Animation from Mono Video

It is possible to animate a MetaHuman character using mono video. This can be done in real time or offline. This document describes the offline process.

Prerequisites

To generate offline animation from mono video, you need:

• An Unreal Engine 5.6 (or later) project.

• The MetaHuman Animator plugin enabled.

• The Live Link Hub application and Capture Manager Editor plugin enabled.

• One or more performance takes, captured using a mono video camera or the Live Link Face iOS application configured to use a non-TrueDepth camera.

Generating Animation from Mono Video Workflow

The offline workflow to generate animation from mono video consists of the following steps:

1. Ingest captured footage using Capture Manager in Live Link Hub. You must use the Mono Video, Live Link Face, or Take Archive device.

2. Generate animation for each take using the MetaHuman Performance asset.

3. Export the animation curves as an Animation Sequence or Level Sequence asset. 

Processing Mono Video in the MetaHuman Performance Asset

1. Create a new MetaHuman Performance asset by right-clicking in the Content Browser, then select MetaHuman > MetaHuman Performance.

2. Double-click the MetaHuman Performance asset to open the asset editor.

3. In the Details panel:

   1. Set the Input Type to Monocular Footage.

   2. Select the ingested mono video CaptureData asset in the Footage Capture Data field.

4. (Optional) Select a MetaHuman in the Visualization Mesh field.

5. Click Process to generate the facial animation and create a Facial Rig animation track in the Sequencer panel.

Once the process is complete, you can click Export Animation or Export Level Sequence to export the facial animation. If you choose Level Sequence, remember to assign your MetaHuman character blueprint.

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