MetaHuman Stylized Character - Final Assembly

Have you ever wanted to create a stylized character for your Unreal Engine or UEFN project? In this section of the MetaHuman Stylized Character tutorial, you will learn how to assemble the final stylized character and implement it in your project. 

Prerequisites

The MetaHuman Stylized Character tutorial shows how to convert your stylized character into a MetaHuman using MetaHuman Creator, and how to make the necessary changes to the rig and geometry to match your original design. You can follow the tutorial using your own character asset with the following guidelines:

• Your character has been imported into MetaHuman Creator and is currently assembled in the MetaHuman A-pose.

• You have exported the DCC folder package from MetaHuman Creator.

• You have Maya and the MetaHuman for Maya plugin installed.

• You have made updates to the facial and body rigs, and transferred those updates to your character in Unreal Engine.

• You have made updates to the textures and materials, and are happy with the results.

This tutorial is designed to be completed in sequence. If you have not completed the previous step, see Texture and Material Editing.

Check out the end result of this tutorial by downloading the MetaHuman Vampire Character Asset available on the Fab Marketplace.

For more information on the software and plugin requirements for this tutorial see the MetaHuman Stylized Character Tutorial landing page.MetaHuman Stylized Character Tutorial 

Adding the Face Attachments

Face attachments are set up as separate skeletal meshes, with skin weights copied from the underlying facial mesh. The facial deformation is a combination of joints, skin weights, and blendshapes. However, the face attachment meshes are only deformed by joints and skin weights. There is a risk of the face attachment meshes clipping through the face mesh during deformation due to the active blendshape updates that exist only on the face, which means the attachments don’t deform in exactly the same way.

It is important to ensure that you minimize these blendshape updates, and that as much of the facial deformation as possible is driven through the joints and skin weights. By doing so, you guarantee that when you copy the skin weights to the face attachments, you have the best chance of avoiding clipping issues by getting the resulting deformation to match as closely as possible.

Copying the Skin Weights from the Face Mesh

To copy the skin weights from the face mesh to the face attachments, follow the steps below:

1. Assemble the face_edit.dna file in Maya using the Character Assembler tool. Configure the tool to import the Head only by toggling off the Body and Texture options. Click Assemble.

2. Import the face attachment meshes into the Maya scene. In the case of the vampire, this is the moustache mesh.

3. Confirm correct placement of the face attachment meshes on the head mesh.

4. Copy the skin weights from the head mesh LOD0 to the face attachment mesh.

5. Test the result using the animation controls.

Adding the Face Attachments to Unreal Engine

Once you have copied the skin weights from the face mesh to the face attachment (in this case the moustache and hair), do the following to get it back into Unreal Engine:

1. Export the meshes with the face skeleton as an FBX file.

2. Import this FBX file into Unreal Engine as a skeletal mesh. In the import settings, target the Face_Archetype_Skeleton, the same skeleton hierarchy that matches the assembled MetaHuman face hierarchy. This is the SKM_MH_Vampire_Hair skeletal mesh asset.

3. Create a new Anim Blueprint using the Specific Skeleton option and select the same Face_Archetype_Skeleton.

4. This will be your Post Process Anim Blueprint, so name it ABP_MH_Vampire_Hair.

5. Assign this Anim Blueprint to the Skeletal Mesh as a Post Process Anim Blueprint.

6. In the Anim Blueprint inside the Anim Graph, add a node called Copy Pose From Mesh and connect it with the Output Pose node. On the node, turn on the Use Attached Parent and Copy Curves options. This node, with this configuration, will ensure that the joints of the mustache follow the joints of the face during animation.

7. In the main BP of the character, create a new Skeletal Mesh component and parent it to the Face (Skeletal Mesh) component. Now the facial animation will propagate to the face attachments (in this case, mustache and hair).

Assembling Your Character in Your Project

The assembly process produces all the assets necessary to fully complete the character: 

• MetaHuman textures

• Skeletal meshes

• Standard MetaHuman blueprint

If you have been using the vampire character, this instance will be called BP_Vampire.

Previously, you exported the clothing meshes as a separate FBX file, using the same skeleton and their skin weights. 

To add the clothing to your character, follow the steps below:

1. Import SKM_vampire_clothing.fbx to add the skeletal meshes to your project. For more information on importing FBX files, see Importing Content into Unreal Engine from Maya or Importing Content Directly into Unreal Engine.

2. Create a new Skeletal Mesh component in your character blueprint and assign the clothing skeletal mesh to it.

3. Parent the clothing skeletal mesh component to either the body or the face.

Now, when you create a level sequence, load the blueprint into Sequencer and play any MetaHuman animations. The skeletons will be compatible.

Next Steps

Your MetaHuman character is now ready for animation using Sequencer or can be implemented in your Unreal Engine or UEFN projects.