Is there a tutorial anywhere that explains how to export a character from CC3 and import into UE4, setting up the skeleton correctly to work with the default UE4 skeleton and animations. I was able to export and import ok, but the skeleton was not recognised by UE4 and none of the standard animations would retarget to it. So I assume I did something wrong.

You should check this section of the forum: https://forum.reallusion.com/Character-Creator/Export-to-3D-Realtime-Engines

I seen a few other people as well as myself have these issues with the CC3 character swapping out with the UE4 mannequin. It was possible with CC2, I've seen the tutorials done with the CC2, I've seen CC3 being brought into UE4 (But not swapping the UE4 mannequin). I asked the same question on the Forum, on the CC2 to UE4 Tutorial, I've asked other developers, and today I emailed Kai to see if it is even possible to do so. If there is any video proving it can be done, that is... swapping out or replacing the UE4 Mannequin with the imported CC3 character, please leave a link or the feedback. I personally don't think it's possible to swap the meshes because the bone structure on the CC3 is now different than the CC2 character. I know it's possible to bring in the CC3 characters into the Unreal Engine, that's not the issue. The issue is whether or not the UE4 character can be swapped out like in the CC2 version. Thank you all in advance.


J. Rosa
Marketplace Link:
Looking Glass Graphics

Primary

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, 12 GB Dedicated Ram

Secondary 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, 4 Core(s), 8 GB Dedicated Ram

I'd also like to know the answers to these questions.

I tried swapping out the mannequin a few days ago and it seems to be working now. If it fails to do so with the same techniques then it could be a bug. At first it wasn't working and Kai had verified that the developers said it wasn't working but now it seems to be working.... Go figure. I will keep you all posted on this thread if it fails to work again but somehow I was able to get the desired results that failed me previously.


J. Rosa
Marketplace Link:
Looking Glass Graphics

Primary

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, 12 GB Dedicated Ram

Secondary 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, 4 Core(s), 8 GB Dedicated Ram

I've gotten a couple reports that the CC3 skeleton is not properly recognized for converting to the UE4 mannequin skeleton if your UE4 project previously set up a CC1 (that means CC2 as well) base skeleton with the mannequin. That means any new projects using the CC3 skeleton set to the mannequin should have no issues at all.

It would be great if peeps could test this, as it may not be the case for everyone.

I've extensively tested the pipeline for importing a CC3 character into UE4 onto the UE4 Skeleton. It seems to work fine at first, but then 4 problems become evident once you try to use animations for that UE4 skeleton with the CC3 model:
1. skin peeping through clothes
2. feet sinking into the floot
3. foot sliding during walking animations
4. deformed/hunched posture during idle animations.

I'm hoping to get some help from RL soon.

1. This can not be fixed for some extreme animations. Use the Conform mesh feature before exporting, make cloth larger if possible. With animated cloths you can constrain them to the characters physics asset.-
2. This is either because you use pumps, or the character mesh/capsule is wrongly setup inside the character blueprint. 
3. This appears to be related to speed of character and animation play rate, not something related to CC.
4. Retarget issue OR you have to set the bone retarget settings to Animation - or Skeleton. I will try to post a video on this, soon. 



 

The main issue with exported CC3 characters to Unreal Engine is that different CONTENT PACKAGES or DIFFERENT EXPORT SETTINGS - characters (LOD's vs single high resolution model) yield different skeletons! 
Basically don't use a name prefix, try to either use only LOD exported characters (also best for performance tweaking). Also it appears that UE's IK bones are completely absent from the CC3 pipeline. Because of this you will always encounter a Skeleton Modification Warning Error, so far adjusting the skeleton has worked, but as mentioned lacks proper bone hierarchy. 

UPDATE
Notice that it is unclear to what extent existing content packs are compatible, and what it entails for each case when exporting them, and under what content settings specifically. There are certainly some limitations with some of the packs I own.

 

The problem is, CC3 = T-Pose, Unreal Engine = A-Pose.

1. Setup the imported CC3 mesh to use the Humanoid Rig, assign it to the skeleton.
2. Use a T-Pose animation for the UE Mannequin, assign it and set Humanoid Rig inside the Retarget Manager. Many content packs, such as animation packs come with a A and T Pose, so you just have to set this inside the skeleton mesh panel before retargeting, OR before importing to that skeleton. 

Generally CC3 should offer the option to export with A-Pose and 1:1 UE bone hierarchy (including IK, no extra CC facial morphs etc). However, it doesn't - which suggests that Reallusion lacks the required Know How and Motivation to truly commit their pipeline for one of the leading game development platforms -  so far.