Bring a complete MetaHuman into Blender with its materials, outfit, and simulation-ready hair. Export the character from Unreal Engine, then let Character Assembly put the pieces together.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Blender | 5.2. This release requires at least Blender 5.2 and does not support earlier Blender versions. |
| Character DNA addon | Installed and enabled. The free edition is sufficient. |
| Poly Hammer Interchange | Install the free Unreal Engine plugin to export your MetaHuman. The export workflow requires Unreal Engine 5.8 or later. |
Install the Addon
Create an account on the Poly Hammer Portal, then follow the Blender extensions server instructions to install Character Assembly.
Import Your Character
- Export your MetaHuman Blueprint using Poly Hammer Interchange in Unreal Engine.
- Keep the exported folder together, including its DNA, grooms, clothing, and textures.
- Drag CharacterAssemblyManifest.json into Blender's 3D Viewport. The import dialog opens.
- Review the options and confirm the import. You can also use File > Import > MetaHuman Assembly Manifest (.json).
- Press
Nin the 3D Viewport and open the Character Assembly tab. Select your character in Rig Instances.
Character DNA imports the head and body. Assembly attaches the grooms and outfit and builds the skin, eye, teeth, hair, and fabric materials, including facial wrinkle maps driven by OpenRigLogic. You do not need to write the manifest or import each asset separately.
Import Options
The defaults provide a starting point for rendering. Adjust these options in the import dialog:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Hair / Clothing / Materials | Choose which parts of the assembly to include. |
| Lighting | Add the bundled environment lighting. |
| Camera | Add a portrait camera and focus object. Available only when the scene has no camera. |
| Skin Culling | Hide skin beneath clothing using editable masks. Auto Bake + Min is the default; Auto Baked uses clothing coverage alone; None keeps skin unmasked. |
| Apply Scene Settings | Apply the selected render template to the scene. Currently, the importer offers Cycles. |
| Apply Render Preferences | Configure Blender's global Cycles GPU device preferences. Off by default. |
Camera and lighting options are independent of the render settings. After import, adjust the camera and materials using Blender's usual tools.
Existing Character DNA rigs
Update Character DNA, open your saved file, and run its legacy migration operator if it appears in the 3D Viewport sidebar. Save the migrated file before continuing.