To bring more realism and depth to our characters, our team conducted R&D on muscle systems, focusing on natural body movement and deformation. Using Blender for setup and Unreal Engine for real-time testing, we developed a system that enhances the believability of animations without compromising performance.
Our Process:
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We designed and rigged a custom muscle system in Blender, adding secondary motion and volume preservation for realistic joint movement.
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The system was integrated into Unreal Engine, where we tested muscle behavior under different animations and body types.
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We paid special attention to skin sliding, flexing, and tension, ensuring the motion looked organic in both idle and dynamic states.
The Outcome:
The muscle system significantly improved the visual quality of our characters especially in close-up shots, slow motion, and action sequences. It adds a subtle but powerful layer of realism that takes our real-time characters to the next level.
What’s Next:
This muscle setup will be part of our future character rigging pipeline, especially for projects that require high detail and expressive motion. We’re also exploring ways to combine it with cloth and physics simulations for even more dynamic realism.