MetaHuman Instances

A MetaHuman Instance asset references a MetaHuman Collections and represents one specific assembled MetaHuman with a particular combination of hair, clothing, and other items selected from that Collection.

You can create multiple Instances from the same Collection, each with different slot selections. For example, one Instance might use Hairstyle A with a blue jacket, while another uses Hairstyle B with a red jacket. Both share the same built assets from the Collection; only the selections and instance parameters differ.

Create a MetaHuman Instance

To create an Instance, right-click a MetaHuman Collection asset in the Content Browser and select Create New Instance. The new Instance asset is created in the same folder and opens in the editor.

Edit an Instance

Instances use the same editor as Collections, but the Collection's items are read-only when editing an Instance. You cannot add or remove items, you can only change which items are selected for each slot and adjust instance parameters.

Double-click a tile in the Items panel to select that item for its slot. The 3D preview updates immediately to show the result.

Instance Parameters

Each item can expose parameters that you can override per Instance without rebuilding the Collection. These appear in the Item Instance Parameters panel when you select an item.

Common instance parameters include:

• Hair color - melanin, redness, roughness, and other groom material properties.

• Material tints - color overrides on clothing or accessories.

• Toggle parameters - enabling or disabling specific material features.

There are two types of instance parameter:

• Assembly Parameters are applied during the Assemble stage. Changing one requires reassembly for the change to take effect. These are typically parameters that influence the assembly logic for example, anything that gets baked into geometry or a texture.

• Post-Assembly Parameters are a subset of Assembly Parameters that you can change after assembly without reassembling. These are typically parameters that can be applied at any time, such as a material parameter value

Place an Instance in a Level

Drag a MetaHuman Instance asset from the Content Browser directly into the viewport to place it in a level. The engine spawns the appropriate actor class (as defined by the Collection's pipeline), triggers assembly, and applies the result to the actor.

You can also right-click an Instance in the Content Browser and select Place in Level.

Runtime Assembly

MetaHuman Instances can be assembled at runtime in cooked builds. When a Collection is cooked, all the built data needed to assemble any valid Instance is included in the package.

At runtime, you can:

• Create new UMetaHumanCharacterInstance objects.

• Set their slot selections programmatically.

• Call Assemble() to produce a fully composed MetaHuman.

• Apply the result to an actor using SetCharacterInstance().

This supports use cases such as:

• Character customization - let players pick hair, clothing, and accessories from a Collection.

• Procedural populations - generate unique NPCs by randomly selecting from available items.

• Dynamic outfit changes - swap clothing or hairstyles at runtime without loading new assets.