In April 2021, MetaHuman for Unreal Engine was released in Early Access, providing users with the ability to easily create highly realistic digital characters. However, the major limitation was that users had to begin with a character provided by Epic Games. This limitation has been lifted with the release of the MetaHuman plugin for UE5 on the Windows platform.
The MetaHuman plugin’s primary feature, Mesh to MetaHuman, allows artists to convert their own custom facial mesh into a fully rigged and animatable MetaHuman. This process begins with a textured mesh created using scanning, sculpting, or traditional modeling tools. Automated landmark tracking in UE5 fits the MetaHuman topology template to the mesh and combines it with a body type of the artist’s choice from the MetaHuman options. The template is then submitted to the cloud and matched to a best-fit MetaHuman from the database. This mesh drives the facial rig, while the original mesh’s deltas are also included.
Once the static mesh is transformed into a MetaHuman, artists can download it or open it in MetaHuman Creator to see the character come to life and make further adjustments. Although some elements like hair and skin textures may need to be reapplied in MetaHuman Creator or another tool, Mesh to MetaHuman provides a starting point for a fully rigged digital human in just minutes.
Below is a step-by-step video that can help you discover the process of creating your own MetaHuman in UE5.
