Epic Games has announced a new browser-based software tool powered by the Unreal Engine called the MetaHuman Creator that can create highly realistic human faces and help stimulate more realistic body movements and facial animations. Epic gave a taste of the platform today in a few YouTube videos showing examples of creations made using the MetaHuman Creator, and ‘metahuman’ seems to be the term the company uses to describe this brand of virtual, not – describe real individuals.
Epic says the MetaHuman Creator can be used in conjunction with modern motion capture and animation techniques to create lifelike motion and human interaction scenes created for video games, film, TV and other formats. The company says these photorealistic people can be generated and outfitted with unique hairstyles and clothing in minutes, then further customized to suit a production’s needs. And these “metahumans” can be manipulated in real time within the tool itself and just using a web browser, Epic says.
“Until now, building truly compelling digital people has been one of the most difficult tasks in creating 3D content. Even the most experienced performers require a lot of time, effort and equipment just for one character, ”said Vladimir Mastilovic, Epic’s vice president of digital human technology, in a statement. “After decades of research and development, and with companies such as 3Lateral, Cubic Motion and Quixel joining the Epic family, that barrier is being cleared by Unreal Engine, and we’re excited to introduce MetaHuman Creator.”
The people created with Epic’s new tool don’t approach the photorealism of, say, the digitally rendered photos of fake people produced by generative hostile networks, the AI engineering that underpins projects like ‘This Person Does Not Exist’.
But as some sort of supercharged video game maker tool, MetaHuman Creator seems capable of creating some shockingly realistic looking people who could easily pass for a real-life motion capture actor. While we may have to wait to see what the tool is really capable of in the hands of third-party creators before making any judgment on whether or not it escapes the eerie valley.
It’s not clear when Epic plans to release MetaHuman Creator beyond a wide release date for 2021, but interested developers and artists can sign up for updates on the Unreal Engine website.