The Character DNA MetaHuman add-on for Blender is now free
Poly Hammer has made the base edition of Character DNA, its tool for editing Unreal Engine MetaHuman characters inside Blender, available free.
The add-on makes it possible to import MetaHuman .dna files and animations, modify them in Blender, and export the results back to Unreal Engine.
Customize MetaHuman characters directly in Blender
Originally known as the Meta-Human DNA add-on for Blender, Character DNA aims gives Blender users a native way to edit Unreal Engine MetaHuman characters.
Users can import a MetaHuman .dna file or animations created with MetaHuman Animator into Blender, make changes, and export the results back to Unreal Engine.
It is also possible just to use the MetaHuman characters and their animations directly in Blender, Epic Games having changed its licensing conditions since the add-on was originally released.
Now free for the core edition, and no longer requires you to build the software yourself
The new free edition of Character DNA is the result of another recent Epic decision: to open-source its MetaHuman Rig Logic library as part of its new MetaHuman DevKit.
The change also means that users no longer have to build the Character DNA add-on themselves, since it comes with a pre-compiled version of RigLogic.
So what’s in the free edition?
The free edition makes it possible to “import, animate, bake data, and export your scene data to your MetaHuman’s DNA”: you can see an exact list of features in the online documentation.
Advanced features like the new RBF Editor remain part of the paid Pro edition, while the Character Control Rig add-on remains a separate commercial product.
Price and system requirements
Character DNA is compatible with Blender 4.5+ on Windows, Linux and macOS, and supports .dna files created using Unreal Engine 5.6+.
The core edition is free, and its source code is available under a GPLv3 license. To install it, you will need to register for a free account on the Poly Hammer website.
An individual perpetual license of the Pro edition costs $79; team licenses start at $259.
Read more about Character DNA on Poly Hammer’s website
(Includes a comparison of the free and Pro editions)
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