Mesh to MetaHuman is a new way to create a MetaHuman from a 3D character mesh created in an external application.
This page presents an overview of the Mesh to MetaHuman essential concepts and features.
System Requirements
Mesh to MetaHuman requires the following:
The latest version of MetaHuman Creator.
Unreal Engine 5.0 or newer.
Installing and enabling the latest version of the MetaHuman plugin in Unreal Engine.
Microsoft Windows (currently unsupported on macOS and Linux).
How It Works
The steps to create a MetaHuman are explained in detail on the Mesh to MetaHuman Quick Start page.
The key concepts are explained below.
Key Concepts
The Mesh to MetaHuman system uses the following essential concepts:
|
Term |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Character mesh |
The Static Mesh or Skeletal Mesh used to create a MetaHuman. This can be in FBX or OBJ format. |
|
Promoting a frame |
Taking a 2D snapshot of the Viewport in the MetaHuman Identity Asset Editor. This frame is tracked (refer to Tracker, below). The resulting image is called a Promoted Frame. |
|
Neutral Pose |
A reference to the mesh representing the face's neutral facial expression. |
|
Tracker |
A process that tracks markers onto facial features on the Neutral Pose. |
|
Marker |
A collection of sequential points on a curve that tracks specific facial features. Markers have control points that you can drag to adjust. |
|
Identity Solve |
The process of fitting the Template Mesh topology onto the target mesh volume. This process happens locally. |
|
MetaHuman Backend |
The cloud service that creates a MetaHuman based on the Template Mesh. |
|
Template Mesh |
The Template Mesh exists inside the MetaHuman Identity Asset. It is a standard topology head that can be fitted onto any appropriate target. |
MetaHuman Identity Asset
At the core of the Mesh to MetaHuman system lies a MetaHuman Identity Asset. When you create a MetaHuman Identity Asset and import a character mesh, it is empty at first. After you select a mesh using the Create Components from Mesh action, the following Components are automatically created:
Face, which has the following Components:
Template Mesh: Contains the auto-generated mesh submitted to the MetaHuman backend.
Neutral Pose: Contains the frame, or frames, that the system uses to track the facial features of your character mesh. You promote these frames manually.
Body, where you can define the body type (height, weight, and gender presentation) of the MetaHuman created.
The process also creates a Capture Data Asset and automatically populates it with the necessary data.
Privacy Notice
Your scan data, or whatever input you use, is never uploaded to the MetaHuman backend service. It's only ever stored locally on your machine and is not ever made available to Epic Games. The generated mesh data (based on the scan) is discarded once the MetaHuman version of your character has been created and is not stored on our end.
The generated MetaHuman only uses the geometry of the scan data. We do not upload any textures or any other visual information, and so the character generated is not a "true" likeness of the scan. Without their hair or skin texture, they can look significantly different.
Likewise, we don't capture any metadata about the scan or anything as part of the creation process. Once you've created the MetaHuman, you have full control over and are able to delete them, and we do not keep any backups of that character. The data is not used in our database or made available to anyone other than the holder of the account that performed the Mesh to MetaHuman operation.
To tie this back to the EULA, the MHC EULA states that you retain all rights to the data you upload ("You and your licensors own all title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in the UGC you upload to MetaHuman Creator") and that we use such data to allow you (and not other clients) to use MHC ("You hereby grant to Epic a non-exclusive, fully-paid, royalty-free, and revocable license to use the UGC to enable your use of MetaHuman Creator with your UGC").
We do not perform facial recognition.