Best way to create "stuff"

OK, I’m trying to understand how much content to create from within Unreal Engine, and how much to create in a third party app. I’m using Strata 3D which is not the ideal 3D app for this, I understand. But let’s say I want to make my house in Unreal, as a battlefield. Do I create just the house (floor, walls, etc.) in Unreal, and import tables, chairs, doors, etc. from Strata? Use Unreal for landscape (grass, hills, trees) and Strata for rakes, wheelbarrows, etc.? Thanks!

You create all your objects, except of the landscape, in a 3d tool -> dont use BSP brushes for that
Then you have to import everything - create a material in the UE4 - assign the textures - assign the material to the mesh :slight_smile:

Unreal isn’t really a content creation software like a 3d package. There are many pieces of software you can use.

Sketchup : you can download models of furniture from online and re-model them to suitably work for a video game.

Maya : More professional path for working in video games (3dsMax as well but I prefer Maya ). You can create modular environments in 3d software, as well as characters, although it is much clunkier for creating characters. You can create your prop library here as well. Test what you make in your 3d package and export as an fbx file. In UE4 you will need to make sure you are working at a good scale so that you aren’t continually scaling up or down objects from your 3d library. Over time you develop the library that you need to make a game as well as textures.

Photoshop for texture mapping.

Zbrush for creature work and landscape things like cliff faces, rocks and more natural organic objects. Note you will need to work on creating lower resolution object in Zbrush to actually make it usable in UE4.

So there is no really easy answer. It all takes a lot of time to develop, test, UV map, texture map, test and test again and develop a working library that comes from generally loads of experience, testing, mistakes and learning what works.