Maya and Unreal are now best friends, thanks to mGear and ueGear
The mGear team has released version 5.0, and with it comes ueGear, a plugin that promises to make life easier for animators. How? By converting Maya rigs into something Unreal Engine understands without drama. That's right, no more praying that characters don't end up as digital spaghetti when exporting. 🎮
ueGear automatically rebuilds mGear rigs inside Unreal, as if they were born there (and without teenage traumas).
Why is mGear the unsung hero of rigging?
For the uninitiated, mGear is like Lego for rigging: modular pieces that allow you to assemble skeletons and controls without needing to be a programming genius. It emerged in 2015 as an evolution of a previous tool, and since then it has been a lifesaver for many 3D artists. Among its star tools are:
- Shifter: the heart of rigging.
- Anim Picker: for selecting controls without losing your sanity.
- Crank: sculpts poses like digital clay. 🎨
The best part is that it's free and open source, though it's not alone in the world: it's backed by mcsGear, a company that offers professional support. Come on, it's not an abandoned project on the dark web.
ueGear: the bridge everyone needed (but didn't know)
The big novelty is ueGear, which acts as a translator between Maya and Unreal. Imagine being able to animate in Maya and see your character move in Unreal without cursing in 3 languages. That said, it's not perfect: it doesn't yet support Unreal 5.4's Modular Control Rig, but it's a huge advancement. Plus, it works with:
- Character rigs.
- Cameras and animations.
- Full sequences. 🎥
That said, if you're expecting it to work with Blender, keep dreaming. Some rivalries never die. 😏
Goodbye PyMEL, hello PyMaya (and fewer headaches)
Version 5.0 also brings important technical changes: PyMEL has been replaced by PyMaya. Why? Because PyMEL is no longer maintained and was like carrying a vinyl record in the digital age. PyMaya is lighter and ensures compatibility with future Maya versions. That said, it's not backward compatible, so if you used PyMEL, adjustments are needed. 💻
mGear 5.0 works with Maya 2025 and 2026 on Windows, macOS, and Linux, although some features are Windows-exclusive. And yes, Python 2 has been sent to the trunk of memories, as it should be.
Download, use, and modify (the power of open source)
Both tools are under the MIT license, so you can download them, modify them, or even make your own version "mGear but with memes" if you get bored. Everything is available on GitHub, ready to save your workflow.
And as a final reflection: it's curious that a tool designed to simplify rigging ends up making artists spend more time with Python than with keyframes. But hey, at least now they can complain in real time inside Unreal. 🚀