what is metahuman rig?

MetaHuman

The MetaHuman Rig by Epic Games, released in 2021, has garnered significant interest from numerous game development studios and video production companies. With features like high-quality facial rigging that allows for easy animation, MetaHuman Animator, Live Link Face, AI motion tools, etc., it has now provided the infrastructure to effortlessly create virtual humans in virtual environments.

Here is the official MetaHuman Website.

Standard Rig

The MetaHuman rigging has successfully addressed a very powerful challenge that had eluded the CG industry for decades.

That challenge is achieving universality and becoming the industry standard rigging. In the past, various DCC tools such as Maya, 3ds Max, Blender, C4D, etc., had different styles of character rigging.

Recognizing these discrepancies, the company 3lateral recruited world-class rigging experts to develop a high-quality standard rigging system. And that’s what the MetaHuman system is today.

Here is the official 3Lateral Website.

How to Convert

The MetaHuman was originally built on the MetaHuman Creator. However, due to limitations in creating the desired characters solely with the MetaHuman Creator, users encountered significant constraints. Therefore, in June 2022, a feature called Mesh To Meta was introduced, allowing users to easily switch their custom or scanned head models into MetaHumans.

However, Mesh To Meta comes with both powerful advantages and significant drawbacks.

The advantage is that users can effortlessly convert their imported models into MetaHuman rigging with a single click, as it automatically retopologizes the model. Additionally, it seamlessly connects with MetaHuman Creator through Quixel Bridge, enabling easy additional customization.

corrections

The drawback lies in the fact that the user’s model doesn’t seamlessly transform into a MetaHuman rig while maintaining its original form. Additionally, the model itself is limited, requiring it to be a realistic human model. Due to factors like facial proportions, scale, eyelashes, double eyelids, etc., even slight variations can result in unsatisfactory outcomes. While results are favorable for models of Western descent, they tend to be less accurate for models of East Asian descent.

To overcome this, it’s anticipated that Epic Games aims to acquire scan data for East Asian individuals. Furthermore, for the body, since only template models are used, there’s a phenomenon where the area below the face conforms to the template body’s neck. This limitation prevents users from accurately representing their desired bodies or faces.

To address these fundamental issues, Epic Games introduced the DNA Calibration feature in December 2022.

Here is the DNA Calibration Git page.

hardy Calibration?

DNA Calibration supports certain modifications to the existing MetaHuman rigging and head mesh.

Through this feature, users can perform retopology on their existing meshes to adapt them to the MetaHuman rigging while maintaining their original form.

However, DNA Calibration requires an understanding of rigging, Python, and graphics knowledge, making it somewhat challenging for ordinary users to use. Additionally, while the official library provides basic functionalities, the core features for controlling rigging are hidden within the library, posing a significant drawback.

At present, based on DNA Calibration, custom tools for modifying DNA are being developed and sold in the market.

Nevertheless, for users who still want to seamlessly transform their characters into MetaHumans, the barrier to entry remains quite high.

Firstly, it’s essential to go through the retopology process.
Secondly, when using custom tools, you have to ensure that the angles and shapes of the body joints are accurately modeled.
Thirdly, without a solid understanding of rigging, making the right modifications can be quite challenging.
And finally, the journey of eventually integrating it into the engine can be quite daunting.

There are numerous tutorials available, each offering a different perspective on the matter.

In essence, there’s quite a steep learning curve for users looking to transform their characters into MetaHumans. Of course, if users design using MetaHuman Creator or Mesh to Meta, they shouldn’t encounter any issues. However, most users prefer characters with distinct personalities over generic ones that all look the same.

Preserve Identity

In other words, characters with unique personalities should have their own identity that sets them apart from others.

If you’re in possession of such characters and wish to convert them into MetaHuman rigging while maintaining their original essence, please reach out to us. We’ll be more than happy to address all your inquiries.

In the current market landscape, our goal is to leverage the benefits of MetaHuman rigging while still honoring the individual character traits of users.

We hope that this approach will help lower the entry barriers for users and foster an environment where high-quality content can be created, highlighting the unique characteristics of each character.