I Edited Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\ pluginfo.json to Fix Cook Fail, What Could Go Wrong?

My 5.5 projects fail content cook (and thus packaging) with an error parsing pluginfo.json for USDImagingGL at \Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.5\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\USD\UsdResources\Win64\plugins\usdImagingGL\resources.

The JSON file is blank, unlike the pluginfo files for the other USD libs in neighboring folders. I populated the pluginfo for ImagingGL using one of the other pluginfo files as a guide:
{
“Plugins”: [
{
“Info”:
{
“”: “”
},
“LibraryPath”: “../../../../../../Win64/usd_usdImagingGL.dll”,
“Name”: “usdImagingGL”,
“ResourcePath”: “resources”,
“Root”: “..”,
“Type”: “library”
}
]
}
Now cooking and packaging works. I’m not explicitly using USD scenes AFAIK in these projects although I know its used in some places in engine, eg the USDCore and Fab plugins rely on it.

Any words of caution about editing pluginfo files generally or specific to USD?

Thanks!

Hi there @guyal

I’d definitely be cautious editing the pluginfo.json as well. It’s kind of a ‘at your own risk’ situation that some people are very good at and some have catastrophes. I’d just caution to only edit if you know the plugin won’t be initialized at runtime, keep the syntax/paths strictly valid, and check for any build scripts or plugins that auto-generate the .json file as it can overwrite anything you’re adding.

1 Like

Thanks, that’s just what I was looking for, some avenues to explore to learn how the file is used and how to try to be cautious about it