Create Animation Blueprint for a body

This page covers how to create an Animation Blueprint for a body within Unreal Engine. This involves importing FBX character files, creating nodes, and compiling the character.

Import the character FBX

1. In Unreal Engine, go to Window > Content Browser > Content Browser 01.

2. In the Content Browser dialogue box, right-click in an empty space and select New Folder.

   

3. Enter a new folder name (e.g. ViconCharacter).

4. In the new empty folder, click Import in the Content Browser toolbar.

   

5. In the dialog box, locate the FBX character file and select Open. The default Shogun skins can be found in:
   C:\Program Files\Vicon\ShogunLive1.#\Configuration\Skins
   

6. In the FBX Import Options dialog box, expand the Mesh section.

7. Ensure the following options are selected:

   1. Mesh > Skeletal Mesh

   2. Mesh > Import Mesh

   3. Advanced > Update Skeleton Reference Pose

   4. Advanced > Use T0 As Ref Pose

      

8. Select Import All to import the character.

Set up the Animation Blueprint for the subject

1. In the Content Browser locate the Skeletal Mesh for the character FBX. In Unreal Engine this has a pink-colored outline.

   

2. Right-click the Skeletal Mesh and in the right-click menu, navigate to Create > Anim Blueprint. Click to create an Animation Blueprint that can be used to map animation data from the Live Link source.

   

3. Give the Animation Blueprint a name.

   

4. Open the Animation Blueprint (which has an orange-colored outline).

   Tip: If the animation graph doesn't open, go to the My Blueprint panel, and in the Animation Graphs section click AnimGraph.

   

5. Right-click in an empty spot in the graph and search for the Live Link Pose node.

   

6. In the Live Link Pose node, select or enter the name of the subject from the Live Link source.

   

7. Drag a link between the node and the Final Animation Pose.

   

8. In the top left corner of the animation graph, select Compile. As soon as the Animation Blueprint is compiled, the character data is streamed into Unreal Engine and onto the corresponding character FBX. This can also be seen in the preview window on the left side.

   

9. To view the character in your project, close the Animation Blueprint, navigate to the character FBX in the Content Browser, and add it to the scene at the desired location.