Testing New Skeletal Mesh Deformers In Unreal Engine 5.5
Monika Oller experimented with all three types of deformers on a MetaHuman face.
Animation deformers in Unreal Engine 5.5 introduce a new way of adjusting and distorting the surfaces of skeletal meshes. Applied after the skeleton bones move, these deformers provide a whole new level of skin manipulation and control that was previously impossible.
3D Animator Monika Oller recently tested all three available deformers on a MetaHuman face, incorporating animation recorded with MetaHuman Animator. The body and mannequin hands were animated by hand. Adding to the unsettling atmosphere, a voice generated by ElevenLabs narrates the video's scenario as the android examines human facial expressions.
Monika shared that she created this animation to push the limits and see how far it could go before crashing. To her surprise, it didn't: she used four separate layers of animated deformations, and it mostly ran smoothly. The artist believes there's great potential in using this technique to add realistic or exaggerated details to animations, like a character getting punched in the face, without the need for complex rigging, extra morph targets, or expensive simulations.
Monika plans to post another video soon, where she'll explain the workflow, discuss any limitations, and share some interesting technical details she discovered. Stay tuned and follow her on LinkedIn for updates. We also recommend checking out Stéphane Biava's in-depth tutorial covering everything necessary to get started with the new animation deformers:
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