I have no clue how to fix my shadows. When exporting from sketchup and revit the lighting options were not checked but they are acting as if they were in ue4. Anyone have a good idea as to why this is happening? I have attached a phone if that helps any. Also my graphics car is just fine and all of my drivers have been updated.
Hi ZiggyWave,
This is going to happen when you’re importing anything from any CAD or Archviz software due to the fact that you cannot edit UVs in these programs (usually, not sure if there is an archviz or CAD software that you can).
Are you familiar with UV mapping or making a lightmap in your second UV channel? If not, I can get you some information to get you started.
Also, if you want the shadows to not be so dark in your scene make sure to add a Sky Light from the modes panel in the top left. This will lighten up your shadows a good bit.
Thank you!
Tim
I had some issues with importing my models on Wednesday night (I build a lot of my architecture in Sketchup). After some head scratching Thursday morning, I’ve come up with a work flow pattern that seems to work for me. Ziggywave, are you familiar at all with Blender? I’ve found that works as a great intermediate step between Sketchup and Unreal 4.
Here’s the workflow I’ve found that works (I know it seems complicated, but once you’ve got the first couple of times down, you find you can pretty much do the blender conversion bit, including adding the lightmap, in around about 1-2 minutes per model):
Workflow Process:
Create item in Sketchup
Export item as a Collada file (only file type possible on basic Sketchup, Pro version has more file options)
Open blender
Delete start up items if they still appear in your work space
Import mesh (remember to select import from Collada file as that is what Sketchup exports as)
As soon as it’s imported, hit Ctrl+J to merge all meshes into one single mesh (as Sketchup has a habit of exporting a single model in multiple parts)
Select either Flat or Smooth Shading from right hand menu in Blender to suit
Scale x100 (this will perfectly align the scale used in Sketchup with UE4’s scale)
Switch to Edit Mode
Go to Menu -> Select all Vertices
Go to Mesh -> UV Mapping -> Unwrap
Select the Mesh button on the left hand tabs
Click the “+” sign next to UV maps
Keep the new UV map selected and switch to UV Editor
Press the “+” sign next to New
Call it Lightmap and click okay (making sure it is at 1024x1024).
Go back to 3D View, switch to edit mode and select whole model
Press space and seek out and select Smart UV Project. Press Okay.
Switch back to UV Editor and select the lightmap channel.
Make sure it is all selected and then hit Ctrl+A and then Ctrl+P
Switch back to 3D View and adjust the margin to 0.1
Export model to FBX
Import model into Unreal 4
Open up the Static Mesh Editor for the model
Add material (I do my texturing inside Unreal 4)
Adjust Lightmap Resolution to 1024 (for me, lower than this just doesn’t seem right, but some people prefer a lower value - just remember to keep it to the power of 2)
Place object into the level. Rebuild Lights. (Don’t forget to have a lightmass volume).
The later part of this workflow I borrowed mainly from Fighter5347’s tutorial on lightmaps on YouTube which is worth watching here, especially if you are not familiar with Blender: http://youtu.be/z5yc-bKbHyc?list=PLyfbinWLdAUwiStRx7Zil-O0OLzpIBB9l
Wow, thank you for all of your help. I am just starting to learn blender, since I’ve had no need for it before but I am realizing what a great tool it is.
Tim, I have not done UV mapping yet of any kind and would appreciate the information if you have the time.
Darken, I am excited to try the workflow tomorrow morning. I have been using 3ds max as my between program and never thought to try blender. My husband had installed it onto my computer but never knew what program to use blender with.
Thank you to the two of you for your help, I am very new to the ue4 and blender and appreciate your time.
Ziggywave
No problems Ziggywave. If you get stuck with finding anything in Blender or any part of the workflow I posted, feel free to give a shout and I will try and point you in the right direction (I know Blender can appear a bit full on when you first start using it and you are not sure where everything else is). I’m going to be away from main computer today and tonight (GMT), but if no else has answered any questions about the workflow by tomorrow, I will do some screen grabs. I’m fairly new to UE4 myself (only picked it up two weeks ago) but I’ve done mod work before and I’ve been casually working my way through getting a working process for it all since then. The workflow I posted works for myself when getting things from Sketchup to UE4 and ensures I include a lightmap, but feel free to adapt and use that to assist in creating a work flow that works for you. I am sure the same thing can be probably done using 3DS Max as the intermediate program, but I don’t have any familiarity with that program so couldn’t advise how to use that in the same way.
all you can do is to become familiar with uv mapping and import from autocad 2014 not older versions. good luck