# Tutorial — Single-Camera Body Capture *Augmented Traveler local tutorial.* Back to [[Mocap — Tutorials]] · capture day: [[Tutorial — Running a Capture Day]] · cleanup: [[Tutorial — HumanIK Mocap Cleanup for MetaHuman]] How to get **body and finger animation from one ordinary video camera** with Epic's **MetaHuman Animator Markerless Motion Capture** plugin (UE 5.8). We plan to use it for previs, the gesture library and idles, and to keep the suit or optical stage for hero monologues until the test in section 8 says otherwise. > **Draft.** Written from Epic's mono-video and video-capture guidance, the MetaHuman 5.8 release notes, CG Channel and Digital Production coverage, and user reports on Epic's forum. **The feature is experimental:** Epic says it is not production-ready and may change or be removed. The technical animator validates this page. Correct menu names here. ## 1. What it does (verified) - **Body, fingers and optionally face** from the same footage, for **one actor**, from **one camera** (MetaHuman 5.8 release notes; CG Channel). - **Offline and local.** Processing runs on the workstation; footage never leaves it (Digital Production). - **Free plugin on Fab,** licensed for commercial use; released 18 June 2026 with UE 5.8 (CG Channel). - **Two paths** (Epic): - **single camera:** face and body solved independently from the same video; - **dual camera:** head-mounted camera for face plus a reference camera for body, combined in a Level Sequence. - **Export:** to an existing MetaHuman skeleton, or a **Performer Skeleton** built from the actor's proportions for retargeting to other characters. ## 2. Requirements | Item | Requirement | Source | |---|---|---| | Engine | Unreal Engine 5.8 or later | Epic | | OS | **Windows only** for body or face-and-body | Epic | | Plugins | MetaHuman Animator; Capture Manager Editor; **MetaHuman Animator Markerless Motion Capture** (Fab) | Epic | | App | Live Link Hub (for Capture Manager ingest) | Epic | | Hardware | Recommended: 16 physical high-performance CPU cores, 32 GB RAM, 8 GB VRAM GPU (RTX 3070 class), DirectX 12 default RHI | Digital Production, quoting Epic | | Tools | ffmpeg path set in Live Link Hub for video conversion | note.com walkthrough (unconfirmed by Epic; check) | Our RTX 5090/5080 workstations exceed this ([[Hardware — Development Specifications]]). **Speed:** about one second of 1080p footage processes in under a minute (CG Channel). A 60 s idle take is therefore up to an hour. Queue takes overnight. ## 3. Camera, lighting and clothing From Epic's video capture guidelines: 1. **Static camera** on a tripod. Results fall off with a moving camera. 2. **Resolution HD or 4K; 60 fps;** H.264 at CRF 18 or better (about 25 Mbps for HD). 3. **Framing:** the **whole body, head to feet, with clear margins** on every side. Straight-on, neutral height. - Leave margin for arm extension on the telescope and pointing gestures. 4. **Lighting:** even, diffused, covering head to feet. No harsh key light, no strong shadows. 5. **Background:** high contrast with the performer. 6. **Clothing:** form-fitting or neutral fit, a different colour from background and floor. - **This conflicts with period costume.** Full skirts hide the legs. Capture in fitted rehearsal clothes plus a *short* proxy skirt, and record a second take in full costume only as reference. 7. **Nothing occluding** any body part. Keep props small and away from the torso where the blocking allows. Our additions (not from Epic): - **Mark the floor** with a visible tape cross at the actor's start mark. It helps judge foot contact later. - **One actor in frame.** Crew stay out of shot. A forum user reports multi-person work needs sequential processing with others hidden in early frames. ## 4. Record 1. Set the camera and any phone to **60 fps**. Forum users report problems with 29.97/30 fps; check the frame rate in the Capture Data settings after ingest. 2. Slate and jam timecode as in [[Tutorial — Running a Capture Day]]. 3. Start each take with the actor **still, full body visible, arms slightly away from the body** for 2 s (our convention). 4. Record. Keep the actor inside the framed area. ## 5. Process (steps as documented) 1. **Enable plugins:** MetaHuman Animator, Capture Manager, Markerless Motion Capture. Restart. 2. **Ingest:** open **Live Link Hub** → Capture Manager → add a mono video source (a walkthrough calls it **Mono Video Ingest**; check the exact name) → set the take folder → queue the take → start. This creates a **Capture Data** asset. 3. **Create a MetaHuman Performance** asset (Content Browser → right-click → MetaHuman → MetaHuman Performance). 4. **Set it up** (Epic, body only): - assign the Capture Data; - **Facial Tracking** off, **Body Tracking** on; - **Head Movement Mode** = Disable. For face and body from one take, leave Facial Tracking on. 5. **Trim** the timeline to the useful range. 6. **Process.** Users report five passes and long run times. 7. **Export Animation** → choose **Existing Skeleton** (our MetaHuman) or **Performer Skeleton**. 8. **Apply** to the MetaHuman in a Level Sequence and review against the reference video. The plugin exposes Python and Blueprint automation (forum product page); batch processing is a later task for the technical animator. ## 6. Known weaknesses | Weakness | Evidence | Status | |---|---|---| | **Floating feet** in some solves | CG Channel | Confirmed as known issue | | Worse with a **moving camera** | CG Channel | Confirmed | | **One actor** per solve | Epic, CG Channel | Confirmed | | Hands **occluded** by body or props | Digital Production mentions testing occluded hands | Expected; unconfirmed how bad | | Foot sliding, ground penetration, jitter | Not stated by Epic | Unconfirmed; check on first use | | Install errors (Smart App Control, antivirus, error MD-0011-0) | Forum reports | Workarounds in the forum thread | ## 7. Fixes for feet and contacts No solve setting for ground contact is documented yet (check the Performance asset's details on first use). Fix in cleanup instead: 1. **Maya route:** HumanIK foot pinning and hip height, as in [[Tutorial — HumanIK Mocap Cleanup for MetaHuman]]. 2. **Unreal route:** a Control Rig with foot IK to the floor plane, baked in Sequencer. The Animation Mixer (5.8, experimental) can layer a foot-fix pass over the solve. 3. **Standing idles:** often the simplest fix is to lock both feet for the whole clip and let the pelvis carry the weight shift. 4. **Seated takes:** pin the pelvis to the chair seat as well as the feet. ## 8. Test against a suit on the same take Run this once before we decide which route each asset type uses. 1. **Same performer, same take, both systems:** the inertial suit records while the static camera films. Jam both to one timecode. - The suit's straps change the silhouette slightly; note it. 2. **Material:** a 60 s standing idle, a 60 s seated idle, 10 gestures from [[Tutorial — Gesture Library and Tags]], a 20 s walk and turn. 3. **Process** the video with the markerless plugin; retarget the suit data to the same MetaHuman. 4. **Compare side by side** in one Level Sequence with the reference video. | Measure | How | Pass mark (our proposal) | |---|---|---| | Foot contact | Frames with visible float or slide per minute | ≤ 5 after 30 min cleanup | | Hand and finger fidelity | Director rates gestures 1–5 against reference | ≥ 4 average | | Jitter | Visible pops at kiosk scale, life-size | None after light filter | | Cleanup time | Minutes of animator time per minute of footage | Within 1.5× of the suit | | Processing time | Wall-clock per minute of footage | Record only | 5. **Decide per asset type:** idles, gestures, monologues. Record the decision in [[Mocap — Process]] via the technical director. ## 9. Practice exercise Film a 20 s clip of yourself on a phone at 60 fps against a plain wall, full body in frame. Process it, export to a test MetaHuman and list every frame where the feet float. Fix one foot contact with Control Rig. ## 10. Check before using it for a delivered asset - [ ] Plugin version recorded; still marked experimental — re-read Epic's page - [ ] Every take 60 fps, static camera, full body with margins - [ ] Suit comparison test done and the decision recorded - [ ] Feet fixed and checked life-size on the kiosk display - [ ] The performer's contract covers video-derived animation ## Sources - Epic, MetaHuman Animation from Mono Video Capture: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-animation-from-mono-video-capture-in-unreal-engine - Epic, MetaHuman Animator Video Capture Guidelines: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-animator-video-capture-guidelines-in-unreal-engine - Epic, MetaHuman Animator 02 · Process and export your animation: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-animator-02-process-and-export-your-animation-in-unreal-engine - Epic, MetaHuman 5.8 release notes: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-5-8-release-notes-in-unreal-engine - Epic, Unreal Engine 5.8 release notes (Animation Mixer): https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/unreal-engine/unreal-engine-5-8-release-notes - CG Channel, Get the free MetaHuman Animator Markerless Motion Capture plugin: https://www.cgchannel.com/2026/06/get-the-free-metahuman-animator-markerless-mocap-plugin/ - Digital Production, MetaHuman gets markerless mocap: https://digitalproduction.com/2026/06/23/metahuman-gets-markerless-mocap/ - Epic Developer Community forum, Markerless Motion Capture plugin thread: https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/epic-games-metahuman-animator-markerless-motion-capture-plugin/2729293 - note.com (refsync), Steps to try markerless motion capture from video in UE5.8: https://note.com/refsync/n/n8c532fe5bcf0?hl=en - Full list: [[Sources — 2026-09-20]]