Human Generator 3D Companion for Unreal Engine

Early access

The process system is new and only in the early access version of Human Generator. It replaces the process tab of version 4.0, which is deprecated. Details can still change; if something doesn't work or looks wrong, let us know.

A free Unreal Engine plugin that sets up a character exported with the Unreal recipe right after the import: the ORM and flow textures, master materials with an instance per part, the Subsurface Profile shading model on the skin, and masked, two-sided hair with the Hair shading model on the cards. Without it you do the steps of Export to Unreal Engine › In Unreal Engine by hand.

Download the Unreal Engine Companion (.zip)


Tested with	Unreal Engine 5.8, with the Interchange FBX import (the default)
Needs	A character exported by the early access version of Human Generator, with its `.humgen3d.json` file next to it, and the Python Editor Script Plugin that comes with Unreal
Licence	MIT, the source is on GitHub

Install

Close Unreal Editor.
Unzip the download into the Plugins folder of your project, so you get MyProject/Plugins/HumGen3DCompanion/HumGen3DCompanion.uplugin. Make the Plugins folder if your project doesn't have one.
Open the project. In Edit > Plugins, make sure Python Editor Script Plugin and Human Generator 3D Companion are both enabled, and restart the editor when it asks.

The plugin is Python and content only, so there is nothing to compile, also in a C++ project.

Use

Export with the Unreal recipe and drag the .fbx into the Content Browser, with the Textures folder and the .humgen3d.json file still next to it on disk. When the import is done, the Companion sets the character up; the Output Log shows Human Generator 3D Companion: set up SK_Jake. After the first character, a dialog asks for the import settings: the hair and skin shading and the haircap. Change the settings of one character later with Human Generator 3D > Import Settings... in the right-click menu of its skeletal mesh, and the defaults of the project in Tools > Human Generator 3D > Project Defaults....

The master materials are made once, in /Game/HumGen3D/. A new version of the Companion updates them where they are, so your material instances keep working.

Only characters with their .humgen3d.json file

Human Generator writes Jake.humgen3d.json next to every exported character (Jake.fbx). It tells the Companion which files belong to the character and what each material is. The Companion only sets up a mesh whose file has one, so other characters in your project are never touched, and the naming scheme doesn't matter. Characters exported by earlier versions of Human Generator don't have it; export them again.

Update

Close the editor, delete the Plugins/HumGen3DCompanion folder, and unzip the new version in its place.

Remove

Close the editor and delete the Plugins/HumGen3DCompanion folder. The material instances and the masters in /Game/HumGen3D/ stay; delete them yourself if you don't use them.