How to edit a car so that I can add addditional bodies on the top of the car ?

Hi all
I just want to know hoe can I add some additional bodies/parts in a car in unreal engine ? is it possible with unreal engine or do i need to use other ssoftwares like blender for this ?

UE 4.26

Hey @ronyshaji1! Welcome to the Forums!

It is a bit hard to tell what you are going for here, if you could explain in more detail what you are trying to achieve it will be much easier to help you solve your problem.

However, I believe from what you have said is you want to add extra/swappable parts to your mesh? If you are wanting to swap the body itself, you will need to have your main mesh just be the frame. If you are just wanting to add on top of you mesh like bodykits, spoilers, etc, sockets are a great way to go and can be very intuitive for making custom vehicles.

Here is a great video explaining more about UE sockets:

I hope the above is the solution you are looking for!

@Quetzalcodename
Thanks for the reply. I will explain my scenario again. I want to fix a cone shaped object onthe top of the car which represents the Field of view of a camera sensor. When the car moves, the cone which is attached to the car also should move. Basically i need to add some additional element to the top body of the car.

Hey @ronyshaji1

Sounds like a socket would definitely be what you need then. After attaching your cone to the car with a socket, the cone will always stay with the car till you remove it.

@Quetzalcodename Does the procedural mesh also works other than the socket ?

Hey @ronyshaji1

Procedural meshes create the entire static mesh, and are for creating varied versions of static meshes that can be altered to fit a purpose. It Check out this great Unreal Training on procedural meshes:

Are you using procedural meshes to generate your vehicles? If you are just trying to add a static mesh to a skeletal mesh, I do not suggest trying to use procedural meshes.

I hope the above helps point you in the direction you need.

@Quetzalcodename I am trying to simulate the field of view of a camera. I have a vehicle and i am trying to simulate the fov of the camera (square pyramid) from the top of the vehicle. The field of view should represent light and when vehicle moves the fov also should move. Basically i need a thing like adjustable light. Is it the right way to proceed with the field of view.

Hey @ronyshaji1

Let’s break down your problem so we can tackle all the parts.

  1. Are your cars static meshes or skeletal meshes?
  2. Since you are not adding an actual physical piece to your model, is adding your “light” to your blueprint not working? Any object attached to your blueprint should also stay with your blueprint when it is moved.
  3. Adding to the question immediately above, since you are needing an adjustable light, why are you wanting procedural mesh generation?
  4. What is the purpose of your fov “simulation”? Is it just a visual effect or does it serve a purpose in navigation? As adding an object or light would not change the field of view.

Please let us know the specific goal you are trying to achieve here, because at the moment it is a bit hard to understand why you need this. Without the goal or why, it’s going to be hard to guess what you need, especially with the drastic change in what you originally asked for and this most recent post.

I hope the above helps narrow down what is needed to find your solution!

@Quetzalcodename Sorry for causing confusion. I may went to some unuseful ways. So let me explain my scenario and answer your questions.

I want to study/see how the field of view of the camera changes with changing the camera parameters. I am planning to visualize the field of view of the camera like a cone/square pyramid. The cone/field of view should be light or some representation which should change when i change the camera parameters.

  1. The car have skeletal meshes, it can be able to move with rotating wheels.

  2. I am trying to add the light but the distance and shape of the light should represent the field of view of the camera. How can I do that ?

  3. I may have gone through the wrong way. since i thought of creating a square pyramid with procedural mesh and attach it with the car. But later realised that it affects the physics of the car. So need a new way to implement the field of view

  4. No it is needed to visualize the fov. Basically i need to simulate the fov with any representation. Light will be method as it doesnot affect the physics of the car. Also it will be fine if it possible with the lines of ray just like laser.

The main goal is to have a field of view visualisation when the car moves or in stationary. I am attaching the image for reference.
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Hey @ronyshaji1

I understand what you are trying to do now! Okay, so just simply adding a mesh is not necessarily what you are going to need. However, check out these non-Epic affiliated videos that have extremely similar effects to one you want:

I hope the above provides the solution you need!

@Quetzalcodename Thanks for your valuable information. That was very useful. I just have a doubt. Can I able to write a c++ script to utlize the camera parameters available in unreal engine. I would like to customize the camera parameters with scripting rather than a GUI: Is it any way to write script for camera and fix that camera on any part of the car ?

Hey @ronyshaji1

It is definitely possible, however, that would involve exposing the parameters in your C++ script and utilizing them in your raytracing. If you wanted to create scripts to accomplish this task you can, there would not be any ready made solutions for that though.

I suggest checking out the Unreal C++ API to get more information on all you can do code wise:

I hope the above provides the information you are looking for!

@Quetzalcodename Thanks for your help. Just asking, if you have any tutorial/references where i can use the camera API to control the camera parameters ?

@Quetzalcodename Hey, i just go through the video and found only 2D is possible. I am looking for a way to visualise a 3D field of view from a point. (pic for representation).