatsoever.)

[Chaven]

Thank you for the time and effort in clarifying something that should be quiet elementary. I would have expected Unreal’s documentation to have been fully comprehensive.

[anonymous_user_650f1d25]

My pleasure. Jsyk, it seems a bit long winded at first, but once you do it 2 or 3 times you can whip out single animations super quick.

I updated the original post with a tl;dr (concise steps to whip out anims the quickest way)

[Jau_Studio (Jaufré)]

If someone needs the info, in Blender 2.8, just unmute/select the one you want + the skeleton, then export as FBX unchecking “All Actions”. No need to delete anything or be in pose mode.

[samohickey]

Wow! So I am using Blender 7.79b with UE4 4.21 and I have to say, worked like a charm! I’m going through and updated my main character since I’ve gotten better at modeling and animating, but I didn’t want to do all of the programming for my animation BP in UE4. I just wanted to update the mesh and animations themselves. SO!!

ANYWAYS! YES! is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Worked like a charm.

Dare I say… I love you?

There’s a lot of stuff with Blender and UE4 that’s just trial and error since the community is smaller, but growing! Always nice to find an answer.

Sláinte!

[samohickey]

Very nice; maybe it’s time I update to 2.8 then! I’m just… always scared of changing my tools. Haha!

[samohickey]

@ I hope that is ok!!
I found really helpful, so I made a video of it. If you’d like me to take the video down, please let me know through a message on YouTube, or on here.

Single Animation From Blender to UE4 | Tutorial

Thank you for your knowledge!