# MetaHuman 5.8 Preview Released! **URL:** \ **Category:** Announcements\ **Tags:** unreal-engine, metahuman\ **Created:** [May 12, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648 "2026-05-12T17:10:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JamesPullan](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/jamespullan/32/1195086_2.png) [@JamesPullan](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/JamesPullan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/1 "2026-05-12T17:10:57Z")
![unreal-engine-5.8-preview-1920x1080](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/1/6/9/169ec7667dd0cc1ea9f0803dd8415aa9a7f40ccf.png) Download Unreal Engine 5.8 Preview from the Epic Games [Launcher](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download), [GitHub,](https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine/releases/tag/5.8.0-preview-1) or for [Linux](https://www.unrealengine.com/linux). MetaHuman features in the **Unreal Engine 5.8 Preview** introduce powerful new real-time MetaHuman workflows; here are a few key highlights. The new **MetaHuman Collections** provide the means to populate real-time environments with vast crowds of MetaHumans, scaling your character counts from tens to thousands via the **MetaHuman Crowds plugin**. **Mesh to MetaHuman** enhancements now enables you to turn any meshes into full MetaHuman characters, including both head and body (separately or simultaneously). MetaHuman Animator now supports **Linux and MacOS platforms** , matching the platform availability of Unreal Engine editor and MetaHuman Creator. Within the preview Mac users can utilise realtime MetaHuman Animator workflows, with Linux users being able to utilise offline processing. **Custom lighting scenes** in MetaHuman Creator now let you preview and refine your MetaHuman characters within the context of your target environment. **Unbaked textures** give you an opportunity to modify and refine them to achieve any level of visual fidelity or aesthetic style before baking your edits into the assembled MetaHuman. These are just a few of the features check-out the [UE 5.8 Public Roadmap](https://portal.productboard.com/epicgames/1-unreal-engine-public-roadmap/tabs/129-unreal-engine-5-8) for more information. Keep in mind, Preview releases are not fully quality-tested, are still under heavy active development, and should be considered as unstable until the final release. We recommend that you make a copy of your projects for testing these builds, rather than converting your projects. If you discover any issues with this Preview release, please report them using these guidelines: [How to Report a Bug](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/support/report-a-bug) ---
**Author:** ![JoeProductions24](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@JoeProductions24](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/JoeProductions24)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/2 "2026-05-12T23:01:08Z")
Any news about meshcapade ? ---
**Author:** ![tomhalpin8](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@tomhalpin8](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/tomhalpin8)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/3 "2026-05-13T17:22:22Z")
Asking the real questions… looks like a lot of piping is happening in UE5-Main ---
**Author:** ![axelboulanger](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@axelboulanger](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/axelboulanger)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/4 "2026-05-13T21:26:02Z")
Hello James, Do you have any documentation regarding the Metahuman Crowd plugin yet ? Thanks in advance, Axel ---
**Author:** ![kings20251](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@kings20251](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/kings20251)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 7:09am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/5 "2026-05-15T07:09:54Z")
I hope unreal engine release this tool earlier because it will be a game changer for all 3d artist ---
**Author:** ![Excalibur403](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/excalibur403/32/1176601_2.png) [@Excalibur403](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Excalibur403)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 2:19pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/6 "2026-05-19T14:19:03Z")
I’m looking forward to this tool in Unreal Engine. Meshcapade, in my opinion, was the best video mocap tool on the market right now. ---
**Author:** ![EvanWiley](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@EvanWiley](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/EvanWiley)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 8:20pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/7 "2026-05-20T20:20:00Z")
who do we need to talk to get to download the 5.8 release? ---
**Author:** ![srl3d](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/srl3d/32/1164582_2.png) [@srl3d](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/srl3d)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/8 "2026-05-29T15:15:42Z")
I was wondering the same! ---
**Author:** ![Kirill\_300](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/kirill_300/32/1182937_2.png) [@Kirill\_300](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Kirill_300)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/9 "2026-05-30T10:30:24Z")
would there be chaos vehicle fixes included in final version? ---
**Author:** ![TD\_Trader](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@TD\_Trader](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/TD_Trader)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 8:53am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/10 "2026-06-14T08:53:11Z")
Do you have any documentation regarding the Metahuman Crowd plugin yet? ---
**Author:** ![JamesPullan](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/jamespullan/32/1195086_2.png) [@JamesPullan](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/JamesPullan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/metahuman-5-8-preview-released/2721648/11 "2026-07-20T12:29:27Z")
Hey, We have just published our [How to Build Scalable MetaHuman Crowds in Unreal Engine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQoa1j4Rgss) tech talk from Unreal Fest Chicago 2026. This has further info on [MetaHuman Crowds](https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/metahuman/metahuman-crowds-in-unreal-engine) to go alongside the documentation. Cheers James