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Epic Games is launching early access for its MetaHuman Creator tool, which enables people to create realistic animated human characters within minutes.
Epic Games unveiled the tool in February, and it had an overwhelming response from people who tried out the tool and created two MetaHuman sample characters with it. Now early access users will be able to use it directly in Unreal Engine, or for further editing in a DCC application like Autodesk Maya.
Due to the cloud-based nature of the application, Epic Games said it will add applicants gradually, so it may take a few days before you get your turn. We’ll have a panel on MetaHumans with Paul Doyle and Vladimir Mastilović of Epic Games at our GamesBeat Summit 2021 event on April 28-29. Wanda Meloni of M2 Insights will moderate the session.
For those who just want to get started with digital humans right away in Unreal Engine, Epic Games is also providing over 50 ready-made MetaHumans for download and use in projects, availalbe directly from Quixel Bridge. You have to download the free application and click on the MetaHumans section.
MetaHuman Creator is a cloud-based application that enables you to quickly and easily create unique, high-fidelity digital humans that Epic Games calls MetaHumans. You can directly manipulate facial features, adjust skin complexion, edit teeth, and select from a preset range of body types, hairstyles, clothing, and more. When your character is finished, you can export and download it –rigged and ready to animate in Unreal Engine.
Above: You can use the MetaHuman Creator tool in Unreal Engine.
Image Credit: Epic Games
MetaHuman Creator combines technology from industry leaders 3Lateral and Cubic Motion — both now part of Epic Games — and makes it accessible to all. Previously, it was possible to create assets of this caliber only through extremely time-consuming and expensive in-house methods or outsourcing.
MetaHuman Creator is free to use in Unreal Engine projects. This means that MetaHuman assets must be rendered with Unreal Engine. It requires a Windows or MacOS computer with internet access and a Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari web browser. You will also need an Epic Games account. To download your MetaHumans, you will need to install the free Quixel Bridge application.
MetaHumans require Unreal Engine 4.26.2 or later. MetaHuman source assets can be downloaded for animating in Autodesk Maya. However, you cannot publish MetaHumans as final content unless rendered with Unreal Engine.
Characters generated in MetaHuman Creator, including those in the sample project, are licensed for use in Unreal Engine projects. This means that you must render MetaHumans with Unreal Engine; you cannot render them outside of Unreal Engine.
Epic Games said that MetaHuman Creator and the MetaHuman assets may not be used for the purpose of building or enhancing any database, training or testing any artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, or similar technologies.
This version of the MetaHuman Creator tool itself cannot run in game — it is an external content creation application. The MetaHuman assets it generates are for real-time use in Unreal Engine, but are definitely at the resource-hungry end of the spectrum.
Epic Games supports Unreal Engine’s Live Link Face iOS app. It is also currently working with vendors on providing support for ARKit, DI4D, Digital Domain, Dynamixyz, Faceware, JALI, Speech Graphics, and Cubic Motion solutions.
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