Help a noob understand the structure of a project?

Hi folks,

I’m very nooby with UE4.

I’m really struggling to understand the structure of a UE4 project.

Just quickly i should mention i’m looking to use UE4 for virtual studio production, i don’t want to make games!

I have many questions but let’s start with this one:

When you fire up UE4, you’re greeted with a screen saying.

“Select or create new project”

Games
Film / TV…
Architecture

Is there some fundamental difference between these templates, or are they just tweaked set-ups that fit those workflows?

Or to put it another way:

Imagine (unlikely, i know) that i select architecture, then, after working with the project for half an hour, i decide i want to make a game. Can i just go ahead and do it, or do i have to make a new project based on the game template?

I ask this because if you choose game, then you have something called blueprint. Whereas the architecture template doesn’t contain blueprint.

1 Like

I’d say just dive straight into the one that looks most likely, in this case ‘film/tv’.

I think the projects have been tweaked to give you an easy start, that’s all.

In any case, you’ll be binning this and starting again, probably several times, so it’s ok to just get started.

2 Likes

Thanks!

Ok, so sometimes when i create a new project, it just locks up on 39% or 45% loading (always one of those two numbers).

If i force quit, then go to the project folder & delete the “config” folder, than re-start the project, it’ll load up straight away.

If this an ok workaround or am i messing something up? Is this something to do with building shaders? (so, when i do my workaround, i’m putting off til later that shader building?)

And why do some assets packs only allow you to “create project” and not “add to project”?

Hi, that is normal and you should wait till it finishes (may take several minutes or longer to load, depending on what project you’re opening and what system specs you have).

If you remove the config folder, then the editor will start with an empty map, therefore it is faster. But then you will wait every time you open one of the assets for the first time…

If you change your mind or didn’t include a content pack then click on Add New green button in Content Browser window , go to the top Add Feature or Content Pack

The difference between the project kinds is fairly superficial. You could create an empty project and get to where you want to go if you want. The starter projects are generally helpful to pick apart and see what the top level of a scene might look like for your chosen target, but they don’t lock you into any particular path. You can create whatever maps, camera controllers, player controllers, and art you want and need, no matter what the project kind.

Great, guys, many thanks!

This question seems to be surprisingly difficult to get a direct answer to. I am also wondering about the consequences of picking one Category over another. I understand and appreciate the sentiment of just jumping in and seeing yourself. But as a noob, I don’t even know what to be on the lookout for. Is it a completely different rendering setup? Is it just the UI layout that changes? Are some tools available in one category that aren’t available in others?

For example, as someone coming from Unity, if someone asked me what the difference between HDRP and the URP, I could point them to this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/ixndpo/urp_vs_standard_vs_hdrp/
But I haven’t been able to find anything like that for Unreal.

In my particular case, I am trying to make some visuals that will be somewhat procedurally generated, but will be exported as videos. So Games doesn’t seem like the right category because it doesn’t need to run in real-time and is not interactive. However, TV & Film seems to be focused on virtual production, so that also doesn’t seem right. Architecture might seem the closest to my needs, but what am I giving up by not choosing the other ones?

I’d really appreciate any insight into this!

The main differences have to do with which plugins are enabled by default. If you choose any of the film ones you get a sequencer, take recorder, virtual production, etc. enabled. No matter what template you’ll likely enable some other plugins.

Templates also give general behavior such as Third Person which sets the game mode and the starter pack. If you have 3rd person then your get a mannequin included.

You can in fact switch from one to another or simply add things yourself by selecting any plugins you want to enable/disable.
And you can go to Add/Import button (green in content browser) → Add Feature or Content Pack.

You can make videos using any of the templates. You’ll want to enable sequencer, sequencer utilities(?), movie render queue, prores export, etc.

2 Likes