Tutorial — Hand Pose Library for Gestures

Augmented Traveler local tutorial. Back to Maya — Tutorials · cleanup: Tutorial — HumanIK Mocap Cleanup for MetaHuman

How to build a reusable library of hand poses for the MetaHuman hand skeleton in Maya, and deliver it to Unreal as a Pose Asset. The same poses then serve two jobs:

Draft. Validate after the first capture week and correct menu names here.

1. Tools

2. The pose list

Base the list on the figure's documented activities, and add to it for each new figure. For Maria Mitchell:

Pose Use
rest_relaxed Default idle; slight natural curl
rest_folded Hands folded at the waist (Quaker plain-dress posture)
point_index Pointing at the sky or a chart
open_palm_present "Consider this…" when explaining
hold_pen Writing in the observing log
hold_book_spine / hold_book_open Ledger or book
grip_telescope_tube / adjust_focus Telescope handling
hold_chronometer Timing observations
count_fingers Listing points
gesture_small_emphasis A light beat gesture on stressed words

Keep gestures period-appropriate and check them with the historian. Modern gestures such as air quotes, thumbs up or finger guns don't belong.

3. Pose rules

  1. Pose only finger and thumb joints: thumb_01–03, index_01–03, and so on, plus the metacarpals if needed.
    • Never key the wrist or arm in a hand pose, so poses layer over any arm motion.
    • Don't key helper or corrective joints. RigLogic drives them.
  2. Use the hand reference photos and video of the performer (taken at capture) for natural finger spread and knuckle curl.
  3. Check for intersections between fingers, and with props at their real size (pen diameter, telescope tube).
  4. Make left and right versions with Studio Library's mirror option. Check the thumb afterwards; it often needs a touch-up.

4. Save the library in Maya

  1. Pose the hand on frame 0 of a clean scene.
  2. Select only the finger joints for that hand. Save a Pose item in Studio Library as L_hold_pen, R_hold_pen, and so on.
  3. Tag each item with the figure, the prop and the historian's approval date.
  4. To apply a pose during cleanup: select the fingers, click the item and blend with the slider. Key it on an animation layer (L_handsProps).

5. Export to Unreal as a Pose Asset

  1. Make one animation with one pose per frame:
    • frame 0 = rest_relaxed;
    • frame 1 = point_index;
    • and so on, both hands.
      Record the frame order in hand_poses.csv.
  2. Export the skeleton animation as FBX (Tutorial — FBX Export Presets for Unreal, animation preset).
  3. In Unreal:
    1. Import onto the MetaHuman body skeleton.
    2. Right-click the Animation Sequence → Create → Pose Asset.
    3. Rename the poses to match hand_poses.csv.
  4. Use the Pose Asset:
    • in the Animation Blueprint, blend hand poses per hand over the body animation;
    • the conversation system triggers gestures by pose name. Coordinate the names with the Unreal engineer (Position — Unreal Engineer).

6. Check before handing off

Sources