Applying and manipulating textures on actors

Development Asset Creation
1

This will be a very long question. Well, actually, multiple questions. Because i like long and detailed answers. So i’ll try and explain with as much detail as i can what exactly is it that i am trying to do.

Yesterday i was struggling with importing 3D models into my UE4 project. Because i don’t know anything about 3D modeling. And i thought importing 3D models is as simple as googling “free 3D models.” Then you just (as tutorial documentation says) open them in your 3D modeling software, export them as FBX and import them into your UE4 project. So it was a very unpleasant surprise to find out i must first do these things called UV mapping, unwrapping and whatever. Otherwise you import a model without any textures. It seems as a long and boring process. I did find some game ready FBX models. And importing them is very easy. Also i learned how to migrate assets from one project to another.

Fortunately, importing textures into your project is much more simple. But what i would like to know is how much freedom and how many options do i have when it comes to manipulating these textures on actors (objects) in my project? For example, i imported a screenshot from one of the games i am playing these days. And when i apply this texture to floor in one of the rooms in my project, this texture is stretched across the entire floor. But when i apply it on the wall, this same texture is tiled. So what are my options here? Is it possible to apply a texture only to a specific part of some actor? Basically what i’m asking is…is it possible to “paint” certain actors in editor with multiple textures and precisely specify the position of these textures? For example, importing a PNG text or sign with transparent background and applying them together on specific parts of one wall in your level? Or for example a specific side of a cube ( and precise position on that side of the cube), pipeline etc.

And i would also like to know do i have some advanced options when it comes to shaping actors? Besides just moving, scaling and rotating them. What i would like to know is how to make curved walls.
I get lost in the jungle of documentation and tutorials.

Any help (answers, links) would be much appreciated. :slight_smile:

2

You can do many different things in a material ->

for the streching = use a texture coordinate node and connect it with the uv from the texture sample. Now you can scale it.
painting = vertex painting ->
position = you can change the position in the material or you can create different material slots for that (e.g one for glass and the other one for the wall part)

To see what you can do with materials, make sure to take a look at the documentation: https://docs.unrealengine/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/Materials/index.html

curved walls = you have to do it in your 3d program or you will have to add more vertices to your bsp brushes :slight_smile:

3

Thank you for your answer. It will help. :slight_smile:

Just one more question. Don’t want to open another topic. Are we allowed to use assets from example content in our projects? For example, assets from Sun Temple. Because those assets look a lot like what i’we seen in Pneuma: Breath of Life.

4

Yes, you can use all assets for commercial and non-commercial games :slight_smile:

5

Sweeet. :smiley: