Updated. Epic has announced an early access version of MetaHuman Creator is now available. Readers can apply to gain early access, although Epic warn that the demand may cause a delay of a few days. Also announced was the addition of 50 free ready-made sample available to download for everyone from Quixel Bridge. Read about early access on the Unreal Engine blog.
Metahuman Creator will be a cloud streamed app that works by drawing from a growing “library of variants of human appearance and motion, and enabling you to create convincing new characters through intuitive workflows that let you sculpt and craft the result you want. As you make adjustments, MetaHuman Creator blends between actual examples in the library in a plausible, data-constrained way. You can choose a starting point by selecting a number of preset faces to contribute to your human from the diverse range in the database. “
The results can be animated using mocap tools and Unreal Engines Live Link Face iOS app. Support for other vendors is in the works too. MetaHuman Creator will be available to try out as part of an early access program within the next few months. You can learn more on the Epic blog.
I just loaded them in 4.26.1 and they’re impressive.. Very heavy though, my GTX 1070 is showing it’s age
character modeler is a thing of a past
Yet here it is in the present and available in the future!
That’s it guys. Pack up your bags, we’re a thing of the past. Trust me, a forum comment told me so.
Well, the character artists aren’t (yet), but bifrost users definitely are.
(Sorry, couldn’t help it :D)
“Character modeling” is a very diverse term. Better to say that ultra realistic modeling of humans is a thing of the past. After all for the other characters only the human mind has creativity, infinite diversity and the creation of trends.
“Copy perfectly” is very admirable and useful in A.I. But it will take a long time for machines to feel enough emotions to have their own creative independence.
Well if your doing realism yeah , the idea of making realistic character models will become a thing of the past .
They said the same thing about realistic and academic painting around 150 years ago. Tv was going to kill the radio completely and nobody wants to go to the theater or a cinema because of tv.
People thought 2D animation was dead once 3D hit. (Well, I sort of thought that.) This is progress but not every project will want this level of realism. I was watching TV while viewing this clip and these 3D characters look more real than the actors on television.
@Roger.. okay, our Matrix engine needs a update. 😏
Of course, i was talking about real character, not stylised or concepted art character. As a comment say, npr, even main character can be started with this program and then have further editing.
Ps: Bifrost user, dont feel attacked, but yeah, better to switch to houdini 😉
still with the lifeless eyes, no matter how real everything else looks the eyes will give it away
That’s true.
Improving that would be improving animation and simulation of motion which probably more difficult than visuals capturing ,it’s the tick-tok that makes things feel alive.
exactly this. its the nuances of animation and the sum of it all. the critique is of there being no life behind the eyes which is…kind of dumb and super dismissive.
its a first iteration of a groundbreaking free procedural character creator.
and some people go: yeh but its not real people tho, eyes hurr durr.
everything is amazing and nobody is happy smh.
Will be fixed in the next release 🙂
no need for hyperbole but this will for sure trim the market for character artists.
tech inevitably culls “manual” labour in any shape or form.
i presume further iterations will bring in more outlandish capabilities for fantasy characters.
still couldnt find how to implement Armor and custom clothing with this system…
eh the problem with fantasy the data sets are invented by the artist or an individual you just don’t find time burton stuff in nature for example. . Stuff-like meta relies heavily on machine learning and the abundance of real-world 3D scan and what not. It much harder to do that “with fantasy ” unless it like the most generic of the generic style you can think of. so it unlikely they’ll be a fantasy version unless it like hyper-real fantasy like the stuff you see on the Daz. hyper real + some uh zbrush morphs I guess.
just to be clear, under “fantasy” i obviously meant a naturalistic look but with exaggerated and atypical facial features (elves, aliens, orcs, dwarves).
that can be either procedurally done or even with more extensive tweaking capabilities. the video actually showcases some sculpting features, i presume they will build upon that.
tweaking skin colour, cornea and ear shapes can surely be implemented and only those would go a along way in diversifying the results. i would be doubtful they would actually limit the character creator to plain humans, especially considering the gaming industry needs.
Yeah essentially DAZ , but better you can make Orcs and furry using daz morphers
even so, The amount of work it saves if you use them as a base it is amazing.
” and when everyone’s Super…no one will be..” Syndrome
If I was a character modeler I would be happy. Now you can model many more in a shorter time and you have all the skills to give them an extra edge too. Or completely modify them to an even higher end standard which you didnt have time for, before.
or, maybe, you are no longer needed. One modeler can work in place of 5 😉