Can’t move the mesh via the bones (as i can on the Dude model). Can only move the mesh via transform nodes. Assume that this is not the right way?
The way glTF skeletons work in Babylon.js is a bit different. glTF uses nodes for bones. To mimic this behavior in Babylon.js, the bones are linked to transform nodes in the scene. If you move the bone, it will immediately be overridden by the transform of the linked node. I know this is confusing, but we haven’t found a better way to do this yet.
There is an extra bone at the feet
I think you are talking about the debug skeleton viewer showing the connection from the root of the skeleton to the first level bones. In the glTF skeleton, there are two bones shin.L.001 and shin.R.001 which have no children.