I’m still pretty new at Blender so forgive me if I don’t use the right lingo. I’ve created a simple armature for human characters and I’d like to apply it to a new character mesh. I selected just the armature and exported it as a .fbx. I was sure to check the box “selected objects” and unchecked “leaf bones”. When I import the armature .fbx, something happens that I cannot explain. Some of the bones become rescaled, rotated, and some are even unconnected. In the image attached, the armature on the left is the original, and the one on the right is what it changes into when I import it. Any clue why this is happening?
Welcome to BA!
On the basis that your are getting your armature from another blend file (it looks like that from your images) there’s no need to export it to get it from one blend file to another - you simply click “File” => “Append”, select the blend file containing the armature, then click the “Object” folder, then chose the object you want - the armature, then click the “Append from Library” button and it will be added to your current blend file - you can checkout the Help files for more info here.
Make sure you have applied any scales or rotations before you append the armature, or you may have problems later on when it comes to parenting the mesh to the armature. To apply these values, select the armature in Object mode, key CTRL+A then chose “Rotation and Scale”.
I notice you have no “root” bone in your armature, this bone should be between the legs on the floor, not connected to anything and you would parent any major bones to it, like the pelvis for example and any IK/Pole targets you may have. You then use this bone to move the entire character around your scene. Check out the Rigify armature (Rigify is an add-on) to see how a biped armature should be built.
It may be worth your while getting the MakeHuman software and making yourself a rigged character this way - you just import them into Blender with the MakeHuman Add-on. This is a good way to see how a biped character should be built, rigged, UV mapped, etc. etc.
Also, you have no “Hip” bones connecting the legs to the pelvis - you should have these bones in place or the character will not pose properly.
A little Internet searching on these points I have mentioned will stand you in good stead for your future modelling, as would a look at the “Humane Rigging” tutorials by Nathan Vegdahl (just Internet search it), you can either buy it (preferred) or you may find some bits on YouTube.
Cheers, Clock.
Thank you for the helpful tips!