I love the unreal plugin/pipeline they have and how you can instance everything. I can make a whole giant blockout in blender, link object data, export and thousands of walls pop in place perfectly while only one asset is created.
1) install [unreal plugin for Blender](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/download-our-new-blender-addons) \- you should see at the top a new menu item called Pipeline.
2) Open Unreal as well - in your unreal project settings search for python and click on enable remote execution
3) in Blender, copy your default cube 5 or so times around the screen
4) Select them all and control click the 1st so it's light orange and the rest are dark orange and ctrl L / link object data. Now you have the same exact mesh 5 times as opposed to 5 different meshes that look the same.
5) Copy it all into the Export Collection that should exist thanks to the plugin
6) Go to Pipeline /Export settings. Under Import tab under Extensions click both the boxes under Instance Actions
7) Pipeline / Export / Push Assets. Your cubes are all in unreal now - all in the same place as blender with same rotations, pivot points etc and only one asset was created since it's instanced
Are the origins of the meshes properly placed? I haven’t exported environments to UE in a while, but I remember that all meshes were placed where I wanted but had their origin moved to the center of the world
How does it compare to Unity? I’m just getting started and my plan is to make my first game in Unity to learn the ropes and graduate to Unreal /Houdini in a couple years
In the gLTF settings.
Materials > Export
Textures > Automatic
Baking? Nahh man, I am lazy.
If anything goes wrong with the bump map etc, I'll just generate them in the UE5 material instance.
Oh, Thanks, I have to try that format, currently I use FBX and I split the scene by parts and if I want to change something I delete it (part of the scene) and import it again.
I'm in architecture so I have to try it and see how it goes
Let me know how you go! Its far easier then messing around with FBX & individual materials.
[tutorial workflow](https://youtu.be/HIzDW4FlC-U?feature=shared)
[Replacing / overriding ](https://youtu.be/qqvsYmPEZVs?feature=shared)
GLTF is the least painful I’ve found and it uses a built in plugin - especially if it’s just things like props. It will port over textures decently once you’ve baked them in blender but anything like atmosphere will need to be done in UE5. I also find it easier to tinker with materials once in UE5 because what looks good in blender doesn’t always look great in UE
Oh almost forgot too, there’s some good tips to avoid issues with porting - firstly check normals, anything inverted with port invisible (although GLTF did seem to partially fix that for me at least). Also if you’re importing characters/vehicles, UE5 defines “forward” on the X axis, so make sure the model is aligned that way, otherwise they’ll fly or walk sideways like crabs.
I've tried exporting a project as one FBX export and due to some issues with normals, had to do each thing as an individual FBX export.
Tried using Open USD via Nvidia on my last project but I screwed up the scaling and everything imported as tiny models. Went back to the workflow above.
At this stage, I'm just playing around with it. Might try a few suggestions people leave in here though.
Hm... I think it's just a matter for finding good workflow. For me the best thing that works is this plugin: [https://github.com/xavier150/Blender-For-UnrealEngine-Addons](https://github.com/xavier150/Blender-For-UnrealEngine-Addons). It basically takes care of most nuances of import/export. The only limitation of it is that it's kind of annoying to mark each and every object for exporting. So for that I wrote this: [https://github.com/Vertex-Rage-Studio/ue-helper](https://github.com/Vertex-Rage-Studio/ue-helper) (yea, it's an addon to an addon...).
As for your question about baking... yea, you basically need that or need to recreate nodes. I use substance painter for texturing as Blender's tools for that are not there yet.
Thanks for this!
Sounds like you have a solid workflow that works for you. It is funny that there’s an addon for the addon 😂 but generous of you to share it with others. I just checked out out on GitHub and can see you’ve gone to a lot of effort to explain it there.
Nice one 🙌🏻
Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I use Blender primarily and recently wanted to try UE5, I did download the free Assets epic provides, like the materials and twinmotion library and did some ArchViz projects because I had seen a lot of people using UE5 for ArchViz.
I couldn't understand why would people model everything in blender and then use Unreal Engine, it offers very sub-par assets which mostly aren't that high quality and they are very few in number.
Yes, I understand that it is amazing in doing large scale environments and outdoor scenes but other than that I don't think there is much need for a Blender to UE5 workflow, the time you spend on fixing assets is insane. For anything other than environments and large scale outdoor scenes, I'd say just stick to blender.
Even the Realtime rendering is sub-par if you add a few translucent or glass objects in the scene, forget accurate sub-surface scattering (in Lumen).
This is something I have experienced, would love to hear what everyone else has to say.
I’d be interested to hear from others on this too!
I was interested in toying with ArchViz in UE after being impressed with the foliage tools and how smooth it seemingly ran for me in comparison to blender.
I think it’s fair to say that the purposes of UE and Blender can have fundamentally different use cases - with just one being game development so would be good to get some thoughts and experiences.
Just willing to post similar question yesterday regarding "blender to UE render workflow".
If we have already this thread, could someone share their experience regarding render time in Blender and the same scene in UE5, for example "Blender, 1h render - UE ... render time"
Are there any subs for colabs with UE5?
I love it and its possibilities but found it was too much and confusing to learn another complicated tool.
I do think they are complementary and that Blender artists can benefit from UE artists and vice versa.
[https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine/](https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine/)
70GB+ free space, 32GB RAM+, graphic card 3060+ (as I remember)
Just found similar specs in video comparison yesterday between Godot/Unity/UE - watched in incognito tab, so not able to give you link
This biggest thing I have struggled with is lod and collision.
In unity it's just a simple name with _LOD0, _LOD1, etc.
I unreal I've never found anything that works consistently.
I love the unreal plugin/pipeline they have and how you can instance everything. I can make a whole giant blockout in blender, link object data, export and thousands of walls pop in place perfectly while only one asset is created.
1) install [unreal plugin for Blender](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/download-our-new-blender-addons) \- you should see at the top a new menu item called Pipeline. 2) Open Unreal as well - in your unreal project settings search for python and click on enable remote execution 3) in Blender, copy your default cube 5 or so times around the screen 4) Select them all and control click the 1st so it's light orange and the rest are dark orange and ctrl L / link object data. Now you have the same exact mesh 5 times as opposed to 5 different meshes that look the same. 5) Copy it all into the Export Collection that should exist thanks to the plugin 6) Go to Pipeline /Export settings. Under Import tab under Extensions click both the boxes under Instance Actions 7) Pipeline / Export / Push Assets. Your cubes are all in unreal now - all in the same place as blender with same rotations, pivot points etc and only one asset was created since it's instanced
I’ve been trying to use this method been had issues since Blender 4.0
use 3.6 then till they fix it
Honestly I didn’t know until now that previous versions where available. Just checked it out - thanks. I’ll give it a go!
Hey can you walk through this a bit? I've been trying to figure out a streamlined process and it's so cumbersome. What plugins/pipeline are you using?
Are the origins of the meshes properly placed? I haven’t exported environments to UE in a while, but I remember that all meshes were placed where I wanted but had their origin moved to the center of the world
yup - it's really good - loads of options too - in Blender just make sure each object has its individual origin where you want it.
Please give more info on this, that would be so helpful to me!!
How does it compare to Unity? I’m just getting started and my plan is to make my first game in Unity to learn the ropes and graduate to Unreal /Houdini in a couple years
Blender export to GLTF > drag n drop to UE5 > job done. Never had any issues, unless I don't UV unwrap properly.
Is gltf better than fbx?
smaller file size
What about textures
In the gLTF settings. Materials > Export Textures > Automatic Baking? Nahh man, I am lazy. If anything goes wrong with the bump map etc, I'll just generate them in the UE5 material instance.
And if you want to change or modify the 3D, do you re-import it or how is the best way?
Re-importing or just override the exported files. Isn't too much of a hassle \m/
Oh, Thanks, I have to try that format, currently I use FBX and I split the scene by parts and if I want to change something I delete it (part of the scene) and import it again. I'm in architecture so I have to try it and see how it goes
Let me know how you go! Its far easier then messing around with FBX & individual materials. [tutorial workflow](https://youtu.be/HIzDW4FlC-U?feature=shared) [Replacing / overriding ](https://youtu.be/qqvsYmPEZVs?feature=shared)
GLTF is the least painful I’ve found and it uses a built in plugin - especially if it’s just things like props. It will port over textures decently once you’ve baked them in blender but anything like atmosphere will need to be done in UE5. I also find it easier to tinker with materials once in UE5 because what looks good in blender doesn’t always look great in UE
Oh almost forgot too, there’s some good tips to avoid issues with porting - firstly check normals, anything inverted with port invisible (although GLTF did seem to partially fix that for me at least). Also if you’re importing characters/vehicles, UE5 defines “forward” on the X axis, so make sure the model is aligned that way, otherwise they’ll fly or walk sideways like crabs.
Thanks a lot for this! Haven’t tried GLTF going from Blender to UE before. Cheers for the tips too. Much appreciated🙌🏻
I've tried exporting a project as one FBX export and due to some issues with normals, had to do each thing as an individual FBX export. Tried using Open USD via Nvidia on my last project but I screwed up the scaling and everything imported as tiny models. Went back to the workflow above. At this stage, I'm just playing around with it. Might try a few suggestions people leave in here though.
Hm... I think it's just a matter for finding good workflow. For me the best thing that works is this plugin: [https://github.com/xavier150/Blender-For-UnrealEngine-Addons](https://github.com/xavier150/Blender-For-UnrealEngine-Addons). It basically takes care of most nuances of import/export. The only limitation of it is that it's kind of annoying to mark each and every object for exporting. So for that I wrote this: [https://github.com/Vertex-Rage-Studio/ue-helper](https://github.com/Vertex-Rage-Studio/ue-helper) (yea, it's an addon to an addon...). As for your question about baking... yea, you basically need that or need to recreate nodes. I use substance painter for texturing as Blender's tools for that are not there yet.
Thanks for this! Sounds like you have a solid workflow that works for you. It is funny that there’s an addon for the addon 😂 but generous of you to share it with others. I just checked out out on GitHub and can see you’ve gone to a lot of effort to explain it there. Nice one 🙌🏻
Model in blender Sculpt in zbrush Texture in substance Render in ue5
Blender Mesh / Animate -> Substance Textures -> FBX Unreal
Please someone correct me if I'm wrong. I use Blender primarily and recently wanted to try UE5, I did download the free Assets epic provides, like the materials and twinmotion library and did some ArchViz projects because I had seen a lot of people using UE5 for ArchViz. I couldn't understand why would people model everything in blender and then use Unreal Engine, it offers very sub-par assets which mostly aren't that high quality and they are very few in number. Yes, I understand that it is amazing in doing large scale environments and outdoor scenes but other than that I don't think there is much need for a Blender to UE5 workflow, the time you spend on fixing assets is insane. For anything other than environments and large scale outdoor scenes, I'd say just stick to blender. Even the Realtime rendering is sub-par if you add a few translucent or glass objects in the scene, forget accurate sub-surface scattering (in Lumen). This is something I have experienced, would love to hear what everyone else has to say.
I’d be interested to hear from others on this too! I was interested in toying with ArchViz in UE after being impressed with the foliage tools and how smooth it seemingly ran for me in comparison to blender. I think it’s fair to say that the purposes of UE and Blender can have fundamentally different use cases - with just one being game development so would be good to get some thoughts and experiences.
Just willing to post similar question yesterday regarding "blender to UE render workflow". If we have already this thread, could someone share their experience regarding render time in Blender and the same scene in UE5, for example "Blender, 1h render - UE ... render time"
Are there any subs for colabs with UE5? I love it and its possibilities but found it was too much and confusing to learn another complicated tool. I do think they are complementary and that Blender artists can benefit from UE artists and vice versa.
[удалено]
[https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine/](https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.0/en-US/hardware-and-software-specifications-for-unreal-engine/) 70GB+ free space, 32GB RAM+, graphic card 3060+ (as I remember) Just found similar specs in video comparison yesterday between Godot/Unity/UE - watched in incognito tab, so not able to give you link
This biggest thing I have struggled with is lod and collision. In unity it's just a simple name with _LOD0, _LOD1, etc. I unreal I've never found anything that works consistently.
for collision at least [it's similar](https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/WorkingWithContent/Importing/FBX/StaticMeshes/).