External texturing vs. using Materials

Development Asset Creation
1

Hi all,

I’m just taking my first steps with the engine (having a blast so far, I must say).
I’m in the process of establishing an independent studio at home, and currently in the process of learning 3D and animation, so I could create my own assets.

A somewhat-interesting question has come to mind, and I bet some of you will be able to shed some more light on the matter:
When creating new assets, I have two main options:
creating the model, importing it to UE and designing its Material using, well, Materials,
or creating a finalized mesh (with textures, UV maps and all) and importing it as a final asset.

Are there any differences between the two approaches?
I don’t know, performance-wise? Maybe one approach makes the pipeline slower?
What’s your method of work, and why?

Would love to get some input on that matter.
I hope I didn’t say anything incredibly stupid. :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

2

You **always **have to create a material.

Steps:

  1. create the mesh
  2. uv map it
  3. create the textures (normal, diffuse, specular, gloss, ao, SSS,…)
  4. import everything
  5. right click on the texture - create material - assign it to the mesh
  6. now you can edit the materials to add effects and other stuff :slight_smile: https://docs.unrealengine/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/Materials/index.html
3

That’s just… PERFECT.
Couldn’t have asked for a better reply, that’s exactly what I needed!

Thanks a lot!~# :smiley: