Exporting Unreal Sketeal Mesh Socket to Max or Maya?

SideEffect

Hi guys

so in this project I'm working on there's a Skeletal Mesh Socket that is offset from the hand.
Anything like guns or objects get attached to this socket.

The problem is I have to make some new hand animations and I'd like to be able to get the prop I'm working on attached to the player model in the same exact position.

Is there a way to export that socket's position to a FBX as a bone or something like that?
I can't seem to find a way.

Obscura

You can position a helper such as a dummy there, and link it to the hand for example, and export it with the bones. You will have to include this helper into your skin by the way, so you will be able to see it as a bone in UE.

SideEffect

That is exactly what I would have done but I can't change the socket being used.
The programmers added a lot of crap that depends on that position.

Very frustrating because they did it a shoddy way to begin with.

I need to be able to get the position of that socket they added in there through the editor.

Obscura

Hm. Sockets can be edited really simply in the skeletal mesh editor, you can mode them, add them, etc. At least this is how it was in UE3, so I think it should be similar here too. Have you tried exporting your character back from ue to your modeling package? Maybe it would brign the sockets too. Probably... Because a socket is most likely an extra bone that you add in the UE editor.

Anyways, I'm not saying to use the helper as a socket, You can just use it while animating, and then delete it.

SideEffect

Socket's don't come along with it when exporting back to FBX

Helper in max is nice but it's useless to me if it's not in the same exact position of that socket. Eyeballing it into position won't cut it.

Obscura

Well, that sucks Then you can add the helper by eyeballing, import, compare it to the socket, if its out of place, then adjust it in max, export again, etc. Unfortunately I don't know a better way then. It would have been better if the maker of the character would have add that helper by default, so the programmers could have put the socket there.

...I can imagine one last thing, if you can display the position of the socket in unreal. And you can. Add the helper, switch to local space, position it to the exact place of the handbone, and then do an offset to the position of the socket.It should be in local space compared to the handbone in unreal. This should work fine.

SideEffect

ah man that's so grueling I didn't even consider doing that hahaha
I guess that is the best way.

Yeah man programmers don't know any better sometimes haha. They have offsets on top of offsets now and it makes me foam at the mouth

Obscura

I forgot to tell you that you will need local rotation too. You can copy this from the handbone in max. But maybe you already figured this out

SideEffect

ah the numbers actually do match in Max if your units are set in CM.
It's just the axis are a bit backwards, just gotta figure it out

like instead of -6.2654 it might be positive 6.2654.
that's what had me thinking the scale difference was off, I saw it in the complete opposite direction.

If you set your reference coordinate system to Parent in Max it will be the same numbers as the socket's relative location in Unreal.

Thanks for the help man.

Problem solved and I don't have to kill any programmers today!

Obscura

Great No problem, glad it worked.