car is missing in the viewport of BP_P_SportsCar in unreal engine 5.6

Development Programming & Scripting
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Using Unreal Engine 5.6 in a classroom/lab setting.
Any ideas for correcting an issue when one student on a PC has a working game - and a different student on the SAME PC has numerous issues.

A Student in hour 3 shares the same PC as a student in Hour 4. The hour 4 student has a working game, but the hour 3 student has numerous issues.

Starts with the macro: StandardMacros.uasset Once that is added to the game having issues, it works for a day, then the car disappears. The car is missing/does not display in the viewport of BP_P_SportsCar in unreal engine 5.6.

We tried the following and nothing worked.

1. Check the Components Panel

The first step is to confirm the mesh component is correctly assigned and enabled within the Blueprint.

  1. Open the BP_P_SportsCar Blueprint.
  2. Go to the Components panel (usually on the top-left).
  3. Locate the component that holds the car model (this is usually named StaticMeshComponent, Mesh, or SkeletalMesh).
  4. Crucial Check: Visibility
  • Select the mesh component.
  • In the Details panel (usually on the right), search for the Rendering section.
  • Ensure the Visible checkbox is checked .
  1. Crucial Check: Mesh Assignment
  • Still in the Details panel, look for the Mesh section (for a Static Mesh) or Skeletal Mesh section (for a Skeletal Mesh).
  • Ensure the slot is not empty. If it is, manually re-assign your car mesh asset (e.g., SM_SportsCar) to that slot.

2. Check Scale and Location (The “Tiny or Far Away” Problem)

If the mesh is assigned and visible but you still can’t see it, it’s likely too small or too far away from the camera/center of the viewport.

  1. Select the StaticMeshComponent (or equivalent mesh component) in the Components panel.
  2. Look at the Transform section in the Details panel.
  • Location: Ensure the X, Y, and Z values are set to (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) so the car is centered at the Blueprint’s origin.
  • Scale: Ensure the X, Y, and Z values are set to a reasonable scale, often (1.0, 1.0, 1.0). If the values are very small (e.g., 0.001), the car will be invisible or appear as a tiny dot.

3. Check Collision and Material

Less common, but still possible, issues:

  • Collision Problem: If the car has no collision data (or collision is disabled), the editor might struggle to render it correctly in certain views. Re-importing the mesh with proper collision or regenerating simple collision is a fix.
  • Material Errors: If the car’s material is compiling with errors (e.g., a blank or null material slot), the mesh might render as an invisible black void or disappear entirely. Check the material slots on the mesh component and ensure they have valid materials assigned.