Project Description
Unreal Engine 5 Developer — MetaHuman AI Character Integration (LLM + Lip Sync)
Duration: 1–3 months | Level: Expert
We are looking for an experienced Unreal Engine 5 developer to build a real-time AI-powered conversational character using MetaHuman. The character must receive user text or voice input, send it to a Large Language Model (LLM) API, synthesize the response as speech via a Text-to-Speech (TTS) service, and animate the MetaHuman's face in perfect lip sync — all running live inside Unreal Engine 5.
This is a technical integration role. The AI pipeline (LLM + TTS) is already selected; your job is to wire everything together cleanly inside Unreal using C++ and Blueprints, handle async timing between stages, and make the character feel natural and responsive.
What you will build:
1. HTTP integration from Unreal C++ to an LLM API (Anthropic Claude or OpenAI) with JSON parsing and conversation history
2. TTS pipeline connecting LLM text output to ElevenLabs or Azure, with audio streamed into Unreal's audio system
3. Real-time lip sync using OVR Lip Sync or NVIDIA Audio2Face driving the MetaHuman's blend shapes
4. MetaHuman scene setup with idle body animation, eye movement, and smooth transition between idle and speaking states
5. Packaged Windows demo build with full source code and technical handoff documentation
Required skills:
Unreal Engine 5, C++ (Unreal), Blueprints, MetaHuman Plugin, FHttpModule / REST APIs, JSON parsing, OVR Lip Sync, UAudioComponent, Animation Blueprint, Blend shapes, Async / callbacks, Unreal Insights (profiling), Git LFS or Perforce
Nice to have:
NVIDIA Audio2Face, ElevenLabs API, Voice input / STT, VR support (OpenXR), Lumen / Nanite optimization
To apply, please include:
— Portfolio or GitHub showing Unreal C++ work
— Any prior experience integrating APIs or AI tools inside Unreal
— Your estimated timeline per phase and your hourly or milestone rate
— A brief note on how you would handle latency between the LLM, TTS, and lip sync stages