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Why it matters: Epic Games has released new footage that showcases Unreal 5.2 at this week’s Game Developers Conference. Electric Dreams is a demo that shows a Rivian electric vehicle (EV) crawling offroad in incredible detail. The presentation also covered several other technologies, such as Metahuman, Epic’s framework for creating lifelike characters to be used in Unreal-based projects.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC), an annual conference for game developers, graphic artists and other industry professionals, is a place where they can solve problems, exchange ideas and showcase new technologies in the industry. Epic Games gave conference-goers a deeper look at Unreal Engine 5.2 and, based on feedback, it did not disappoint.
Nick Penwarden (Epic’s Vice President for Engineering) introduced the Electric Dreams demo, as well as several new features in Unreal Engine 5.2. The demonstration features a Rivian R1T offroading through a lush and water-rich environment. It is based on chaos physics, fluid simulations in real-time, and rendering tools like Lumen and Nanite. The result is a highly detailed model with 71 million polygons that can be rendered in real time.
Epic also introduced Substrate. This new material framework offers a wide range of surface appearances and expansive parameter space. It also scales to suit budget and complexity.
Epic also demonstrated the Metahuman Animator framework which allows artists to create photorealistic characters in real-time. Epic designed Metahuman Animator to be accessible by anyone, regardless of animation experience. It can be used by anyone, with triple-A quality results. Metahuman can capture live performances and transfer them to it using high-quality smartphones or studio-grade equipment.
Metahuman presented Melina Juergens, a well-known Ninja Theory actress, who recorded a live performance via her iPhone. Metahuman’s ability instantly to translate Juergens voice inputs, expressions and movements into a highly lifelike digital avatar was uncanny valley material.
It is a great example of how realistic human animation has advanced, especially in terms of motion-capturing efficiency. Metahuman dramatically reduces the time it takes to capture a scene. Juergens said that this can be a lengthy process that can take weeks to months. The demonstration also demonstrated other Metahuman performance capture capabilities. This included applying different Metahuman character visuals to the same initial capture. This further streamlines the ability to create multiple photorealistic characters.
Epic did not announce a launch date of Metahuman Animator. Epic has however hinted that it will be available in the coming months. The preview is available via Epic Games Store and GitHub for users interested in Unreal Engine 5.2.
