Using Metahumans
Last updated
Last updated
This page explains how to add a Metahuman to your Motion project and integrate them into the Motion character blueprint.
To import your MetaHuman, open the Quixel Bridge window inside the editor which you can find in the Window toolbar menu.
Select your MetaHuman then download & import it.
Make sure to modify your project settings when prompted by confirming dialog boxes that show up upon first importing a MetaHuman into your project and then restart Unreal Engine.
Once successfully imported, you'll find your MetaHuman, alongside other common assets used by MetaHumans in your project.
Alongside the blueprint of the MetaHuman, open your Motion character blueprint.
Select the shown components from your MetaHuman blueprint and hit CTRL + C or right-click "Copy" to copy the components.
Then, in the Motion character blueprint, paste them as children of Mesh.
Move the components to their respective parents if the copy-paste-process messed up their hierarchy.
Finally, copy the LODSync component from the MetaHuman blueprint into your Motion character blueprint.
MetaHumans require some setup upon start, so we need to copy that code from the MetaHuman blueprint into the Motion character blueprint.
Copy the following functions from the Metahuman blueprint and paste them in the Motion blueprint.
EnableMasterPose
ARKit_Setup
The ARKit Setup is optional.
Head to the Event Graph of the Motion character blueprint and create a new function and name it Initialize MetaHuman.
Then, head back to the MetaHuman blueprint, and copy all nodes from it's Event Graph. Paste them into the function.
Back in the Event Graph of the Motion character blueprint, add a call to Initialize Metahuman to the Event Begin Play sequence.
Open the Construction Script of the Motion character blueprint and add these four calls to Enable Master Pose.
Then remove everything else so only these five nodes come right after
In order for the Metahuman to work with the animations that ship with Motion, a new animation blueprint has to be created.
Head over to the body mesh of your metahuman (e.g. f_med_nrw_body) by clicking on the Body component and then clicking the folder-icon to navigate to the mesh.
Right-click the mesh and select Anim Blueprint.
Right-click in the AnimGraph, then search for and create a Retarget Pose from Mesh node. Connect this node to the Output Pose node, as shown below.
Click the Retarget Pose from Mesh node to select it. Then, in the Details panel, in the Retargeter Asset dropdown, select the RTG_Mannequin_Motion Retarget Asset.
Finally, in the Motion character blueprint, select Body and give assign it the animation blueprint you just created.
Depending on the size and volume of your Metahuman, the default configuration for Motion may lead to unintended and / or undesirable results.
We recommend the following steps:
Adjust the Capsule Half Height and Capsule Radius to match the shape of the Capsule Component to your Metahuman.
Enable Owner No See and Hidden Shadow for the following components:
Face
Fuzz
Eyelashes
Beard
Mustache
Hair
Eyebrows
If everything was set up correctly, launching a session should result in your Metahuman being used as the character with all animations and features applied!
For additional information, please check out the official documentation for retargeting by Epic Games.
