# Mesh to MetaHuman — Considerations Two routes turn a sculpt or scan into a rigged MetaHuman in Unreal Engine 5.8. Pick one per character. | Route | Input | Output | Use when | |---|---|---|---| | **MetaHuman Identity → From Mesh** ("Mesh to MetaHuman") | Head mesh (FBX/OBJ), any topology | Rigged head DNA via cloud Identity Solve and Auto-Rig | The head likeness matters most; body built in Creator | | **MetaHuman Creator → From Custom Mesh** (5.8) | Full character or head + body, any topology | Standard MetaHuman topology in A-pose, head and body conformed | A sculpted full body (period build, age, height) must be kept | ## From Mesh (Identity) steps 1. Import the mesh (**OBJ** recommended above about 200k vertices; enable *Combine Meshes*). 2. Prepare: fix materials; remove UV-split or vertex-split artifacts. 3. Create a **MetaHuman Identity** asset; *Create Components → From Mesh*. 4. Set viewport lighting: **Unlit** for albedo-textured meshes; otherwise flat, front-facing, symmetrical light. 5. Frame the **neutral pose** with a camera field of view of **20° or less**. 6. **Promote frames**: a frontal frame is required; extra frames for ears and nostrils help. 7. **Track markers**, lock frames, correct misplaced markers by hand (eye corners, lip corners, nostrils). 8. Run **Identity Solve**, then **Auto-Rig** (cloud service; needs an Epic account connection). 9. Open the result in MetaHuman Creator. ## From Custom Mesh (Creator) steps 1. Import as *Full Character* or *Head and Body*. 2. Run **Auto Solve**. 3. Refine with **keypoints** if the fit drifts; use manual solve steps if needed. 4. Export as DNA or continue in Creator. ## What makes it fail | Problem | Symptom | Fix | |---|---|---| | Closed eyes, empty sockets, no sclera contrast | Trackers miss the eyes | Model open eyes with white sclera ([[ZBrush — Sculpting for MetaHuman]]) | | Lips parted or intersecting | Mouth corners and lip line solve badly | Seal the lips cleanly | | Hair mass on the sculpt | Forehead and cranium distorted | Sculpt the skull; hair becomes a groom | | Poor lighting on an untextured mesh | Markers jitter | Use albedo or flat symmetrical light | | Wrong scale or orientation | Solve fails or head is tiny/huge | Fix in DCC before import | | Loose clothing on the body mesh | Body fits the garment, not the anatomy | Sculpt the body nude or in tight clothing | | Stylized proportions | Pinching and volume loss in animation | Keep realistic morphology | | Large FBX | Import problems | Use OBJ | ## Considerations for historical figures - **No living subject to scan.** Likeness comes from a sculpt, so the solve smooths toward the MetaHuman database of real heads. Expect to reintroduce distinctive features later in Maya's Neutral Pose editing ([[MetaHuman for Maya — Considerations]]). - **Solve first, sculpt second.** Epic recommends Mesh to MetaHuman auto-rigging as the first pass, then refinement on the rigged head, rather than perfecting a sculpt that will be smoothed anyway. - **Keep the texture evidence.** The original textures transfer to the auto-rigged mesh; keep the albedo so the Creator skin can be matched to it. - **Version everything.** Save the Identity asset, promoted frames and DNA per iteration so the historian can compare versions. - **Label the reconstruction.** If the face comes from a sculpt rather than a photograph-accurate scan, the splash card says so. **Owner:** character artist. Tutorials: [[MetaHuman — Tutorials]] Sources: [[Sources — 2026-09-19]]