Invisible moving character that casts shadows in UE5

In order to make a moving character invisible, go to the character's blueprint, click on the skeletal mesh (on the right side) and then click on the material in the details (on the left). Now, we are in the material graph of the material instance. Inside details set Blend mode to Masked and Shading Model to Unlit (this will significantly reduce rendering content). Then, enable the option Cast Dynamic Shadows. In the graph, search for Shadow Pass Switch node, add it, and then connect Param’s (colour) default value to Shadow, add a constant 0 (zero) and connect it to the default in Shadow Pass Switch. After doing all this, connect the SPS node to the opacity mask in the main material node and save everything. If your character uses more than one material, go through the same steps for each of them. Now, you should be able to have an invisible character that still casts shadows!

Please keep in mind that this method is specifically for moving characters (i.e. Metahumans, actors moving in real time etc). If you want to do the same for a static object, there is an easier way of doing it!

Some useful videos that have helped me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqwTLdqEUMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h14ph57kY-8&t=67s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVd9PwiODSc&list=LL&index=2&t=10s

How to hide a static object but keep the shadow:

https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/disable-rendering-of-object-but-keep-shadows/338285/4

-Sofiia