3D Animation in Unreal Engine – Create an Original Character by Lucas Ridley

Always wanted to make your own game or film character without a crew, cameras, or permits? In this quick class you will use Unreal Engine and MetaHuman Creator to build a custom character, add your own facial capture, and run around with it in a playable level.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Navigate Unreal Engine UI and work with a third-person template level
• Create a custom character in MetaHuman Creator and import it into Unreal Engine
• Record personalized facial animation with Live Link Face or free mocap data
• Customize materials, textures, props, and body animations for your MetaHuman
• Set up a playable MetaHuman character you can control in-engine

✅ Requirements

• Skills: No prior Unreal Engine experience needed, just an interest in 3D films or video games
• Tools: Unreal Engine installed, 3-button mouse, iPhone with Live Link Face app for personal capture (optional, free motion capture data works too)
• Hardware: PC capable of running Unreal Engine with dedicated GPU, iPhone for facial recording (optional)

📝 Description

This is not theory. You open Unreal Engine for the first time and you leave with a character you can actually play. Lucas walks you through the interface fast, no fluff, then jumps straight into MetaHuman Creator.

You will sculpt a face that actually looks like someone, not a default preset. Then you bring it into Unreal, hook it to the third-person blueprint, and fix the stuff that usually breaks — skin weights, proportions, materials. He shows his own animator workflow, the shortcuts and checks he uses on real jobs.

The fun part is performance. You will record your own facial capture with an iPhone and Live Link, or plug in free mocap if you don’t have one. Then you tweak materials and textures, swap props, adjust body animation, and get everything game-ready. It’s short, practical, and built for people who want to make films or games from their desk.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Beginners curious about 3D character animation who have never touched Unreal Engine
• Aspiring filmmakers and game devs who want to create and play their own original character

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Lucas Ridley is a professional 3D animator and filmmaker who got into 3D to make films without locations, permits, or expensive gear. He has worked on Avengers: Infinity War, Disney’s Aladdin, The Last of Us Part 2, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. As one of Skillshare’s most popular animation teachers, he now shows students how to use that same film and games pipeline from home.

🏁 Final Result

• A custom playable MetaHuman character with personalized face, facial animation, custom materials and props, set up in an Unreal Engine third-person level