Epic Games has announced a new browser-based software tool powered by its Unreal Engine, called MetaHuman Creator, which can create highly realistic human faces and help boost more realistic body movements and facial animations. Epic provided a preview of the platform today in a couple of YouTube videos showing examples of creations built using Creator MetaHuman, and “metahuman” seems to be the term the company is using to describe this brand of non-real virtual individual.
Epic says that MetaHuman Creator can be used in conjunction with modern techniques of motion capture and animation to create realistic movements and scenes of human interactions built for video games, movies, TV and other formats. The company says that these photorealistic humans can be generated in a matter of minutes and equipped with unique hairstyles and clothes, and then can be adapted to meet the needs of a production. And these “metahumans” can be manipulated in real time within the tool itself and only using a web browser, says Epic.
“So far, one of the most arduous tasks in creating 3D content has been to build truly compelling digital humans. Even the most experienced artists require a significant amount of time, effort and equipment, just for one character, ”said Vladimir Mastilovic, Epic’s vice president of human digital technology, in a statement. “After decades of research and development, and thanks to bringing companies like 3Lateral, Cubic Motion and Quixel to the Epic family, this barrier is being removed through the Unreal Engine, and we are excited to introduce the MetaHuman Creator.”
Humans created with the new Epic tool do not come close to the photorealism of, say, digitally rendered photos of fake people produced by opposing generating networks, which is the AI technique that underpins projects like “This Person Does Not Exist”.
But as a kind of supercharged video game character creation tool, MetaHuman Creator seems capable of making some shockingly realistic-looking people who could easily pass for a motion-captured actor in real life. Although we may need to wait and see what the tool is really capable of in the hands of third-party creators before giving a verdict on whether it escapes the mysterious valley.
It is unclear when Epic plans to launch the MetaHuman Creator outside a broad 2021 launch window, but interested developers and artists can sign up for updates on the Unreal Engine website.