Import Model+Animation:

I have created a 3D model of a switch with a simple animation that rotates the lever.
I want to import this mesh inside UE4 and, when a specific event fires, play the animation of the lever.

When I try to import it in UE4 with these settings:

It says:

275917-222.png

When the import is done, I end up with Skeleton, PhysicsAsset, AnimationSequence and SkeletalMesh

There are 3 issues with this:

1) Where is the Static Mesh?

2) The PhysicsAsset has a collision box too big compared to the tiny little object!

3) The lever DOES NOT ROTATE: instead, the whole switch rotates!!!

In 3ds Max the lever is an object attached to the switch.

I’m a programmer, not a modeler or animator so please try to use simple terms

Thanks in advance!

3:

Ok I unchecked Turbosmooth since I wasn’t even using it (but what if I use it in my model?)

I don’t know what you mean by Skin modifier, because I’m not using it in Max

And yes, I attached the lever model with the base switch model before exporting so it’s one object.

1: There are none. Meshes, that are animated with a skeleton are called Skeletal Meshes. They work like static Meshes, only not static :smiley:

2: You can edit the Collision box, delete it and replace it with a different shape etc. Just open the physicsAsset and select the collisionshape. You could scale it, or delete it completely and add a new collision shape.

3: Not sure why, did you try not turbosmoothing on export(why do you even do this?).
Can you add a screenshot of your bone hierachie view(form Max AND UE4) and the skin modifier? Maybe try merging the the meshes in max and then export them as one mesh object.

How exactly did you author the animation? I was assuming you used a 2-bone setup and the skin modifier to bind the lever to the non-root bone.

It’s a simple rotation. The lever rotates 90 degrees. Then I attached the lever to the switch and exported as one single model

You need to either bind them to a bone hierarchy if the lever and the base are the same model or you need to link the lever to the base in the hierarchy view inside 3ds max to establish the skeleton used for the animation. I assume your skeleton is just one node right now, which is why the entiere mesh is rotating.