How to Load and Set Skeletal Mesh and Animation in Unreal Engine 5 at Runtime

Learn how to dynamically load and set skeletal mesh and animation for vehicles in Unreal Engine 5 using C+ + . This guide helps you troubleshoot common issues and optimize your workflow.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/73898385/ asked by the user 'Mauro Dorni' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8772066/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/73916623/ provided by the user 'Mauro Dorni' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/8772066/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Load and Set Skeletal Mesh and Animation in Unreal Engine 5 at Runtime

In game development, especially when working with Unreal Engine 5, you'll often need to dynamically change assets such as skeletal meshes and animations depending on player choices or game situations. A common scenario arises when you're working with vehicle classes – you might want to load different car models and their associated animations at runtime rather than setting them up in the editor.

In this guide, we'll explore an often-encountered issue: why skeletal animations might not work correctly when loading assets programmatically, and how to troubleshoot and solve this problem so that your vehicles behave as expected.

The Problem

While experimenting with a generic vehicle class derived from AWheeledVehiclePawn, a user reported facing a peculiar situation. Everything works fine when cars are set up from the Unreal Editor. However, when trying to programmatically set skeletal mesh and wheels animations in code based on vehicle type, the animations do not function as intended:

The skeletal mesh appears to load correctly.

The wheels do not spin or steer as expected; the animations are not shown.

The objective is clear: how to ensure both the mesh and animations load correctly at runtime effectively.

Analyzing the Code

Let’s take a closer look at the provided code. The following key components are included:

Class Declaration:
The vehicle class is declared and inherits from AWheeledVehiclePawn.

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Loading Assets:
In the constructor, various assets for the mesh, skeleton, and animation blueprint are loaded using ConstructorHelpers::FObjectFinder.

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Setting Assets:
After obtaining the correct references based on the vehicle type, SetMeshAndAnim() is called to assign the skeletal mesh and animation instance class.

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Identifying the Issue

Upon troubleshooting, it was discovered that the problem stemmed from the absence of a controller associated with the spawned actor. Without a correct controller, the ChaosVehicleComponent was unable to set throttle and steering values, which effectively halted the animation response.

The Solution

To resolve this issue, the following steps were implemented:

Add an AI Controller:
An AI Controller is used to control the vehicle. By setting one up and ensuring that the vehicle is associated with it during instantiation, the necessary input values can be passed to the vehicle's components.

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Implement Automatic Movement Logic:
Move automatic movement logic into the AI Controller. This step allows the vehicle to receive appropriate throttle and steering inputs, which enables the animation to work correctly.

Assign the Controller During Spawn:
When the vehicle is spawned, ensure that its associated AI Controller is set correctly so that it can handle the input.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

When working with dynamic asset loading in Unreal Engine, particularly for vehicles, it is crucial to ensure that all necessary components are linked correctly. The key takeaway here is to always check that associated controllers are present and adequately configured, as they can significantly affect how animations and inputs are processed.

By following the outlined steps, you will be able to seamlessly load skeletal meshes and animations for various vehicle types at runtime, ensuring that your vehicles not only look great but also perform as intended. Happy developing in Unreal Engine 5!

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