Latest version of the fast and easy digital human pipeline brings high-fidelity performance capture to MetaHumans.
First announced at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year, Epic Games’ new MetaHuman Animator feature set is here. Users can capture an actor’s performance using an iPhone or paired stereo head-mounted camera system and apply it as high-fidelity facial animation on any MetaHuman character without manual intervention.
The new feature set accurately captures subtle expressions, looks, and emotions to replicate on digital humans. It promises to improve existing capture workflows while reducing time and effort with greater creative control.
New features include a 4D solver combining video and depth data with a MetaHuman representation of the performer. Produced locally using the GPU hardware, the final animation is available in minutes.
See it in action - Blue Dot is a short film created by Epic Games' 3Lateral team in collaboration with local Serbian artists, including actor Radivoje Bukvić, who delivers a monologue based on a poem by Mika Antic. The performance was filmed at Take One studio's mocap stage, with cinematographer Ivan Šijak acting as director of photography.
The team achieved an impressive level of animation quality with minimal interventions on top of MetaHuman Animator results.
Watch it:
The facial animation captured with MetaHuman Animator can be applied to any MetaHuman character or any character adopting the new MetaHuman facial description standard. Mesh to MetaHuman can now create a MetaHuman Identity from just three video frames, along with depth data captured using an iPhone or reconstructed using data from your vertical stereo head-mounted camera.
Animation data is reviewed in Unreal Engine while on the shoot so the capture quality can be evaluated before the final character is animated.
In addition, Mesh to MetaHuman expansion allows users to set the template mesh point positions directly. The template mesh and, provided it strictly adheres to the MetaHuman topology, users get exactly that mesh rigged—not an approximation. It works with the DNA Calib ability to set the neutral pose for mesh and joints to quickly zero in on custom characters.
Get more information aoout the MetaHuman framework on the new MetaHuman hub. Located on the Epic Developer Community, users can learn about Epic tools and exchange information with others—it also hosts forums and a tutorial section that contains both Epic and user-made tutorial content.
Source: Epic Games
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
