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Make Loopable

Mocap takes essentially never cycle - the actor's pose at the last frame does not match the first, so playing the clip on loop pops. Make Loopable turns a take into a seamless cycle. Output suffix: *_Loop.

What it does​

For every bone, the last N frames (default 8, Loop Blend Frames in Settings) are blended toward the first frame's pose using a smoothstep ramp:

  • at the blend window's start the correction is zero,
  • at the final frame the pose matches frame 0 exactly,
  • the ramp has zero slope at both ends, so no velocity pop is introduced where the correction begins or at the loop seam.

Everything before the blend window is untouched.

The root bone is skipped - on purpose​

A root-motion walk that traveled 200 cm must not have its root pulled back to the origin at the loop point - that would destroy the travel. Make Loopable therefore blends only the pose (every bone except the root):

  • In-place clips - the root is static anyway; the pose wraps seamlessly.
  • Root-motion clips - the pose wraps while the root keeps moving; on loop, UE continues the root motion from the accumulated position, which is exactly what a looping traversal montage needs.

Choosing the blend window​

WindowCharacter
4–6 framesTight, minimal alteration; needs a close start/end pose
8 (default)Good for gait cycles at 30 fps
12–16Softer correction for takes with a larger start/end mismatch

Run Check Take first - its loop mismatch line tells you how far apart the start and end poses are and whether Make Loopable is likely to produce a clean result:

  • < 1 cm / 2° - loops cleanly as-is, you may not need the action
  • < 8 cm / 15° - good candidate; default window usually suffices
  • larger - consider trimming to a better cycle first (see Trim & Split), then looping

Typical chains​

Raw take -> In Place -> Make Loopable -> blendspace clip
Raw take -> Smoothed Root Motion -> Make Loopable -> looping traversal montage