og-gabriel/metahuman-dna-calibration

MetaHuman DNA Calibration

MetaHuman DNA Calibration is a set of tools used for working with MetaHuman DNA files, bundled into a single package. DNA is an integral part of MetaHuman identity. DNA files are created with MetaHuman Creator and downloaded with Quixel Bridge.

MetaHuman DNA Calibration is a set of tools used for working with MetaHuman DNA files, bundled into a single package. We wanted to share this code to help users customize DNA files so they can better integrate the characters they create into their games and experiences. MetaHuman DNA Calibration tools are provided in a GitHub repository located at this address.

Overview

For an explanation about how the repository is organized, click here.

The MetaHuman DNA Calibration repository contains two distinct tools:

• DNACalib (and its dependencies)
• DNAViewer

Required Knowledge

To use these tools, you should be familiar with:

• Rigging in Maya
• Python

Optional Knowledge

• C++ (for DNACalib and its API)

DNACalib

DNACalib and its API are used to inspect and modify DNA files. With DNACalib, you can make the following changes in DNA files:

• Rename joints, meshes, blendshapes, and / or animated maps.
• Remove joints, meshes, and / or joint animation.
• Rotate, scale, and translate the rig.
• Remove LODs.
• Change neutral joint positions, neutral mesh positions, and blendshape delta values.
• Prune blendshapes.
• Remove all blend shape data.

External Software Dependencies

DNACalib's Python wrapper is compiled against Python 3.7. If you are using a different version of Python, you must recompile it. Any Python 3 version should be fine. Pre-compiled binaries for Windows and Linux (both 64-bit) are part of the repository. If a user has a different platform or architecture, the library and its dependencies must be compiled.

Warning: Python 2 is not supported.

DNACalib can be used in C++ projects as a C++ library.

DNACalib Python wrapper can be used in Python 3.7, mayapy (Maya's Python interpreter), or Maya 2022.

DNAViewer

With DNAViewer, you can:

• Create functional rigs for Maya.
• Export FBX files.
• Read internal parts of DNA files.

DNAViewer can be used in mayapy (Maya's Python interpreter) or in Maya 2022, except Propagating changes from Maya scene to dna which can be used just in Maya.

Examples

Several Python examples are provided for reference and can be found in the examples' folder:

• Showcase a few commands
• Rename a joint
• Create a small DNA from scratch
• Create a new DNA from an existing one by extracting specific LODs
• Remove a joint
• Clear blend shape data
• Subtract values from neutral mesh
• Simple UI in Maya and some documentation for it
• Generate rig and export FBX per LOD
• Propagating changes from Maya scene to dna

Example DNA files

Two demo DNA files are provided for easier testing of this tool. Any DNA generated with MetaHumanCreator should work.

Notes

If a user runs examples in Maya 2022, the value for ROOT_DIR should be changed and absolute paths must be used, eg. c:/dna_calibration in Windows or /home/user/dna_calibration in Linux. Important: Use / (forward slash), Maya uses forward slashes in path.

See the FAQ guide for additional specifications.

License

MetaHuman DNA Calibration is released with licence.