How to Create a Character of Yourself and Use it in Unreal Engine
If you’re a technology and gaming enthusiast, you’ve probably heard of Unreal Engine, a popular game development platform. But did you know that you can create 3D character models of yourself and use them in Unreal Engine? In this article, I’ll show you how to create a 3D character model of yourself using the Polycam app, blender and the Metahuman plugin in Unreal Engine, and how to use it in your own game projects.
To get a 3D model of your head and create a digital character in your image, the first thing you need to do is use an app like Polycam to scan your head. This app allows you to obtain a detailed and realistic 3D image of your head, which you can then use in the character creation process.
From Polycam to Unreal, you have to go through Blender to act as a bridge between formats (from .glb to .fbx).
Once you have the 3D head model, you’ll need to open a Unreal Engine project that has the Metahuman plugin installed and activated.
Next, you import the 3D model into the project and create a Metahuman identifier. In this identifier, you select the scanned head model, which allows the Metahuman plugin to recognize the head features and work with them to create the digital character.
It’s important to ensure that the 3D model fits properly into Metahuman’s measurements and proportions so that the character creation process is as accurate as possible.
After identifying the head model, you select the desired body for the digital character. After this, you export the character to Metahuman to work on the final details. Once in the Metahuman tool, you can add details to the digital character, such as skin color, facial hair, hair, and more. You can customize the character until you achieve the desired result.
Once you’ve finished customizing the character, you proceed to import it into Unreal Engine using Quixel Bridge. This tool allows you to import the digital character and ensures that the details and textures are properly integrated into the project.
Once imported, additional adjustments can be made in Unreal Engine to adapt the character to the game or project in which it will be used.
After importing the character into Unreal Engine with Quixel Bridge, some adjustments need to be made to adapt it to the project. You’ll need to adjust scale, animations, and other details to ensure that the character is properly integrated into the game or project environment.
Finally, the character will be ready to be used in the project as a personalized and realistic digital character.
In summary, Metahuman is a valuable and free tool for creating realistic and detailed character models. Developers can use Metahuman to save time in character creation and improve the visual quality and immersion of the game or project. Overall, Metahuman has a significant impact on game development and other applications.
