Installing in Maya | MetaHuman Documentation

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This page describes how to install the MetaHuman for Maya plugin. Plugins for other DCCs (such as Houdini) are also available on the plugins page. This guide assumes you are using the Fab.com website rather than the Unreal Engine Fab integration.

Prerequisites

An Epic Games account for Fab
Epic Games Launcher
Autodesk Maya 2022 - 2025

Add MetaHuman for Maya to Your Fab Library

MetaHuman for Maya is available from Fab. To add the plugin to your library, follow these steps:

Sign in to Fab.com.
Go to the MetaHuman for Maya listing.
Click Add to My Library.

Installing MetaHuman for Maya

Once added to your library, the MetaHuman for Maya installer must be run to complete the installation process.

In the Epic Games Launcher, navigate to the Fab Library.
Find the MetaHuman for Maya entry, and click Install to Engine. Select 5.6 as the Unreal Engine slot to install to.
Open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\MetaHumanForMaya_5.6\Content directory.

In this folder, you should see the MetaHumanForMaya.msi installer. The installer can be run interactively or manually/silently.

By default, MetaHuman for Maya will be installed into C:\Program Files\Epic Games\MetaHumanForMaya.

Interactive Installation

Running the installer interactively uses the installation wizard. To configure your installation with the wizard simply double click on the MetaHumanForMaya.msi file.

Once installation is complete, the MAYA_MODULE_PATH environment variable will have been added in the System Environment Variables to register this plugin with Maya.

Manual Installation

You can perform a manual or silent installation by running the installer using a command line, customizing your installation via additional parameters. This will require the console to be run as administrator.

The base command to a silent installation is as follows:

Command Line

msiexec /i C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\MetaHumanForMaya_5.6\Content\MetaHumanForMaya.msi /quiet

msiexec /i C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\MetaHumanForMaya_5.6\Content\MetaHumanForMaya.msi /quiet

To change the installation directory, use the BININSTALLFOLDER property and set it to the directory of your choice.

Once installation is complete, the MAYA_MODULE_PATH environment variable will have been set in the System Environment Variables to register this plugin with Maya. To disable this behavior, set the POST_INSTALL property to 0.

An example of using these two properties is shown below:

Command Line

msiexec /i C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\MetaHumanForMaya_5.6\Content\MetaHumanForMaya.msi POST_INSTALL=0 BININSTALLFOLDER=<alternative/install/location> /quiet

msiexec /i C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.6\Engine\Plugins\Marketplace\MetaHumanForMaya_5.6\Content\MetaHumanForMaya.msi POST_INSTALL=0 BININSTALLFOLDER=<alternative/install/location> /quiet

Use the msiexec command with the /? parameter to display a help menu containing a list of the standard parameters available for .msi files.

Enabling MetaHuman for Maya

To enable the plugin in Maya:

Start Maya.
Open the Plugin Manager from the Windows -> Setting/Preferences menu.
Find MetaHumanForMaya.py in the list of available plugins and check loaded.
Click to expand.

Untrusted Plugin Loading in Maya

If you see one or more Untrusted Plugin Loading security warnings when you open Maya, confirm that the plugin location is your MetaHuman for Maya installation folder, then click Allow. Optionally, select Apply to all plugins in this location to allow all of the plugins that MetaHuman for Maya needs to load at once.

Compatibility with Quixel Bridge Plugin

MetaHuman for Maya requires newer versions of some Maya plugins (MayaUERBFPlugin.mll and embeddedRL4.mll) that are currently provided by the Quixel Bridge Maya plugin.

Although MetaHuman for Maya will attempt to ensure that the correct version is loaded, it is possible that a conflict occurs.

As a result, it is not recommended to use the Quixel Bridge Maya plugin and MetaHuman for Maya in the same session.

Compatibility With DNA Calibration Library

MetaHuman for Maya replaces the MetaHuman DNA Calibration library. The MetaHuman DNA Calibration library is available on GitHub for MetaHuman characters created in Unreal Engine 5.5 or earlier.

MetaHuman for Maya requires newer versions of some Maya plugins that are currently provided by the DNA Calibration library. Although MetaHuman for Maya will attempt to ensure that the correct version is loaded, it is possible that a conflict occurs.

As a result, it is not recommended to use the plugins provided by the DNA Calibration library in the same session as MetaHuman for Maya.

Settings

MetaHuman for Maya will store settings in your app data folder %APPDATA%/Epic Games/MetaHumanForMaya.

Installing Updates

Installing a new version of MetaHuman for Maya will remove the previously installed version. To install a new version of MetaHuman for Maya:

Close any open instances of Maya.
In the Epic Games Launcher, navigate to the Fab Library.
Find the MetaHuman for Maya entry, and Update the plugin.
Continue with the installation instructions to run the MetaHumanForMaya.msi installer.

Next Up

Character Assembler

Guide for assembling a MetaHuman Character in Autodesk Maya.