Runtime Character Creator for MetaHuman

? What it is

Picture the "create your character" screen from RPGs: sliders, buttons, a choice of hairstyle and outfit. This plugin gives you a ready-made engine to build that screen — for MetaHuman characters from Epic Games.

The one thing to remember: the plugin ships no characters. You (the developer) bring your own MetaHumans, grooms and outfits, and the plugin lets the player swap them live in-game and save the look.

💡 In plain words

Plugin = a TV remote. The TV (MetaHuman) and the channels (hairstyles, outfits) are yours. The plugin gives the buttons the player presses to switch.

★ What you get

💇

Groom swapping

Hair, eyebrows, beard, mustache, eyelashes, fuzz. "None" = bald / clean-shaven.

👕

Outfit swapping

Swap the character's clothing with one click.

🧍

Body swapping

Switch between the body variants you register.

🎨

Sliders & colors

Material parameters — e.g. makeup, tint. Sliders and color pickers.

🎲

Randomize / Reset

One button = a random character or back to default.

💾

Save & load

The look is saved as a lightweight "recipe" (JSON or SaveGame).

🧩

Ready-made UI widget

A base creator-window class — you design only the look, the logic is inside.

✅

Editor validation

The plugin warns you about library mistakes before you even run the game.

✓ Before you start — what you need

Unreal Engine 5.8 (the plugin is built for this version).
A project with at least one MetaHuman (imported via Quixel Bridge / MetaHuman).
A few grooms and optionally outfits / body variants to choose from.
The HairStrands plugin — enabled automatically (needed for hair).

✅ Good news

You don't have to write any code. The whole setup is filling in one "sheet" (a Data Asset) and dropping a component onto the character.

◎ How it works — the whole thing in one picture

Four blocks. The Library says "what's available", the Component "applies" it to the character, the Widget is the player's window, and the Recipe is the saved look.

Flow: Library → Component → Widget (player) → Recipe (save)

1 Install the plugin

Unzip the plugin

You received MetaHumanCreatorKit_UE5.8.zip. Inside there's a folder named MetaHumanCreatorKit.

Drop it into your project

Copy the MetaHumanCreatorKit folder into your project's Plugins folder. If there's no Plugins folder yet — just create one.

YourProject/
├─ Content/
├─ Plugins/            <-- here
│  └─ MetaHumanCreatorKit/
└─ YourProject.uproject

Open the project

Open your project. The editor will ask to build the plugin — click Yes. After a moment the plugin is ready.

💡 Check

Edit → Plugins, type "MetaHuman Creator" — it should be listed and enabled. HairStrands gets enabled automatically too.

2 Build the library (the list of choices)

This is the key step. You create one file that lists everything the player can pick.

Create a Data Asset

In the Content Browser: right-click → Miscellaneous → Data Asset → pick MHCK Creator Library from the list. Name it e.g. DA_MyCreatorLibrary.

Fill in the sections

Open the file (double-click) and fill the tables. Here's what goes where:

Section	What to enter
Bases	A `BaseId` (any name) + your MetaHuman's class (its Blueprint).
Groom Slots	One entry per slot. `SlotId` MUST match the groom component name on the MetaHuman exactly (see box below). Each option = `OptionId` + a groom asset. Empty asset = a "bald / none" option.
Material Params	`ParamName` = a real material parameter name. Choose Scalar (slider) or Color, the target (Face/Body/Outfit) and the slot index (`-1` = all slots at once, e.g. skin tone).
Body Options	`OptionId` + a skeletal mesh for the body variant.
Outfit Options	`OptionId` + an outfit skeletal mesh (swapped on the `SkeletalMesh` component).
Morphs	`MorphName` = a morph target name on the mesh, with a min/max range.

⚠️ Groom slot names — use these EXACTLY

We verified this on a real MetaHuman in UE 5.8. The components are named:

HairEyebrowsFuzzEyelashesMustacheBeard

The face is the Face component, the body is Body, and the outfit is SkeletalMesh. When you type a SlotId, use these same names.

This is what a MetaHuman looks like inside — these are the names you enter in the library.

3 Add the component to the character

Open the MetaHuman Blueprint

Double-click BP_YourMetaHuman.

Add the component

In the Components panel click + Add and search for MHCK Customization Component. Add it.

Hook up the library

Select the new component, in Details find the Library field and choose your DA_MyCreatorLibrary. Done.

💡 Startup options

bApplyDefaultOnBeginPlay — if you tick it, the character starts with the default look from the library right away.

4 Build the creator window (UI)

Create a Widget Blueprint

Content Browser → User Interface → Widget Blueprint. When it asks for the parent class, choose MHCK Creator Widget.

Connect it to the character

Call Bind and pass the character's component. From now on the widget knows what to show.

Build the buttons

In the On Creator Ready event, get the lists (Get Groom Slots, Get Outfit Options, ...) and create buttons. On click, call:

Player action	Function to call
Picked a hairstyle	`Pick Groom (SlotId, OptionId)`
Moved a slider	`Set Scalar (ParamName, Value)`
Chose a color	`Set Color (ParamName, Color)`
Picked an outfit	`Pick Outfit (OptionId)`
Picked a body	`Pick Body (OptionId)`
Clicked "Randomize"	`Randomize Character`
Clicked "Reset"	`Reset Character`

✅ No logic on your side

You only design the look of the window (buttons, sliders). All the "what happens to the character" is already inside the widget.

5 Save and load the look

A character's look is a recipe (FMHCKCharacterRecipe) — a small data packet (what was picked), not heavy meshes.

To save

Get Recipe on the widget (or Get Current Recipe on the component) → gives you the recipe.
Recipe To Json → turns it into text (for a file, network, or a shareable "character code").
or use the ready-made MHCK Save Game with Save Game To Slot.

To load

Recipe From Json → text back into a recipe.
Apply Recipe on the component → the character takes on the saved look.
or Spawn Character From Recipe → creates a fully configured character in one call.

! Important MetaHuman notes — please read

Two things come from how Epic builds MetaHumans. These are not plugin bugs — good to know up front.

⚠️ Baked skin has no ready skin-tone color parameter

A shipped (baked) MetaHuman skin material only carries the rig-driven wrinkle parameters, no color. If you want a skin-tone slider — use a non-baked skin material or add your own color parameter to it, then register that parameter name under Material Params.

⚠️ Sculpting face shape (morphs) — not on a baked mesh

A baked face mesh has no morph targets. Changing face shape needs the MetaHuman DNA / RigLogic system — that's planned as a separate "pro" add-on, not part of version 1.0.

✅ What fully works (verified on a live character in 5.8)

Groom and facial-hair swapping, outfit swapping, body swapping, and material parameters you expose yourself. That's a strong, verified core.

Body shape (thin / fat)

A smooth, continuous "fatness" slider isn't practical for MetaHuman in Unreal Engine. MetaHuman's baked body has no built-in shape morphs, and any continuous body-shape control would need either custom sculpted morph targets or Animation Blueprint bone-scaling — neither of which fits a drop-in, self-contained plugin. So a real-time "watch the belly grow" slider is out.

The fast, reliable solution is discrete body presets: create 4–5 copies of the same character with different builds (using the Fat slider in MetaHuman Creator), register their body meshes as Body Options, and let a slider or selector switch the character from thin to fat. It swaps between the prebuilt bodies instead of morphing smoothly.

💡 This is how most games do it

Very few games reshape the body continuously in real time — the usual approach is stepping between a handful of preset builds (slim / average / heavy / muscular). Discrete presets give clean, high-quality results with no extra tooling, and this plugin supports them out of the box via Body Options.

</> Key functions

On the component (MHCK Customization Component)

Function	What it does
`Initialize From Library`	Assigns the library and finds the meshes.
`Apply Recipe`	Applies the whole saved look at once.
`Set Groom`	Changes the groom in a slot (`None` = bald).
`Set Scalar Param / Set Color Param`	Material slider / color.
`Set Morph`	Sets a morph (if the mesh has one).
`Set Body / Set Outfit`	Changes body / outfit.
`Randomize / Reset To Default`	Random / default character.
`Preload Library Assets`	Loads everything up front (smooth creator start).
`Get Current Recipe`	Returns the current look to save.

Helpers (MHCK Function Library)

Function	What it does
`Spawn Character From Recipe`	Creates a ready character from a recipe.
`Configure Actor`	Adds the component and applies a recipe to an existing actor.
`Recipe To Json / Recipe From Json`	Save / load a recipe as text.

? Troubleshooting / FAQ

The hairstyle doesn't change

The SlotId in the library must exactly match the groom component name on the MetaHuman (Hair, Beard...). Check the capitalization. The log shows a "no groom component matching slot" warning.

I set the skin color but nothing happens

That's usually a baked material with no color parameter — see Important MetaHuman notes. You need a non-baked material or your own parameter.

I change the body and the body's skin color disappears

The plugin re-applies saved parameters after a mesh swap — if they're in the library and recipe. Make sure the body color parameter is under Material Params with the Body target.

The plugin won't compile / the component isn't listed

You need Unreal Engine 5.8 and the HairStrands plugin enabled (it enables itself). Close the editor, delete the plugin's Binaries and Intermediate folders, reopen the project and let it rebuild.

The loaded save is empty

If you use your own SaveGame: save through the provided MHCK Save Game or via Recipe To Json. Both are set up to persist correctly.