Skeletal Mesh Import

Automatically import bone-based meshes with full skinning

Auto Detection

When Auto Detect Skeletal Mesh is enabled in Initialize FBX Load, the plugin inspects every mesh node in the FBX. If a node contains bone data (skin weights + a skeleton hierarchy), it is automatically imported as a USkeletalMeshNode rather than a standard geometry node.

The generated component is a UProceduralSkeletalMeshComponent — a subclass of ProceduralMeshComponent that handles CPU-side skinning each frame by applying bone transforms to the vertex positions in real time.

What Gets Created

DataWhere it lives
Bone hierarchyUSkeletalMeshNode.BoneInfos — array of bone names, parent indices, and transforms
Skin weightsStored per-vertex inside FProceduralMeshData.SkinWeights
Procedural skeletal componentUSkeletalMeshNode.ProcMeshComponent — the rendered skinned mesh in the actor
Reference pose transformsStored internally for skinning math

Querying Skeletal Mesh Nodes

After import completes, call Get Skeletal Mesh Nodes on the spawned FBX Mesh Actor to retrieve all bone-based mesh nodes. If a character has multiple skinned parts (head, body, outfit), each is a separate USkeletalMeshNode.

You can also call Get Skeletal Mesh Node From Actor on the FBX Import Manager, passing the actor reference and a skeletal mesh index (0 for the first one), as a shortcut.

Bone Visualization (Debug)

Enable a visual overlay of the skeleton for debugging. Call these on the FBX Import Manager:

NodeParameters
Toggle Bone VisualizationSkeletal Mesh Node reference, boolean to show/hide
Set Bone Visualization SettingsBone size (float), bone color (FColor), line thickness (float)
💡 Bone visualization draws in screen space each tick via the UProceduralSkeletalMeshComponent. Disable it before shipping.
Runtime FBX Import for Unreal Engine - Documentation | Athian Games