June 15, 2023
Yesterday, Epic Games released MetaHuman Animator, for Unreal Engine 5.2. MetaHuman Animator, Unreal Engine 5.2, and the newly released Live Link Face 1.3.0 are all free to download.
MetaHuman Animator easily produces extremely realistic motion capture animation, from iPhone models 11 through 14. iPhone models 11 through 12 are said to have superior TrueDepth® (facial recognition) sensors, so they're probably better suited to use with Animator.
Using the latest Live Link Face app, video is captured, then sent wirelessly to host PC that runs Animator. The host PC then processes the iPhone video to extract the 'DNA' from the original performer/performance so that it can be transferred to a MetaHuman in Unreal. Processing takes about 4 to 6 times as long as the original capture.
Though the automatically processed animation is extremely realistic, 'straight out of the box', animators can use intuitive controls to tweak the animation to best suit the the character and art direction.
The quality of facial animation MetaHuman Animator produces is such that many animators might end up saying 'Uncanny what?'
Have a look at some of the sample videos, and give it a try.
From Solomon Jagwe, one of our iPhone HMC users:
Tutorials:
If you want the ultimate helmet to keep your iPhone focused on your face while moving around, (or doing gymnastic, flips, and cartwheels), our FaceCam iPhone HMC is the best possible choice. Designed and developed by Academy Award winner, Standard Deviation, it's 'DNA' extends from a long line of cameras and face trackers that were used to create some of your favorite movies and games.
FaceCam iPhone HMC is extremely comfortable, lightweight and stable, in addition to being extremely robust.
