🌀 From AI to Animation: Building a Fully Rigged 3D Character with Meshy, Mixamo, and Unreal Engine 5

Whether you’re a solo dev or curious creator, bringing a character to life is now easier than ever. This post walks you through how to:

• Generate a custom 3D model using Meshy.ai

• Auto-rig and animate it using Mixamo

• Import it into Unreal Engine 5

• Control animations using a State Machine Blueprint

Let’s dive into the step-by-step creation process.

1. ✨ Generate Your Character in Meshy.ai

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to Meshy.ai
   You’ll land in a clean interface asking for a prompt.

2. Enter a prompt
   Example:

   css

   CopyEdit

   cyberpunk female warrior, armor, neon details, medium stylization

    

3. Generate
   Hit generate and wait ~30 seconds. Meshy will produce a full-color, textured 3D model.

4. Preview & Export
   Use the orbit tool to view your character. When happy, download as OBJ or FBX.

Tip: Use a clean silhouette and bright contrasts in your prompt to help the AI understand clothing layers and gear.

2. 🦴 Rig the Character in Mixamo

You’ve got a static 3D model — now let’s give it a skeleton and animation.

Step-by-Step:

1. Upload Your Model
   Drag and drop the .fbx or .obj into Mixamo.

2. Mark Limbs
   You’ll see a humanoid overlay asking you to drop markers:

   • Chin

   • Wrists

   • Elbows

   • Knees

   • Groin

3. Wait for Auto-Rig
   Mixamo will process the mesh and apply a standard skeleton rig.

4. Add Animations
   Browse animation presets. Choose “Idle”, “Walking”, “Running”, etc.

5. Download
   Choose FBX for Unity/Unreal format, check “With Skin”, and hit download.

Visual: You’ll see your character walking in place in the Mixamo viewer. This is the rig and animation combo you’re exporting.

3. 🛠 Import into Unreal Engine 5

Step-by-Step:

1. Launch Unreal Engine 5
   Open your project or create a new one using the Third Person or Blank Template.

2. Import FBX

   • Go to the Content Browser

   • Right-click > Import

   • Select your downloaded FBX

3. Import Settings

   • Check Skeletal Mesh

   • Check Import Animations

   • Leave Skeleton field empty unless reusing another rig

4. Organize
   UE5 will create:

   • Your skeletal mesh (e.g., CyberWarrior_SkelMesh)

   • One or more animation sequences

   • An imported skeleton asset

Visual: You’ll now see your character mesh in the viewer — with a bone hierarchy and pose baked in.

4. ⚙️ Create the Animation Blueprint with State Machine

Now we’ll drive animation based on movement using Blueprints.

Step-by-Step:

1. Create Animation Blueprint

   • Right-click in Content Browser → Animation → Animation Blueprint

   • Select your imported Skeleton

2. Open the Blueprint

   • Go to the AnimGraph

   • Drag out a State Machine node → Double click to enter it

3. Inside the State Machine:

   • Create two states:

     • Idle

     • Walking

   • Drag in animation assets into each state

     • Idle → drop your Mixamo idle animation

     • Walking → drop your walking animation

4. Set Transitions:

   • Create transition lines between Idle ↔ Walking

   • Click on each transition arrow and set rules like:

     blueprint

     CopyEdit

     Speed > 10 // From Idle to Walk

     Speed < 5 // From Walk to Idle

      

5. Add Speed Variable

   • In the Event Graph, use:

     blueprint

     CopyEdit

     Get Velocity → Vector Length → Set Speed

      

Visual: When previewing the character in the animation BP, dragging the speed slider will trigger your character to walk or return to idle.

5. 🕹 Link to Your Character Controller

Step-by-Step:

1. Open Your Character Blueprint (e.g., BP_ThirdPersonCharacter)

2. In the Mesh Component, set the Animation Blueprint to your custom AnimBP

3. Ensure your character movement input is driving velocity (already set in most templates)

Now when you play the game, your character will:

• Stand idle

• Begin walking when the player moves

• Automatically switch states thanks to the State Machine

✅ Summary

You’ve just built a full workflow:

• 3D model creation via Meshy

• Auto-rigged and animated via Mixamo

• Imported and wired up via Unreal Engine Blueprints and State Machine logic

Want to extend this?

• Add more states like Jump, Attack, or Dance

• Blend animations for smooth transitions

• Add AI logic using Behavior Trees with animation switching