Foot IK Tutorial in Unreal Engine 5 with Custom Character - Realistic Foot Placement

Overview

Learn how to implement Foot Inverse Kinematics (IK) for custom characters in Unreal Engine 5 to achieve realistic foot placement on sloped surfaces. Explore the process of creating an IK rig setup, importing and retargeting character animations, and adding IK through control rig. Discover techniques for fixing feet z-location, setting up IK Rig assets for characters without IK bones, and implementing simple traces to test IK functionality. Master the art of polishing collisions and fine-tuning IK feet to work seamlessly with your character, resulting in more lifelike movement and improved visual quality in your Unreal Engine 5 projects.

Syllabus

Intro
Brief definition of Inverse Kinematics in Unreal Engine
Creating the project and checking the IK rig setup done by Epic
Importing the character
Adding IK through control rig
Identifying the problem and start retargeting
Retargeting the needed animations and testing them
Retargeting the complete animation blueprint
Fixing the feet z location in control rig
How to add Foot IK to a character that doesn't have IK bones
Setting up the IK Rig asset of our character
Adding a simple trace to test if our IK rig asset works
Making the IK feet work with our character and polish the collisions