Awe-Inspiring Epic Games Unreal Engine-Powered MetaHuman Creator Enters Early Access

epic games and unreal engine opens metahuman creator for early access
In February, we reported on Epic Games and Unreal Engine's MetaHuman tool, which was able to create “Eerily Realistic Human Avatars With A Few Mouse Clicks.” Now, Epic is taking early access requests so developers and creators across a wide variety of industries can get their hands on this wild tech.

The MetaHumans website explains that the tech lives in a “cloud-based app that empowers anyone to create photorealistic digital humans, fully rigged and complete with hair and clothing, in minutes.” It is the ultimate culmination of decades of research, development, and technology advancements, allowing real-time high-fidelity character creation. You can see how this all comes together in the early access trailer below.


The MetaHuman creator has six key features for the developers and creators, which make it great for any project that needs human models. First and foremost, the creator should be incredibly easy to use with simple controls and options which streamline everything. Though the controls may be simple, they allow for near-limitless options and variations in “facial features and skin complexions, plus an array of different choices for hair, eyes, make-up, and teeth.” In games that feature character creation, what users make can get out of hand quickly, but the MetaHuman Creator boasts plausibility. It derives its data from real-world scans with adjustments “constrained to fit within the limits of the examples in its database.”

epic games unreal engine metahumans creates lifelike digital humans

Besides the look of characters, they can be baked in real-time and are ready for animation in Unreal Engine with a full facial and body rig. If you want to make more intimate tweaks, that is also an option. Anyone can download the MetaHuman in the form of an Autodesk Maya file, including meshes, skeleton, facial rig, animation controls, and materials.

However one decides to implement the technology, it will look impressive and can be animated incredibly realistically. If you want to get in and try this out for yourself, you can register for the early access program or download over 50 ready-made MetaHumans to use within the Unreal Engine. Either way, let us know what you think of this in the comments down below.