Next-Generation Digital Human Creation Tool 'MetaHuman' Officially Released with Major Upgrades!

On June 3, 2025, Epic Games officially released version 5.6 of the next-generation digital human creation tool "MetaHuman", ending its early access phase. This update not only brings many exciting new features but also significantly expands its applications in CG production, virtual reality, and game development. This article will take you through these new features and explore their potential applications across different fields.

The release of MetaHuman 5.6 marks a major breakthrough in digital human creation technology, signaling the beginning of a new era in digital content creation. Through integration with Unreal Engine, enhanced animation capabilities, and rich extension tools, MetaHuman provides creators with unprecedented flexibility and creativity.

New Features

This update not only optimizes the creation workflow but also brings many other exciting new features.

1. MetaHuman Creation on Unreal Engine

   • Optimized Creation Workflow: Creators can now use MetaHuman Creator directly within Unreal Engine, without waiting for instances or being limited to periodic sessions. This change significantly improves creator efficiency and brings more creative inspiration.
   • Local Asset Management: MetaHuman Creator, MetaHuman Animator, and Mesh to MetaHuman are integrated into a single application, simplifying character creation workflows and enhancing local asset management flexibility. This improvement allows creators to focus more on creativity itself rather than being bound by cumbersome tools.

2. New Parametric Body System

   • Diverse Body Type Options: MetaHuman Creator introduces a new parametric body system based on extensive real-world detailed scan data, allowing easy creation of almost infinite ranges of realistic body types. You can not only choose different heights and weights but also fine-tune parameters like chest, waist, and leg length to meet specific needs, such as online fashion try-on simulations.
   • Precise Parameter Adjustment: This feature makes created characters more diverse and more aligned with real-world human characteristics, enhancing character realism.

3. New UE Clothing Assets

   • Rich Clothing Choices: Creators can use new Unreal Engine clothing assets to create complete character wardrobes by combining various garments and accessories. This feature not only enriches character appearance but also adds to the fun of creation.
   • Automatic Adaptation to Different Body Types: Clothing assets can be preset to adapt to different body types, achieving automatic adjustment to ensure clothes fit properly on any body type. This improvement allows creators to more easily produce high-quality character models.

4. Enhanced MetaHuman Animator

   • Real-time Animation Generation: MetaHuman Animator now supports capturing actor performances from single cameras (such as regular webcams and smartphones) and animating MetaHumans in real-time in Unreal Engine. This feature makes real-time animation production simple and efficient.
   • Audio-driven Animation: Generate real-time animations from audio by capturing emotions, creating more natural and rich animation performances. Manual adjustment options also make customization more flexible, making character performances more vivid.

Application Fields

The new features of MetaHuman 5.6 bring new possibilities to many fields.

1. Game Development: Game developers can use MetaHuman to create highly realistic game characters, enhancing game realism and immersion. This means players will experience more vivid and rich stories in virtual worlds.

2. Virtual Reality: In VR applications, MetaHuman can generate virtual characters that interact with users, enhancing user experience. Whether it's virtual tour guides, virtual assistants, or virtual characters, they can all become more realistic.

3. Film and Television Production: MetaHuman's high-precision characters and real-time animation features bring new possibilities to film and television production, simplifying character creation and animation production processes. Production teams can more efficiently complete complex character modeling and animation production, thereby improving overall project quality.

4. Virtual Live Streaming: Through real-time animation features, MetaHuman can be applied to virtual live streaming, adding interactivity and fun to live content. Whether in entertainment or educational live streaming, virtual characters can bring new experiences to viewers.

For example: Epic's open marketplace Fab (a single destination for all digital content creators to discover, share, buy, and sell digital assets) and third-party marketplaces can now easily buy and sell MetaHumans as well as MetaHuman-compatible accessories like clothes and makeup.

All MetaHumans created in version 5.6 and later follow the same common standard, allowing animation, clothes, and makeup to be reused and shared between them.

User Experience

The new features not only improve creator work efficiency but also greatly enrich user experience.

• Higher Flexibility: Creators can more freely adjust and optimize characters at various stages without relying on complex tools and processes. This means more creative inspiration and higher creative freedom.
• More Efficient Workflow: Integrated workflows and automated tools significantly reduce production time and improve creation efficiency. Creators can focus more on creativity itself rather than being bound by tools.
• Richer Experience: New features and tools make created characters more realistic and vivid, enhancing users' visual and emotional experience. Whether in games, virtual reality applications, or film and television works, character performances will be more realistic.

Conclusion

The release of MetaHuman 5.6 is not only a major upgrade to the digital human creation tool but also an important milestone in the field of digital content creation. Through integration with Unreal Engine, enhanced animation capabilities, and rich extension tools, MetaHuman provides creators with powerful support, opening a new chapter in digital human creation. In the future, with the continuous development of technology, MetaHuman will bring more innovations and breakthroughs, pushing the industry into a new era. If you're interested in digital content creation, why not try MetaHuman and experience the infinite possibilities this technology brings!