# Tutorial — MetaHumans in Unreal *Augmented Traveler local tutorial.* Back to [[Unreal — Tutorials]] · MetaHuman process: [[MetaHuman — Process]] How a MetaHuman is **built, assembled and run** inside Unreal 5.8, and where clothing, hair, animation and our conversation system plug in. Read this before touching a figure in the engine. > **Draft.** Written from Epic's MetaHuman 5.8 documentation. Confirm component names against the first assembled figure. ## 1. The life of a MetaHuman in Unreal ``` MetaHuman Character asset (in-editor MetaHuman Creator) ├─ Head & body: presets, Mesh to MetaHuman / From Custom Mesh, calibrated DNA from Maya ├─ Skin & eyes: textures (Texture Override, unbaked materials in 5.8) ├─ Hair & Clothing: grooms + Outfit Assets / Wardrobe Items ◀── Marvelous Designer └─ Assemble ──▶ pipeline: UE Cine | UE Optimized (High/Medium/Low) | UEFN | DCC Export └─▶ assembled Blueprint actor (BP_<Figure>) placed in levels ``` - **The MetaHuman Character asset** is the source. You edit it in **MetaHuman Creator**, which runs inside the Unreal editor. - **Assembly** turns it into runtime assets. We make two per figure: - **UE Cine:** full quality, about 1–2 GB, strand hair. Used for the kiosk and PC-VR. - **UE Optimized (High/Medium/Low):** under 100 MB, compressed textures, strand hair on LOD0 only. Used for Quest, Vive standalone, Android XR, Vision Pro and phones. - **DCC Export** (Export > DCC Export in 5.8) goes to Maya for Expression Editor and Pose Editor work ([[Tutorial — Obtaining Initial Head DNA]]). - **Re-assemble after every change** to the Character asset. Never hand-edit the assembled output. ## 2. What the assembled Blueprint contains | Part | What it does | |---|---| | **Body** skeletal mesh | The body, on the MetaHuman body skeleton | | **Face** skeletal mesh | The head, driven by **RigLogic** from the DNA (joints plus corrective shapes) | | **Groom components** | Hair, brows, lashes, beard (strands or cards) | | **Outfit / clothing** | Chaos Cloth outfit or skinned clothing ([[Tutorial — Marvelous Designer Garment to MetaHuman Outfit]]) | | **LODSync** | Keeps body, face, hair and clothes on matching LODs | | **Animation Blueprints / Control Rig** | Body and face animation; the face rig can be keyed in Sequencer | | **Live Link** | Takes live face or body data (Live Link Face, webcam, audio source) | **Rule:** wrap it, don't edit it. Make a child Blueprint `BP_AT_<Figure>` that adds our components (conversation client, gaze target, caption anchor) and keeps the generated parts untouched. A re-assembly then won't wipe our work. *Confirm the exact component names on the first figure and record them here.* ## 3. How clothing gets onto a MetaHuman **Marvelous Designer doesn't talk to MetaHuman directly.** The chain is: 1. MD makes the garment and exports **USD**. 2. Unreal turns the USD into a **Cloth Asset** (Chaos Cloth, built in the Dataflow editor), skin-weighted to the MetaHuman body. 3. The Cloth Asset becomes an **Outfit Asset** (resizable), then a **Wardrobe Item**. 4. **MetaHuman Creator** puts it on the character (**Hair and Clothing → Outfit Clothing**) and resizes it to the body. Resizing happens in the editor and is cooked into the build. 5. **Assembly** carries it into the character Blueprint. Chaos Cloth simulates it at runtime, or it is skinned-only on light surfaces. In short: **Marvelous Designer makes the clothes, Unreal (Chaos Cloth plus the Outfit Asset) makes them wearable, and MetaHuman Creator dresses the figure.** Full steps: [[Tutorial — Marvelous Designer Garment to MetaHuman Outfit]]. ## 4. How the figure moves and speaks | Need | Unreal / MetaHuman feature | Our use | |---|---|---| | Recorded body performance | Mocap → cleaned in Maya ([[Tutorial — HumanIK Mocap Cleanup for MetaHuman]]) → Animation Sequences; MetaHuman 5.8 also does single-camera body capture | Monologues | | Recorded face performance | **MetaHuman Animator** (iPhone/stereo capture → Performance asset → animation) | Monologues | | Face from recorded audio (offline) | **Audio-driven animation**: a MetaHuman Performance asset turns a SoundWave into face animation, with mood overrides; UE 5.6+ | Quick lip sync for pickups and short lines | | Face from live audio (real time) | **MetaHuman Audio Live Link Source** (MetaHuman Live Link plug-in); 5.8 adds a new real-time model; GPU-heavy | **Q&A answers**: the TTS voice drives the face. *Must be tested in a packaged kiosk build* ([[Tutorial — Authoring a Q&A Experience with Ambient Idle]]) | | Idle life, gaze, gestures | Animation Blueprint (idle blend, **Look At**), hand Pose Assets ([[Tutorial — Hand Pose Library for Gestures]]), State Tree | Waiting between questions | | Timeline control | **Sequencer** (Level Sequences, face Control Rig keys, audio, subtitles) | [[Tutorial — Sequencer for Monologues]] | ## 5. MetaHuman 5.8 features worth knowing - **Mesh to MetaHuman** now converts **full-body** meshes of any topology. - **Unbaked textures** and custom lighting in Creator. - **Per-platform RigLogic:** FP16 on mobile, FP32 on desktop, which helps headsets. - **Automatic bone-count reduction** for lighter builds. - **MetaHuman Collections** (experimental crowds): possible background townspeople later. - **RTSP live video input** for capture. - **Upgrading older characters:** follow Epic's 5.8 upgrade scenarios. ## 6. Practice exercise 1. Create a MetaHuman Character from a preset. Add a sample outfit and hair. 2. Assemble it **Cine**, then **Optimized Medium**. Compare the file sizes and the look in the same level. 3. Make a child Blueprint `BP_AT_Test` with a text-render component above the head. 4. Drop a SoundWave into a MetaHuman Performance asset (audio-driven) and play the result on the character. 5. Write down every component name you see and update section 2. ## Sources - Epic, MetaHumans in Unreal Engine: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahumans-in-unreal-engine?lang=en-US - Epic, MetaHuman Creator in Unreal Engine: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-creator-in-unreal-engine - Epic, Assembly: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/assembly - Epic, MetaHuman 5.8 release notes: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-5-8-release-notes-in-unreal-engine - Epic, MetaHuman 5.8 upgrade scenarios: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-5-8-upgrade-scenarios-in-unreal-engine - Epic, Audio-driven animation: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/metahuman/audio-driven-animation - Epic, Realtime animation for MetaHumans: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/realtime-animation-for-metahumans-in-unreal-engine?lang=en-US - Epic, Using a MetaHuman Audio Source: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/metahuman/using-a-metahuman-audio-source - Epic, Tailoring Your Own Wardrobe Items: https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/tailoring-your-own-wardrobe-items - Full list: [[Sources — 2026-09-19]]