Replacing the Default Skeleton with a 3D Model

[A Hobbit]

Hello Everyone,

So I've been wondering if there is an easy way to basically wrap a model around the base Skeleton of the Vive Hand Tracking. For example, the Leapmotion_Basehand_Rig_Left seems to have a sekeleton that lines up with the Vive Hand Tracking Spawn Points (Linked it in attachments), so one way I thought of doing this is to use these spawnpoints to just control the Skeleton. However I have not been able to do this in Unreal Engine. (Note; I'm not too experienced with UE4 Animations, so there might be something basic I'm missing) What I've come across so far from looking around is that I need to have states for the animations to work, but I want to be able to move the model around according to the spawn points if possible. 

Can someone help me with this, or point me in the right direction? I've seen Control Rig, Animation Blending, and I've tried to just get the bone nodes in blue prints and animate them there, but so far I'm not sure how I should approach this.

Thanks! And if there's anything I can elaborate on let me know!

[zzy]

Hi @A Hobbit

We have provided the 3D hand model rendering function in Unity plugin v0.8.1. For UE4, it will be supported in the next version (targeting early October).

If you need to use it before October, you can try to implement the function yourself in UE4, here are some reference for you:

1. We are currently using posable mesh component to adjust the model nodes using skeleton results.

2. Instead of using the raw skeleton data, you can use the smoothed version of the result, which will make the 3D hand model looks more natural. You can reference the ModelRenderer.cs file in Unity plugin for how to do so.

[A Hobbit]

Hey @zzy

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll definitely be taking a look at the next version of the plugin as soon as it comes out. But meanwhile I'll take a look at using the smoothed skeleton data with a poseable mesh. Thanks for the suggestion!

[zzy]

Hi @A Hobbit

3D model support in Unreal plugin is available in the v0.8.2 release.