Meet MetaHuman, Epic’s Unreal Cloud-Powered 3D Character Creator
Create realistic digital humans without leaving your browser
Character models that have contested among the uncanny valley are among the hardest parts of game development. From intricate details to compelling performances via mo-cap techniques, they’re difficult to perfect. Designing a 3D model for a character is a process that takes hours and several iterations before being implemented into a videogame. As someone who knows how tough Photoshop can be, I shudder at the thought of a browser application that can create realistic character models. With MetaHuman Creator, Epic Games promises to get it done in “less than an hour.”
Run in the cloud via Epic Games’ Unreal Engine Pixel Streaming, the company behind Fortnite and the expansive Unreal Engine promises to revamp game development workflows with their newly unveiled product. With the ability to run in your browser, Epic’s new “metahumans” seek to redefine how digital characters with hyper-realistic animations and expressions are born. In a demo shown off on YouTube earlier today, two characters deliver a riveting performance with Epic’s new data-powered tool running under the hood.
Realistic human models in indie entertainment
With a powerful editor that runs in a browser, Epic’s new service has the potential to greatly reduce the complexity in creating believable characters in mediums ranging from videogames to TV shows and advertisements. MetaHuman Creator gives you the ability to pick from 30 different hair types, 18 proportioned body types, and several clothing options. Epic also promises to let developers add in their own custom additions to further personalize the experience. With VTubers becoming more prominent across platforms like YouTube and TikTok, this tool could serve as a cradle to humanity’s ardent desire for anonymity and identity.
Once the model is created, users can download it, fully rigged and ready for animation. Source data will also be available to creators in the form of a Maya file. Developers have the option to import into other programs to add motion performances or finer details. Epic plans to hold an early access period in the coming months and has already created finished sample models for designers to play with. The only real caveat seems to be a limit on where you can use these models. As long as you use these models in Unreal Engine-based projects, you should be good to go.
With next-gen consoles and beefy graphic cards seeping into consumers’ homes, MetaHuman Creator’s potential is limitless. If done right, it could bridge the gap between indie developers and elaborate AAA titles created by studios with over a thousand employees. With acquisitions like 3Lateral, Cubic Motion, and Quixel being put to good use by Epic, the tool certainly looks promising. Unreal Engine’s Live Link Face iOS app could serve as an affordable gate of entry to adding real-time face capture to these new metahumans.
Epic’s new tool could also drastically reduce the time it takes to animate multiple characters. Animations created for one MetaHuman will run on other MetaHumans. This lets users reuse a single performance across multiple Unreal Engine characters in a fraction of the time it would take to animate each character individually. If you’d like to learn more about how Epic Games brought this tool to life, head over to Unreal Engine’s blog and sign up for updates. I can’t wait to see how developers of all sizes take advantage of MetaHuman Creator to amp up the traditional game development cycle in the upcoming months.
