Troubleshooting
Successful captures and errors appear in Unreal’s notifications. For details and saved asset paths, open the Output Log and search for LogAnimSnapEditor.
Capture and preview
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| No facial rig found | Click Find Facial Rig. Confirm the mesh has a Default Animating Rig or select the bundled CR_AnimSnapFace. |
| No Backwards Solve event | Select a facial Control Rig with a Backwards Solve event, not a body or forwards-only rig. |
| No sequence in the preview | Select an Animation Sequence in the AnimSnap settings. |
| No curves or unrelated curves | Use animation containing native MetaHuman expression curves or supported ARKit coefficients. Bone-only clips are unsupported. |
| Neutral preview | Confirm the mesh has working facial post-processing and the source contains supported curves. Test with the bundled head. |
| Neutral captured pose | Check the source frame, use the correct rig and set Strength to 1.0. |
| Pose is missing from the library | Reopen the Control Rig Pose Library and browse to the selected Output Folder. |
| Asset name already exists | AnimSnap creates a free name automatically. Blueprint saving requires Make Unique Name or a different destination. |
Live Link
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| Invalid subject | Select an available subject and confirm it is enabled in Unreal’s Live Link panel. |
| Unexpected expression | Check whether the source sends native MetaHuman or ARKit curves. Custom actor remaps are not used by the preview. |
| Smoothing has no effect | Set Smoothing above 0% and allow the Live Link preview to run. A paused preview holds the current expression. |
| Head does not move | Enable Include Head Movement, enable head rotation in the sending app and use a mesh with compatible head post-processing. |
| Stream appears frozen | Check freshness in the Live Link panel. Some providers hold their last frame after transmission stops. |
Live Link Face must send raw ARKit head angles in radians. Animation stored only as baked bones cannot be reconstructed as pose-asset head controls.
Saving and thumbnails
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| No asset after SNAP POSE | Check Unreal’s notification and the /Game output folder. Search LogAnimSnapEditor in the Output Log. |
| Thumbnail capture fails | Keep the preview visible and wait for it to render before capture. |
| Thumbnail cuts off the face | Reframe the preview camera; the viewport image is centre-cropped to a square. |
| Output cannot be written | Use a valid /Game folder and a simple Unreal asset name. Check that the destination is writable. |
Use Show Last Saved Asset in Content Browser after a successful capture.
Live Link recording
Select Live Link Mode > Record to display RECORD and STOP. Recording needs:
- An enabled Live Link subject with supported facial curves.
- A compatible preview mesh and facial post-process.
- A valid recording folder and asset name.
A Facial Rig is not required for recording. The saved Animation Sequence contains facial curves and optional head curves; it does not contain audio or body movement.
If playback looks neutral, use a compatible MetaHuman face mesh with its normal RigLogic/post-process setup. Increasing the recording frame rate cannot restore samples that were missing from the source or editor update.
If the subject disconnects, AnimSnap stops and saves the frames already captured. Wait for the save notification before closing Unreal.
Retained recordings
A save error does not discard the performance:
- Correct the destination and choose Retry Save, or choose Save As.
- Save the recovered asset before exiting Unreal.
- Use Discard Take only if the recording is no longer needed.
A pending take prevents another recording. Closing AnimSnap keeps it in the current editor session under /Game/AnimSnap/RecoveredTakes, where it participates in Unreal’s normal Save All workflow.
Retained recordings are not crash recovery. Unsaved data is lost when the editor session ends unexpectedly.
Preview flicker or flashing shadows
The bundled head material has Cast Ray Traced Shadows disabled. If a custom head flashes, check its materials and temporarily disable Dynamic Shadows in the preview to isolate the cause.
AnimSnap keeps the preview size stable and avoids reloading unchanged assets. Flicker can still originate from project materials, temporal rendering or other editor settings.
Reporting a problem
Include the following with a support request:
- Unreal Engine version.
- Input source and curve format.
- Skeletal mesh and facial rig.
- Capture or recording settings.
- Exact on-screen error and relevant Output Log lines.
- A small reproducible animation, if it can be shared.