Unreal Engine Version
This plugin is available for Unreal Engine 5.7 and Unreal Engine 5.8. Install the build that matches the engine version you will run it in, because plugin builds are not interchangeable across engine versions. The two builds are otherwise identical, with one exception: the DCC pipeline exists on 5.7 only, because Epic removed it from the engine in 5.8.
This does not mean your entire game project needs to be on a supported version. In fact, our optimized MetaHuman meshes even work in UE4!
The plugin is designed to run in a dedicated project (we provide a template project for exactly this purpose). Given how heavy the MetaHuman operations are (crashes aren't rare) and how much trial and error is required, we don't recommend running it in your main project, both for organization, performance and safety reasons.
The workflow is: open the template project, create and process your MetaHuman faces there, then migrate only the resulting optimized meshes into your main game project, which can be on any engine version that supports importing FBX skeletal meshes.
Note
UE 5.6 backport support is on the roadmap but not yet available.
Required MetaHuman Plugins
The following plugins must be enabled in your project. They all ship with Unreal Engine and are free. Go to Edit > Plugins, search by name, enable each one, and restart the editor when prompted.
| Plugin | Why it's needed |
|---|---|
| MetaHuman Core Tech | Core MetaHuman character system, DNA deformation runtime, required for the ARKit exporter to correctly skin and pose the face mesh. |
| MetaHuman SDK | MetaHuman Creator integration and the assembly/build pipeline used by the Auto Assembler tab. |
| MetaHuman Creator | Provides the MetaHuman character assets and the ability to rig and assemble them from the editor. |
| MetaHuman Live Link (optional) | Only needed if you want to test ARKit Live Link facial capture directly in the same project. Not required for the optimization workflow itself. |
| Editor Scripting Utilities | Required by MetaHuman Optimizer for asset management operations (duplicating, saving, and organizing assets in the Content Browser). |
| MetaHuman Optimizer | This plugin. Enabled automatically if you copy it in your project's plugin folder. |
Tip
If the ARKit animation asset (AS_MH_ARKit_ROM) shows as missing on the Face Optimizer or Pose Export tab, it almost always means one of the plugins above is not enabled.
System Requirements
MetaHuman workflows are resource-intensive regardless of which tools you use. For a smooth experience:
- GPU: A dedicated GPU capable of running MetaHuman characters in the editor (RTX 2070 / RX 6700 or better recommended)
- RAM: 32 GB recommended, as MetaHuman assembly and texture downloads are memory-heavy
- Disk: Allow several GB of free space per character when using the Auto Assembler (textures, intermediate assets, and the final mesh all accumulate)
Blender (Optional)
Blender is only required for the ARKit round-trip workflow (Pose Export tab, then Blender, then reimport). It is not needed if you use the Face Optimizer tab, which does everything inside Unreal Engine.
| Face Optimizer | ARKit Round-Trip | |
|---|---|---|
| Requires Blender | ✗ | ✓ |
| Allows mesh sculpting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-character shape keys | ✗ | ✓ |
| Fastest workflow | ✓ | ✗ |
If you do use the Blender workflow, any recent version of Blender 3.x, 4.x or 5.x works. The Python scripts included with the plugin (Blender_MergeArkit52Poses.py, Blender_AddBlendshapes.py) use standard Blender Python APIs with no third-party dependencies.
Note
You could theoretically perform the shape key merging step in Maya or another DCC that supports OBJ import and shape keys, but we won't provide any scripts or support for those applications.