We’re excited to announce that Unreal Engine 5.8 is now available, and it includes updates and improvements across the MetaHuman framework. Download now on the Epic Games Launcher, GitHub, or our Linux page.
MetaHuman 5.8 brings some of the biggest updates we’ve made yet to digital humans. From scaling crowds into the thousands and capturing full-body performances more easily, to open-sourcing key parts of the technology for the first time, this release makes it easier than ever to build, animate, and deploy MetaHumans at scale.
You can check out the full release notes here, with some highlights picked out below!
MetaHuman Collections is a new Experimental feature for creating scalable MetaHuman crowds in real-time worlds. It supports hundreds of characters on mobile and thousands on high-end platforms by seamlessly transitioning between high-fidelity characters and optimized representations based on camera distance. Build and customize crowds using modular character parts, with support for both manual and Blueprint-driven generation.
To get started, download and explore the new MetaHuman Crowds Sample on Fab.
Mesh to MetaHuman now supports full-body character creation directly in MetaHuman Creator. Convert virtually any human mesh—regardless of topology—into a fully rigged MetaHuman, with support for heads, bodies, or both in a single workflow. It’s ideal for characters created from scans or external DCC tools, meshes generated with tools like Meshy or Tripo, or for converting existing characters.
MetaHuman Animator now supports markerless full-body performance capture from a single camera. Previously limited to facial animation, the tool can now capture face, body, or full-character performances simultaneously, making high-quality motion capture more accessible without the need for specialized equipment or complex studio setups. Get the MetaHuman Animator Markerless Motion Capture Plugin on Fab today.
MetaHuman Devkit introduces open-source access to MetaHuman RigLogic and DNA through OpenRigLogic, available on GitHub under an MIT license. This enables developers to integrate MetaHuman-compatible technology into third-party tools and platforms while maintaining compatibility with MetaHuman Creator and MetaHuman Animator. OpenRigLogic is the first component of the evolving MetaHuman DevKit, bringing MetaHuman technology beyond Unreal Engine.
MetaHuman 5.8 also introduces a range of quality-of-life and workflow improvements for character artists and animators. Artists can now export and edit unbaked textures and materials using Unreal Engine or external DCC tools, while new custom lighting previews in MetaHuman Creator make it easier to evaluate characters in production-specific environments.
MetaHuman Animator has also been enhanced with improved animation solve quality across a wider range of capture conditions, more natural audio-driven performances with automatic emotion detection and procedural blinks, and cleaner animation curves that simplify editing and refinement.
Read more about what’s new for MetaHumans in UE 5.8, and make sure you give us some feedback on the update!