Ue 5.5 many metahuman issues

Summary

Just moved to UE5.5 primarily because of amazing metahuman performance (lipsync). But other things that used to run perfectly on Ue5.4 give me issues now. For example, previously i customized my metahumans with morph targets and the flow worked perfectly. Now when i try to import the morph target the screen just freezes saying “this character is waiting to be skinned” and it never progresses from that no matter how long i wait. Also, i used metatailor to import clothes. Even if i import with metahuman base skeleton selected, it goes havoc when i try to animate my metahuman. Are these just bugs or am i understanding something wrong?

Please select what you are reporting on:

Creative

What Type of Bug are you experiencing?

Assets

Steps to Reproduce

Morph target: step by step this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ZjsUg2XCc&list=LL
Clothes: step by step this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W7hHlGi4Ak&list=PL8dl73rskvBvLiT-mTdNL_bWbRhA5ZAqo&index=43

Expected Result

To know whether the flow has changed or are these just bugs that will be fixed in the future

Observed Result

Screen freeze and clothes completely being disformed when the metahuman bones move

Platform(s)

UE 5.5

Hi i had the same problem, i tried different tutorials, but for me only 5.3 works regarding reimporting with Shape Key/Morph Targets.

I tried it just now, but i guess i will hang aroung 5.3 for a while.

I guess it’s like one checkbox or importing step we are all missing, (last comments under the video you linked) but if someone know’s a workaround please tell us :slight_smile:

Just coming back, i asked https://www.youtube.com/@mdreamslk this guy, please give him a follow or like.

So what happens is, after duplicating the original MH Mesh, there are setting missing in the “Asset Details → Import Settings” so you have to first reimport the custom MH Head like in all the tutorials, after that go to these settings


check import morph targets and then just press the “Reimport Mesh” Button on the Top Left.

This will import all the Morph Targets, aswell as the new ones created.

These settings only appear after you reimported the custom Metahuman Mesh, then there should be no Morph targets. Only then the “import Morph Targets” checkbox appears.

Yeap same thing in 5.4. “Import morph targets” doesnt appear until you add file and reimport mesh. Looks like its the same for 5.5. BUt i cant even get to this step because reimport mesh will just hang when importing. Also, in 5.5 the reimport mesh tab is also different so thats why im thinking there should be a different workflow now.

Just ran into this issue myself and I could not figure out a good pathway through with the new interchange importer. So I decided to disable that.

heres the two things that helped for anyone else that runs into this issue:

Process for importing/exporting meta humans to blender:

Bonus tool that helped me transfer shapekeys (morph targets) that id lost previously:

Edit:

Heres how I went and resolved this on my project for anyone else that might need it, I am not an animator or a programmer so please let me know if there’s anything wrong with this approach:

(metahumans on my project need weighted normals, just because its not talked about current optimized metahumans that are not the Full Cinematic Metahumans do not have morph targets when imported, only cinematic metahumans have morph targets)

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP): Fixing Missing Morph Targets in Custom MetaHuman Assets

Purpose:

To ensure custom MetaHuman assets retain morph targets when imported into Unreal Engine by transferring shape keys from a high-quality cinematic MetaHuman to a target MetaHuman asset.


Materials/Tools Required:

  1. Software:

    • Unreal Engine
    • Blender
    • FBX 2013.3 Converter (download from Autodesk website)
    • ShapeKeyWrap Plugin for Blender (download from GitHub)
  2. Files:

    • Cinematic MetaHuman Quality FBX
    • Target MetaHuman Quality FBX

Procedure:

Step 1: Prepare Files

  1. Download the Cinematic and Target MetaHuman Quality files.
  2. Import the Target MetaHuman Quality files into your Unreal Engine project.
    • Note: Only Cinematic MetaHumans have morph targets; other quality levels may not.

Step 2: Export FBX Files

  1. Export the following FBX files from Unreal Engine:
    • Target Quality MetaHuman
    • High-Quality Cinematic MetaHuman

Step 3: Convert FBX Files

  1. Download and install the FBX 2013.3 Converter from the Autodesk website.
  2. Convert both the Target and High-Quality Cinematic FBX files using the FBX 2013.3 Converter.

Step 4: Import and Modify in Blender

  1. Import the Target FBX into Blender.
  2. Make any necessary changes or apply modifiers (e.g., Decimate, Weighted Normals) that are incompatible with shape keys.

Step 5: Install ShapeKeyWrap Plugin

  1. Download the ShapeKeyWrap plugin from GitHub.
  2. Install the plugin in Blender.

Step 6: Transfer Shape Keys

  1. Import the High-Quality Cinematic MetaHuman FBX into Blender.
  2. Select the High-Quality Cinematic MetaHuman mesh, then select the Target MetaHuman mesh.
  3. Open the Shape Key Wrap menu from the tools panel on the right.
  4. Click Transfer Shape Keys and wait for the process to complete.
  5. Verify that the shape keys have been transferred to the Target MetaHuman mesh in the Object Data Properties tab.

Step 7: Clean Up and Export

  1. Delete the High-Quality Cinematic MetaHuman mesh and its hierarchy.
  2. Select the Target MetaHuman Root node, then Shift-select down to the Target MetaHuman mesh.
  3. Export the Target MetaHuman as an FBX file with the following settings:
    • General Tab:
      • Limit to Selected Objects
    • Geometry Tab:
      • Smoothing: Face
      • Deselect Apply Modifiers
      • Enable Tangent Space
    • Armature Tab:
      • Deselect Add Leaf Bones
    • Bake Animation Tab:
      • Select only Key All Bones and Force Start/End Keying

Step 8: Reimport into Unreal Engine

  1. In Unreal Engine, select the Target Skeletal Mesh.
  2. Scroll down to the File Path submenu in the Details panel and select the newly exported Target FBX file.
  3. Click Reimport Mesh with Dialog at the top of the Skeletal Mesh menu.
  4. Configure the import settings as follows:
    • Use T0 as Ref Pose
    • Preserve Smoothing Groups
    • Import Meshes in Bone Hierarchy
    • Import Morph Targets
    • Normal Import Method: Import Normals and Tangents
  5. Click Import.
    • If a material import fix menu appears, click Reset to FBX.

Step 9: Verify and Test

  1. Check the LOD0 and other LODs to ensure proper material assignments.
  2. Test the asset in various scenes to confirm functionality.