MetahumanToManny: Retarget Metahumans to UE5 Manny

A Blender-based workflow and scripts to convert MetaHuman skeletal meshes to the UE5 Manny skeleton for seamless retargeting and animation reuse.

Metahuman To Manny

A streamlined Blender workflow and helper scripts to convert MetaHuman skeletal meshes for compatibility with UE5 Manny. This enables animation reuse, rapid prototyping, and shared retargeting across MetaHumans and the default UE5 mannequin.

Why

Teams frequently need to preview or reuse animations across MetaHumans and Manny. Differences in head/face bones, twist naming, and toe chains make direct reuse unreliable. This toolset standardizes the conversion to Manny to ensure predictable results.

Key Features

• Face bone weight cleanup to remove incompatible branch bones.
• Body fixes for twist naming, toes, and seam normalization.
• Automated vertex group cleanup for lean exports when blendshapes are not required.
• Game Rig Tools pipeline to bind converted meshes to a mannequin-compatible deform rig.
• Export-ready for UE5 Manny with consistent rest pose and parenting.

Requirements

• Blender (tested 3.6+).
• Game Rig Tools add‑on.
• MetaHuman skeletal mesh exported from Unreal Engine.
• Optional: Manny skeleton reference in Blender for pose matching.

Quick Start

1. Export your MetaHuman body and head skeletal meshes from Unreal (Level Sequencer export or direct asset export).
2. Import meshes into Blender.
3. Head cleanup
   Select head mesh and its armature then run:
   • Clean Up Face Bone Weights
   • Fix Seams
   • (Optional) Cleanup Unused Vertex Groups if you will not use blendshapes.
4. Body fixes
   Select the body then run:
   • Fix Twist Bone Names
   • Fix Toes
   • Fix Seams
   • (Optional) Cleanup Unused Vertex Groups.
5. Reparent to mannequin rig
   Open Game Rig Tools, initiate a mannequin, align rest pose to match your MetaHuman, and apply rig.
   Select body and face meshes → Alt+P → Clear and Keep Transformation to detach from original armatures.
   Delete the original MetaHuman armatures.
   Select body and face, then the Deform Armature from Game Rig Tools → Ctrl+P → With Empty Groups.
6. Export to Unreal
   Switch the parent armature to Unreal in Game Rig Tools, select body, face, and the skeleton, and export.
   In Unreal, import using UE5 Manny as the skeleton.

Result

Converted MetaHuman meshes are fully compatible with UE5 Manny for IK/retargeting and shared animation workflows.

Notes and Tips

• Keep a pose matching preset per MetaHuman archetype to speed up repeated conversions.
• If you need facial blendshapes, skip deleting relevant vertex groups during cleanup.
• Run seam fixes before parenting to avoid split normals on export.

Known Limitations

• Facial rigs beyond standard Manny requirements are out of scope. Use MetaHuman facial systems for high-fidelity facial animation.
• Custom clothing with additional bones may require manual adjustments post‑conversion.

Roadmap

• Batch automation for multi‑character pipelines.
• One‑click Blender operator to execute the full sequence.
• Optional export presets for UE5 FBX.

Repository

Credits

Developed by Hakan Erünsal. Blender scripts and workflow authored to assist the UE community in cross‑skeleton retargeting.