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Maya/UE5: How to Export/Import UE5 Mannequin to Maya for Scale Reference

Category: Maya, UE5
April 10, 2023

I'm going to show you how to get UE5 scale Mannequins exported from Unreal Engine and imported into your 3D modeling software.

In my case I will use Maya.  But it will work in other software such as Blender, 3DSMax and others.

The reason to do this is to model everything inside your 3D modeling software to scale of a player character inside UE5.  You probably have seen these Mannequin being used all the time.  By having the same Mannequin inside your 3D modeling software you can ensure that everything you model is to correct scale and proper proportions.

Video Tutorial

Create a Third Person Game Template Project

First you need a Third Person game template project. This project will include five different mannequins for you to export and use. So either create a new project and use Third Person Game Template:

Or add Third Person Template into and existing project in Content Browser by clicking on Add and Add Feature or Content Pack then choosing Third Person:

If you're not sure how to create your own project follow this tutorial.

Inside Content Browser, Characters folder you will find two additional sub-folders:

  • Mannequins_UE4
  • Mannequins

For Mannequins_UE4 navigate into Meshes folder. You would export SK_Mannequin:

For UE5 Mannequins navigate into Meshes folder and you would export SKM_Manny, SKM_Manny_Simple, SKM_Quinn or SKM_Quinn_Simple. Pick one.

Exporting

Choose the Mannequin you want to export then Right-Click on the Mannequin, go to Asset Action > Export:

Choose where you want to export this mesh into on your computer and make sure you have Save as Type as FBX:

Go through the options.

  • FBX Export Compatibility: I use FBX 2013 (works fine)

Disable everything you don't need. Since this will be a Static Mesh used for scale you don't need any options so I disable them all.

Click Export.

You now have an FBX file to import into your 3d modeling software.

Importing into Maya

Go to File > Import and find the exported FBX mannequin. The Mesh will be imported.

Few things you'll need to do to make it selectable and workable.

Select the root bone and delete them:

You won't be able to move, rotate or scale mesh because it is locked. You can still select it but you can't do anything with it.

Left-Click hold and drag across Translate, Rotate and Scale inside the Channel Box to have all the transformations selected:

Right-Click and choose Unlock Selected:

Now you can move and rotate the Mannequin.

Export as Fresh FBX to Use Later

You want to export this as new FBX file so you can have a copy to import into any scene inside your modeling software later for any future project, environment or props you crate.

Select the Mannequin and go to File > Export Selection.

Choose the following settings:

  • Files of Type: FBX Export
  • Smoothing Groups: enabled
  • Smooth Mesh: enabled

Name it and export it for later use.

Now you can import this new FBX into any new scene you will be modeling in to use the Mannequin as scale reference to judge size and proportions.

Steps for UE4

You can follow the exact same steps for doing this in UE4. But here is a video created specifically for Unreal Engine 4.

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My name is AlexG. I am self-taught level designer, game environment artist and the creator of World of Level Design.com. I've learned everything I know from personal experimentation and decades of being around various online communities of fellow environment artist and level designers. On World of Level Design you will find tutorials to make you become the best level designer and game environment artist.

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