This document outlines the Footage to MetaHuman workflow for creating a MetaHuman from an existing Static or Skeletal Mesh.
To ensure that you can see and download your custom MetaHumans in Quixel Bridge, you must sign into Quixel Bridge the first time you open your Unreal project.
This is a required step, even if you signed in to the Epic Games Launcher previously. Signing in to the Launcher does not sign you in to Quixel Bridge automatically.
Required Setup
Create a new Unreal Engine project.
Download, install, and enable the MetaHuman plugin for your project. If you need additional information on how to complete this step, refer to the Working with Plugins page in the Unreal Engine documentation.
Restart Unreal Engine when prompted.
Workflow
The Mesh to MetaHuman workflow consists of the following steps:
Import one or more takes that meet the performance capture requirements to Unreal Engine.
Create and populate a MetaHuman Identity Asset.
Promote and track the required frames to run the Identity Solve.
Run the Identity Solve.
Submit the Template Mesh to the MetaHuman Backend.
Further customize your MetaHuman in MetaHuman Creator.
Download and import your MetaHuman into Unreal Engine 5.
These steps are covered in detail below.
Import Takes into Unreal Engine
Follow the workflow outlined on the Importing and Ingesting Content page.
After completing this workflow, you should have one or more takes that are ready to be imported into MetaHuman Animator.
Create and Populate a MetaHuman Identity Asset
Next, you will create and populate a MetaHuman Identity Asset. This Asset holds the MetaHuman's face mesh (template mesh), body type information, and pose information.
Follow the steps below:
Create a new MetaHuman Identity Asset. Right-click in the Content Browser. From the context menu, select MetaHuman Animator > MetaHuman Identity.
If you create a MetaHuman from this Asset later, the filename of the Identity Asset you create will be your MetaHuman's name in MetaHuman Creator.
Double-click the MetaHuman Identity Asset you created to open it in the Identity Asset Editor.
Initially, this Asset is empty. You will populate it with data in the next steps.
In the Main Toolbar, click Create Components, then select From Footage. Search for and select a take to create the footage from.
After you complete this step, the Components panel on the left side of the Metahuman Identity Asset Editor will be populated with the following Components:
Face
Poses
Body
Select the Body Component and, in the panel that opens below the Components panel, select your MetaHuman’s Height and Body Type. You can adjust these values in MetaHuman Creator later, but only if you choose to create a MetaHuman from this mesh at the appropriate step in this process.
After completing this step, you now have an Identity Asset populated with all the required Components.
Promote and Track Required Frames
Promote frames for the following poses:
Neutral pose
Left view
Right view
Teeth pose
To promote a frame, follow these steps:
In the Components panel, under Poses, select the Neutral Pose Component (1).
Use the video playback controls (2) to navigate to the frame you want to promote. You can also use the video timeline for precise seeking.
Click the plus button (3) to promote the frame. The first promoted frame is automatically treated as the front view.
Click the Free Roaming Camera Mode button (4) to unlock playback controls so you can promote another frame.
Right-click a frame to access a context menu with options to rename and demote (remove) a frame, or toggle which frame is treated as the front view.
Run the Identity Solve
Still in the Identity Asset Editor, from the Main Toolbar, click the MetaHuman Identity Solve button. This button will only be enabled once at least one Promoted Frame exists in the timeline, and will produce good results only when the markers are active and well-tracked.
Identity Solve fits the Template Mesh vertices to the volume of the Neutral Pose mesh you tracked in previous steps. This part of the process happens in the cloud.
After the Identity Solve completes, you can toggle between your original mesh and the Template Mesh in the Viewport by clicking the A / B tabs in the Viewport Toolbar. The A and B buttons activate two separate frame buffers for the same Viewport camera, and promoting a frame creates a snapshot of that camera. You can configure Viewport settings, such as lighting, individually for each of these two frame buffers.
Submit the Template Mesh for Auto-Rigging
You can now submit the Template Mesh to the MetaHuman backend. In the Main Toolbar, click the Mesh to MetaHuman button, then select one of the following options:
Auto-Rig Identity (Skeletal Mesh Only): This creates an auto-rigged Skeletal Mesh with embedded MetaHuman DNA. The mesh is automatically downloaded and added to your Unreal Engine project in the same folder as the MetaHuman Identity Asset and has the same name as the Identity Asset, with the prefix
SK_.Auto-Rig Identity (Skeletal Mesh + Full MetaHuman): This creates an auto-rigged Skeletal Mesh with embedded MetaHuman DNA. It also creates a custom MetaHuman you can modify in MetaHuman Creator and download using Bridge.
Unreal Engine will show a confirmation dialog when the process has finished. You will then be able to see the new Skeletal Mesh in the Content Browser and, if you chose to create a MetaHuman as well, the MetaHuman will be available in MetaHuman Creator and Bridge.
You can only perform the following steps if you chose to create a MetaHuman in addition to a Skeletal Mesh.
Customize your MetaHuman in MetaHuman Creator
After the previous step completes, you can now access your MetaHuman in MetaHuman Creator, if you chose to create one.
For MetaHumans created through Mesh to MetaHuman, you will see an additional panel called Custom Mesh. Here, you can adjust the contribution of the Template Mesh’s difference from a standard MetaHuman parametrization (the delta in volume between your input and a MetaHuman as it could otherwise be created in MetaHuman Creator alone):
Click a region on the sample MetaHuman face in this panel, then move the slider to increase or decrease MetaHuman mesh influence.
Use the Overall Influence slider to make global adjustments.
Both of the sliders above support symmetrical adjustments, as well as individual adjustments for the left and right side.
Initially, the MetaHuman will use the same texture as the Template Mesh in Unreal Engine for the skin, and the Blend, Sculpt, and Move editing modes will be unavailable. To unlock these modes, modes, click the Enable Editing button. You can choose to either edit your current MetaHuman, or make a duplicate.
The Mesh to MetaHuman process doesn’t automatically match the MetaHuman’s tone with the skin tone of the mesh. Use the Skin controls to choose a skin color for your MetaHuman.
This will override the Template Mesh texture.
The new skin texture may take 20-30 seconds to apply correctly. If the skin texture turns chalk white, keep moving the color picker every few seconds until it does. This is a known issue.
Download and Import your MetaHuman into Unreal Engine 5
Your new MetaHuman should now be available for download in Quixel Bridge. In Unreal Engine 5, open Bridge from the Main Toolbar.
Remember to sign in to Bridge with your Epic Games account, if you haven’t done so already. Once you do, you’ll be able to access your new MetaHuman in the My MetaHumans section of Bridge.
To download and export your MetaHuman, follow the guides below: