Datasmith Feature Requests

Development Pipeline & Plugins
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82

Hey @maxbrown, you can find the docs about Python in UE4 here:

You’ll also want to install the Editor Scripting Utilities plugin:

The API reference is at:
https://api.unrealengine.com/INT/PythonAPI/

83

Thanks [USER=“1823580”]Robb Surridge[/USER] !

84

Hi @pf_breton , I tested the Python code (also thanks to [USER=“1823580”]Robb Surridge[/USER] for the links). It works very nicely - just what I hoped for!
Edit: although it only plays nice if you have all the objects in SketchUp in the root of the outliner. When they are nested in two containers for instance (Old & New to visually make a difference between old & new objects in a remodeling project) they are merged into just two objects. So maybe an extra option would be possible for people to match this to people’s workflow?

Maybe the script could also generate lightmap UVs again? They seem to be merged and not generated again after the merge of the objects.
Also, the lightmap coordinate index is set to 0 instead of 2.

I’m curious why 3 channels used - I would expect 1 for the texture coordinates and 1 for the lightmaps…?

Will US objects / projects be compatible with UE projects / objects?
Edit: I just tried and there’s something going wrong. The merged objects end up at different positions, dragging the datasmith scene into the viewport doesn’t work in UE. Is it intended to be able to migrate projects (this way) to UE?

Last question - is there an easy way to re-link the materials to a custom master material while keeping the texture-settings? My target platform is the Oculus Rift / GO and more simple shaders are preferred. Its easy to edit the SketchUp master material but maybe there’s another option as well.

85

Hi,

With regard to importing CAD using datasmith, the addition of Edit Mode to the Static Mesh Editor is great. Will further methods of selecting multiple faces be an option soon? Adding marquee selection is essential, but more advanced methods such as Ring, Grow/Shrink, etc would also be great.

Thanks!

Gav

86

Hi, Datasmith support for Cinema 4D who be really useful, Thanks!!

87

yes. We’re adding select by smoothing group now and we will continue improving it to work well with complex shapes imported from cad models

88

In the product viewer model, when play is activated, it would be nice to display the gizmo with the three axes on the selected objects, in which you can move the objects on the desired axis.
Without shifting the point of view each time.

89

Cinema 4D support please :slight_smile:

90

I work for 3D Archiviz , We need “Camera Vertical shift” for years.
Maybe a special still camera with “resolution”, “Multipass” “Postprocess”, “file-format” presets. That will be very convenience for us.
We don’t need camera shifted for Animations.
That feature already exists in 3ds , Vray, Corona,…

Thank you !!

91

Cinema 4D plugin, please! :slight_smile:

92

We are about to kick off that project, so stay tuned.

93

is .ifc import not something that would be useful to have?

94

Hi J.

You may want to add to the discussion here: https://forums.unrealengine.com/unreal-engine/unreal-studio/1474871-data-exchange-for-architects-via-ifc

95

Hi All,

Not sure if its possible to do what I am asking currently or if this would be a feature request? I would love to have the ability to save presets.
For example when I start a project I always have certain settings on and or off. I setup a lightmassimportance volume, skylight with a hdri etc etc. It would be great to save this scene as the startup default scene so I do not have to do that for every scene I open.

Would be great to save out presets, for example lightmass settings. I have different settings for my first bake and final bake, would be great to just save those out and load them into any scene, instead of redoing them every time.

Even material defaults and presets that could be loaded into other scene would be very helpful.

The ability to network render the build. I know you have swarm but I still cant seem to get that to work correctly and or efficiently. ( Is there a good video showing the setup of this on computers across a network.

Thanks
Alex

96

I agree word by word. For lightmassing on swarm here you have recent documentation. I’ve got near 90 cores running fine.

97

Setting up a project the way you want it, and then saving that as a Template may help with some of your request. Converting a Project to an Unreal Engine Template | Unreal Engine 5.3 Documentation

98

I don’t know if this is the right place to do this but i’m voting for datasmith maya plugin… I do my architectural work in Maya. The plugin will make my workflow much easier.

99

I’d like the ability to explode and un-explode CAD assemblies with smooth animation. This is a pretty important/standard feature for viewing any CAD assembly. Are there any plans in the works for this already?

A quick and dirty solution could be having all parts move away from a central point, but that probably wouldn’t look too good and wouldn’t represent how the product actually comes apart. It would be great if there was a good workflow for positioning all of the parts in the exploded state, saving that exploded state, and then having the ability to animate all of the parts between exploded and un-exploded positions (similar to what can be done within any CAD software).

Here is what I think would be ideal: https://forums.unrealengine.com/unre…al-parts-in-vr

To give you some context, I am a Mechanical Engineer by day and a freelance game developer by night. I have lots of experience with various CAD software (Solidworks, Creo/Pro Engineer, Fusion 360, OnShape) and I think Unreal Studio could be greatly improved by implementing some of the standard features of any CAD software such as exploding assemblies. There is a chance I’ll be implementing Unreal Studio into a large Engineering company if we find it suits our needs, and such a feature would greatly help.

101

OK so you are the only person on this forum to answer my question pertaining to my swarm issue. So I thank you for that.

I did follow the link you sent. Unfortunately I am still running into the same problem I was prior.

I keep getting the same error message. "certifcate check has failed…then Failed to load error messages. 4 different ones.

I have four machines that I can use on my network all day except I cant get swarm to work.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Alex

102

Ok. I saw your private message but the image was too small. Here I can see it better.

The line that says “Failed to determine engine directory…” may be the key. Did you installed Prerequisites of the same UE4 version in all the machines?

Give me some days, I’m actually overworked…