Epic Games shared two videos, which you can watch below, showcasing examples built using the MetaHuman Creator, a cloud-streamed app.
MetaHuman Creator was designed to accelerate the creation of digital humans from weeks or months to less than an hour – and there’s absolutely no compromise on quality.
Epic Games’ app uses a library of variants of human appearance and motion. It allows users to create convincing digital people and characteristics.
Users can select from various preset faces in the diverse database, and can choose from around 30 hairstyles using Unreal Engine’s strand-based hair.
Accelerating the creation of digital humans
They can also choose from various clothing options, as well as 18 different body types. Once created, the digital person can be downloaded via Quixel Bridge.
“Up until now, one of the most arduous tasks in 3D content creation has been constructing truly convincing digital humans,” said Vladimir Mastilovic, VP of Digital Humans Technology at Epic Games.
“Even the most experienced artists require significant amounts of time, effort, and equipment, just for one character.
“After decades of research and development, and thanks to bringing companies like 3Lateral, Cubic Motion, and Quixel into the Epic family, that barrier is being erased through Unreal Engine, and we’re thrilled to introduce MetaHuman Creator.”
The asset is then ready for animation and motion capture in Unreal Engine. In addition, users can get source data in a Maya file, including meshes, skeleton, facial rig and animation controls.
Convincing digital people and characteristics
Next, the digital human can be animated using performance capture tools, including Unreal Engine’s Live Link Face iOS app.
Epic Games is also working to provide support for ARKit, DI4D, Digital Domain, Dynamixyz, Faceware, JALI, Speech Graphics and Cubic Motion.
MetaHuman Creator will be ready to test drive as part of an early access programme in the coming months. If you can’t wait until then, Epic Games has created two sample humans. These are available now to explore and modify in Unreal Engine 4.26.1 or later.
MetaHuman Creator could be used at theme parks and other attractions to create lifelike characters. Disney Research recently unveiled a skinless robot that can imitate human facial movements.
