Import and Play Mesh Animations

You can use Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) to animate skeletal meshes.

This tutorial shows you how to import skeletal meshes, animations attached to the meshes, and how the animations on a mesh work in UEFN.

Importing Assets Into UEFN

UEFN does not come preloaded with skeletal meshes or animations, so you will have to create or import them.

For an in-depth look at handling custom assets in Unreal Editor, check out the Working with Content section, with attention to the FBX Content Pipeline pages.

Import Your Skeletal Mesh Asset

1. Open your UEFN project.

2. In the Content Browser, open the project’s content folder and create a Characters folder for your skeletal meshes.

3. Make a subfolder for each type of character you want to import. In this case, the first subfolder is named MeleeMinions. Double-click the folder to open it.

4. Click import or right-click inside the new folder, and choose the Import to… option.

   

5. Choose the FBX file containing the mesh you want to import, then click Open.

   

6. An FBX Import Options dialog box appears. Select Import All.

   

7. Your character subfolder now contains a skeletal mesh and a skeleton.

   

To learn more about setting up, exporting, and importing skeletal meshes using the FBX content pipeline, check out Importing Skeletal Meshes Using FBX for Unreal Engine 5.

Double-clicking the skeletal mesh file opens a new window where you can see the mesh in greater detail. Click the Skeleton Tree tab on the left-hand side to navigate to any moving joint and test what parts of the skeleton articulate.

View the full skeleton by clicking Character > Bones > All Hierarchy.

Import Animations for Your Skeletal Mesh

1. In the MeleeMinions subfolder, click import, or right-click inside the new folder and choose the Import to… option.

   

2. Select the animation FBX files you want to import by holding down the Ctrl key and click Open.

   

3. In the FBX Import Options dialog, make sure that the correct Skeleton is selected for your animations. Importing into the correct subfolder should ensure that it is.

4. Uncheck Import Mesh, then select Import All at the bottom.

   

5. The animations show up as Animation Sequence files.

Open the animations in a new window to ensure that they are applied to the right character and play as expected.

Playing Animations on your Island

There are several ways to get animations to play on your island. Each method has merit depending on your needs.

Drag and Drop from the Content Browser

Select the Animation Sequence file you want, and drag it from the Content Browser into the viewport.

The animation will play in a perpetual loop unless otherwise specified in the asset’s Details tab under the Animation section.

The animation will not play in the editor. To see the animation play, playtest your island in a Fortnite client.

Use the Animated Mesh Device

When this device is paired to your animation, you can control the various animation triggers.

1. Navigate to Fortnite > Devices in your Content Browser.

2. Drag the Animated Mesh device into the viewport.

3. Configure the device User Options as follows:

   1. To bind the device to a skeletal mesh, drag and drop the mesh into the Skeletal Mesh field, or select the mesh from the field’s dropdown menu.

      

   2. Drag the animation you want for your mesh into the Animation field, or select it from the dropdown menu.

      

4. Drag two Trigger devices into the viewport.

5. To bind the triggers to the animation:

   1. Select the Animated Mesh device, and scroll down to User Options - Functions.

   2. For Play Animation Event, add an array element by clicking +, then select Trigger and On Triggered in the two respective fields.

   3. For Pause Animation Event, add an array element by clicking +, then select Trigger2 and On Triggered in the two respective fields.

      

   4. Press Play to open the client to see the device in action. Stepping on the first trigger starts the animation, and the second trigger pauses the animation.