Hello ,
Thank you for posting in the community regarding the Datasmith Exporter plugin and its advantages regarding functionality. When working with the latest plugin you can still have both plugin (Legacy Direct-Link and Datasmith) on the same Archicad version. We are no longer making updates to the Legacy plugin and when switching to Archicad 25 and above it won't be working so you will have to use the Datasmith Exporter plugin.
You just need to make sure there is only one Datasmith Exporter plugin listed in the Add-on Manager to avoid issue. The Datasmith plugin gets regularly updated and worked on to provide the best workflow possible today and moving forward. You cannot use both plugins for the same Twinmotion file as there will be data issues.
Datasmith Exporter plugin works with Unreal Engine and Twinmotion. Below is an article that provides good information.
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/blog/where-datasmith-goes-next-fast-synchronized-updates
These are the main focus of the plugin workflow.
- Non-destructive design (downstream tools will maintain their mods upon updating)
- Efficient (fast to export and fast to load, small file sizes)
- Aligned with workflow (intent of data transfer is mapped to known workflows for a real-time tool)
- Metadata
- Constantly being improved
Hope this helps and let us know if you have any follow up questions.
Kind regards,
Vincent B.