Hello, confusing Roblox Community! This tutorial only explains how to do the thing that the title already mentions. Note this guide won’t explain how to rig stuff. I have a separate Guide for that HERE
If you found this guide on how to export the Roblox R6/15 Model to Blender please go to this guide. My guide will not go over R6/15 rigs only Custom Rigs.
There are some fixes at the bottom of the Post in case you are having any of the following issues. If none of them worked please reach out to me on Discord (yunarte)
Anyways you are probably here to export your custom rig to Roblox. Well just follow this tutorial the right way and you are gonna be fine. hopefully
The Export Process Custom Player Model
For any models that are on a different Plattform, please export that model and import said Model to Blender. If its already in Blender please proceed with the following steps
First steps
Make sure your Model is in its Default Pose State or Tpose. If the Model is not in the Default Pose or Tpose please make sure for it to be in the Default pose. If the Model is made in Blender then set it to the Default Pose and reset its Location, Rotation, and Scale (Scale might not be needed unless you do scale stuff on the Model)
To reset the Pose press and hold down the ALT Key then press the following Keys below.
Press R this will clear the Rotation
Press G this will clear the Location
Press S this will remove the Scale
(If you have different Keys assigned for Scale Rotation and Location then use the Keys you have setup)
Exit the Pose mode or whatever mode you are in at the moment and enter Object mode
Is your Model in the Default Pose Yes? Ok, now we can Proceed.
Select the Player Model Mesh and the Armature of the Rig
If you did it correctly it should have an Orange Outline (Your outline might be different so don’t get confused but the default color is orange on Blender)
Be careful now. Make sure that you don’t deselect the Objects you have currently Selected.
Find the File Button on your Blender instance
Click the File button a dropdown menu should appear
Hover over the Export Button and then move your mouse to the file options you wish to export
I only recommend FBX here because other options won’t work or will I’m not sure because I didn’t test it.
If you are unsure what I meant look at the Screenshot
Now if you click on the FBX Export option the Export Window opens
Give your file one name for example ExampleName.fbx
You removed the .fbx part by accident don’t worry Blender remembers what file you export
Second, find a location where you want to save your file. You can choose a Folder as your save location or the Desktop if you are too lazy to look for it later on
The Include window
This Window might look overwhelming at first
First, click Limit to Selected Objects
then the Object types you only need the mesh and Armature so select these 2 and don’t enable anything else
On Transform keep everything as it is
On Geometry same as in Transform
In Armature Disable Add Leaf Bones
In Bake Animation Disable that whole category
Set your Options like they are in the Screenshot
To select more than one Object type Hold down Shift or Ctrl and click on the Object type
Check if everything is exactly the same as in the Screenshots
If everything looks the same hit export
Now onto the next Step
Importing the Mesh Rig into Roblox [Is gonna be removed someday]
Now that we have the Mesh Exported from Blender and packaged into the fbx File format.
I will now explain how to import it into Blender
Importing Custom Player Models takes some time I recommend doing it in a Studio instance where the Team Create option is not active. However, you can still use the Team Create option but it will take a bit longer and will cause the Mesh to be invisible for you sometimes.
Now that Roblox Studio is open look for the Plugin category.
This plugin is a built-in Roblox Plugin so no need to look for one Plugin that Imports the player Model
Click it and 4 Options will appear
Ignore the first 3 and select the 4th Option
You will be now required to upload your Custom Rig
Secondly, find the file you exported from Blender and import it
Now, this is the part where I said this will be faster if done on a Single Studio Instance. If you are using a Shared Instance then this process will take a while. So grab some snacks or drink while you wait. And Let Roblox do its Magic.
Now Your Model might look oversized in Studio. This is a common mistake that everyone has done including myself. The reason the Player Model is so large is that Roblox does not scale down Custom Player Models that are from Blender or any other Software. So go back into Blender, Scale the Player Model down, and Reexport the Player Model. This will require Trail and Error to get the right size. So Spawn one Dummy into your Workspace so you can compare the size with your Player Model and Dummy.
However, if you don’t care about the size of the Player Model then keep it as it is for now and follow the Tutorial
Importing the Roblox Character to Roblox [Recommended]
Follow the process similar to the Old Way
However, you can now use the Mesh Importer Tool. The icon might look differently or is now called Differently.
Warning: Please do not change the size that it presents this will only cause issues
If you have objects you accidentally imported you can now remove them on the selection window Roblox gives you. However, if still issues arise I recommend exporting it again to have no strange artifact objects in the file
Importing the Animation on the Custom Mesh
Now the Player Model is inside Studio
Locate the Plugin Tab and look for the Animator Plugin that is Built-in inside Studio by default. Using other Plugins might not work
Click on the Plugin and now a window has appeared telling you to select a Rig. Select the Custom Player Model. Then Roblox will yell at you to give the first animation one name you can Use A or 1 for its name and hit Create. I will go with an Example Name for this Tutorial.
Find the 3 Dots in the Roblox Animator Plugin. It mostly appears next to the Animation Name. And click the 3 Dots
Red Arrow will help you more
Now you have another Dropdown Menu (Wow so cool more Menu navigation)
1 Fancy Button called Import appears to hover over it to gain the other menu
The menu will show 2 buttons use the FBX Option not from Roblox because it won’t work anyways
Probably many noticed I never explained how to export the Animation out of Blender don’t worry the part on how to export will present to you below this
Exporting the Animation from Blender
What you need to do is
Check that the Player Model or Model is in the Default Pose
Then on the Export Part Select Armature Only. Why? So you can import the animation through Roblox’s Animator
If you import it with the Mesh you will get a lot of issues so make sure Mesh is turned off
The Process is the same as you did the first time when Exporting the Player Model but minus the Mesh.
First, repeat the same steps as you did when exporting the Player Model out of Blender but still make sure you have only the Armature selected
Now that you are in the Export window again
I will ask you to give the FBX file one name you can name it how you want. I will go with ExampleAnimation.fbx
Now before we ever hit the export button we need to change some stuff up again in the Export Window on the right side
Make sure every option is 1 to 1 with the screenshots if they are not the same then it won’t work or will cause issues.
You have everything Perfectly set then Hit the Export Button.
Finally Importing the Animation
Now if you followed this Tutorial Properly you shouldn’t have any issues. If you don’t understand anything just go back and reread it
If you are at this point of the Tutorial Roblox will yell at you with 2 options.
The Fbx option or Selected option
From my experience, the FBX Option didn’t want to work for me. So I recommend using the Selected Option. If Selected doesn’t work for you use FBX. If the rig animation glitches out clear the animation keyframe tracks and reimport the animation. If it still breaks reimport the whole model again.
If nothing broke congrats you have finished the Tutorial.
Now one extra note
If you have exported the Animations before the Player Model and imported them to the scaled-down Rig Roblox will load in the old bone data so don’t panic if the Model broke. Scale down the Rig down first and then re-export the animations in the new scale
One animation that didn’t break during import and exporting
Have fun with this now
If the meshes ever have odd deforms check out my other Tutorial for a fix HERE
Common Issues/Mistakes:
The animation is stretched out!!!
Fix: Scale it down in Blender and reexport the model and the animations.
The Model is not moving!!
Are you sure you exported the Model with the Armature? If you haven’t tried that option
There are more bones than usual!!!
Roblox added them so they are “connected” This is very annoying but easy to fix
The Fix:
Add extra bones in the empty spaces but don’t give them any weight paint affections.
The mesh doesn’t show up!!!
Are you sure you had Mesh and Armature on the Export Tab active?
Or
Decrease your triangle count dear god what are you doing
The animation is freaking out on the Selected option!!!
Try the FBX Option
There are fewer bones than usual!!!
Despite the “fix”, Roblox mentioned with the bones, it still doesn’t display them right. If there is an ending bone it gets force shifted to the second last bone front connection
The animation is freaking out on the Selected and FBX option!!!
Get a fresh new model this might fix it
The animation freaks out on the new model as well!!
Redo the export process. If it still breaks restart Studio and try again but in a place without Teamcreate
My model keeps breaking on the Character Import Plugin!!!
There are 2 causes why this breaks one maybe you have a leftover Armature Rig somewhere which you have selected
Other Issues wrongly rigged/parented wrongly
If you have a stationary model (ie a boat) then export the model without an armature skeleton. Then rig it inside Roblox with these plugins RigEdit Lite or RigEdit Plus . RigEdit has a Guide on how to use it so go check that Guide HERE
The rig I imported to Blender doesn’t work with the animation I made!!!
To clarify If you used the Import Rig to Blender/Export Animation to Roblox Plugin then the animations won’t apply themselves to your rig. THIS TUTORIAL IS FOR SKINNED MESH/ARMATURE MESHES
If I scale up something in the animation does the scale change also get transferred to Roblox?
Yes, it does if you choose the Keyframe System Scale, Rotation & Location then the scale change will happen. Unsure if Robloxs allows the scale metadata still try it out and find out
Does this work for any blender version?
It should the Ui might be slightly different but it should pretty much be the same
The Mesh doesn’t show up but the bones do!!
If the model has too many triangles it won’t show itself so reduce the triangle count
The Animation is still moving weirdly despite using Roblox’s official R15 rig!!
If you used Roblox’s official Blender Rig and followed their guide it really isn’t perfect it still has issues. Making your own Sekelton Rig is better than a premade one.
Can I apply R15 Animations on my Character/Model?
Yes you can all you have to do is name the bones the same name as they are named in a Roblox R15 character
My R15 Animations won’t apply to my Custom Character in Studio the right way!!
Solution 1: Remake the whole Animation in Roblox’s Animator
Solution 2: Check for issues you have on your Rig in Blender. If it’s exported from Roblox to Blender this post isn’t for you.
Solution 3: If its some slight weird movement issues fix them inside Studio
I have a Mixamo Animation it doesn’t apply the right way!!
Good look somewhere else with your issue. Stop being lazy and make the animations with your own Hands
I use Roblox’s Video to Animation Option and it doesn’t work right!!
Read wats under the Mixamo Issue. I won’t say it twice
The model was imported without issues but nothing works!!
Fix: Please name your Model in Blender and Please NAME the BONES as well since Roblox doesn’t know what to do if everything is called Bone, or whatever name you gave it
My model moves weirdly in blender!!!
Solution make sure the armature you have is rigged correctly having the armature setup wrongly will cause issues
Update log:
- If you find any more issues DM me on Discord (yunarte)
- Added another fix that recently showed up for a user
