Groom with MetaGroom

Step 1

Install MetaGroom and the matching Unreal Bridge

A one-time setup. MetaGroom and its Bridge are included with Founder Edition, and the Bridge must match your exact Unreal version.

• In My MetaWrap, under Downloads, download MetaGroom and the MetaGroom Bridge for your exact Unreal version: 5.6, 5.7 or 5.8.
• In Blender, open Edit > Preferences > Add-ons, choose Install from Disk and pick the MetaGroom ZIP as it is: don't unzip it. Then enable MetaGroom.
• The Bridge is the opposite: unzip it and copy the MetaGroomBridge folder into your Unreal project's Plugins folder. No Plugins folder? Create one.
• Restart Unreal, open Edit > Plugins and check that Meta Groom Bridge is enabled.
• In the same Plugins window, also enable Alembic Groom Importer: Push to UE5 needs it, and Unreal Engine 5.8 ships with it turned off. Restart Unreal when asked.
• In Edit > Project Settings, search for Python and tick Enable Remote Execution. Leave all Advanced settings at their default values. MetaGroom talks to Unreal through it, so run Blender and Unreal Engine on the same computer and keep Unreal open while you work.
• When you update, update MetaGroom and the Bridge together, and delete the old MetaGroomBridge folder first: a half-updated pair can crash Unreal Editor.

Unreal Engine 5.8: Push to UE5 needs the Alembic Groom Importer plugin, which is turned off by default. Open Edit > Plugins, search for Alembic Groom Importer, enable it and restart Unreal.

Tip: use the ← → keys