Character Animation Retargeting

The IK Rig defines the character, while the IK Retargeter defines the mapping for the animation. The process of creating an IK Rig asset is known as Characterization. This means that the skeletal mesh is defined into limbs and contact points, ensuring that the animation fits the skeleton of the receiving asset.

Using these tools, you can easily transfer an animation from one skeletal mesh to another. IK Rig provides a way to target the bone groups of a source skeletal mesh and graph the animation of that mesh onto an IK Retargeter asset.

The transfer process begins with creating a new IK Rig asset because this asset is used to define the bones for the movement. After the bones are defined, you can map the movement for a new animation asset.

This process creates new animation assets for your target character from the source. You cannot assign animations that are on your source character to your target character without following this process.