Epic Games, creators of the popular and critically acclaimed video game Fortnite, have just announced a new type of approach to animation and design that they promise will revolutionize the industry. With their new MetaHumans technology, Epic is now introducing a way to animate hyperrealistic characters using just an iPhone.
The concept behind MetaHumans blends a playful imagination with cutting-edge technology to create life-like characters that mimic real people in a photorealistic way. Epic has teamed with iPhone brand Apple in order to make their character designs compatible with the iPhone X, XS, and XS Max cameras. This means users can now scan their face, body, and environment and use the results to create 3D character models in real-time.
This new technology is a blend of motion capture and computer vision that provides photographers and filmmakers with a powerful toolset for creating lifelike animation. Epic’s new technology brings character rigs and textures that closely resemble how humans move and look, allowing for more realistic and immersive skin movement, facial expressions and behavior. The technology can also automatically generate realistic scene lighting, so the results look as if they have been shot on a live-action film set.
Indeed, the hyperrealism that MetaHumans offers, is no longer limited to the traditional animation set up. With the new technology, artists now have the freedom to animate a character’s behavior and facial expressions right on their phone—using nothing more than the camera.
This new technology has the potential to revolutionize the way animators, filmmakers and photographers create their projects. With basic mobile hardware, users can make animations using the same level of detail and realism that used to require an expensive motion capture set up. The only thing users need is an iPhone and their imagination, opening up animation possibilities to anyone with a smartphone.
Epic Games’ MetaHumans technology is on the forefront of animation production technology and should be seen as an investment for any aspiring filmmaker, animation artist or photographer. With its new intuitive use, creatives can create lifelike characters and scenes with ease, taking the work of animation to an entirely new level.