Poly Hammer releases Meta-Human DNA add-on for Blender
Originally posted on 6 November 2024, and updated for the public release.
New developer Poly Hammer has released an interesting new tool for editing Unreal Engine MetaHuman characters inside Blender.
The Meta-Human DNA add-on enables users to import MetaHuman .dna files into Blender, edit characters’ facial rigs, and push the changes back to an Unreal Engine project.
The software is currently available in commercial beta, after a period in free early access.
Customize MetaHuman characters directly in Blender, rather than in MetaHuman Creator
The Meta-Human DNA add-on promises to give Blender users a native workflow for editing 3D characters created using Epic Games’ MetaHuman framework for Unreal Engine, rather than using Epic’s cloud-based MetaHuman Creator app.
Users can import a MetaHuman .dna file directly into Blender, and edit the character’s facial rig, including bones, shape keys and wrinkle maps.
Changes can then be pushed back to an Unreal Engine project in “one click”.
It is also possible to import custom 3D character meshes into Blender and convert them to MetaHuman DNA using an auto-fitting algorithm available with commercial licenses.
Only for facial editing
The add-on is focused on editing MetaHuman characters’ faces, not their bodies.
It implements Rig Logic, the MetaHuman framework’s facial rig evaluation solver system, within Blender, promising a “seamless one-to-one integration” with the face board controls.
However, you can sync the position of the spine bones with the body skeleton in the Unreal Blueprint, to help ensure that the character’s head matches their body height on export.
Only for editing MetaHumans for use in Unreal Engine
The add-on is purely for editing MetaHumans for use in Unreal Engine, not Blender itself.
The usage terms for MetaHumans – summarised in Epic’s online FAQs – state that characters generated with MetaHuman Creator are only licensed for use in Unreal Engine projects.
Users “must render MetaHumans with Unreal Engine [and] cannot render them outside of Unreal Engine”.
Has to be compiled from source
For similar reasons, you have to compile the add-on yourself, since it uses part of Unreal Engine’s source code, although Poly Hammer provides an automated build tool.
To do so, you need to agree to Epic Games’ EULA, and there is a legal disclaimer on the Poly Hammer website stating that you are responsible for complying with software licenses.
Price and system requirements
The Meta-Human DNA add-on is available in beta, and is compatible with any version of Blender that supports Python 3.11 on Windows, Linux and macOS (Apple Silicon Macs only).
The current release is tested on Blender 4.2/4.3 and Unreal Engine 5.4+.
An individual perpetual license costs $79; team licenses start at $259.
The source code is available open-source under a GPLv3 license, but does not include the auto-fitting algorithm.
Read more about the Meta-Human DNA add-on for Blender in the online documentation
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