# Material Doesn't Work on Custom Static Mesh **URL:** \ **Category:** Rendering\ **Tags:** Blender, normal, unreal-engine, question\ **Created:** [July 10, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001 "2021-07-10T03:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carter.mania](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/carter.mania/32/88711_2.png) [@carter.mania](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/carter.mania)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/1 "2021-07-10T03:08:24Z")
Unreal version 4.26.2 QUESTION: How do I get existing Materials (with normal & roughness) to work on my custom static mesh (.FBX)? Something is configured incorrectly on the mesh that causes it to lose normal & roughness. DETAIL: I created a 3d asset in shapr3d (modeling app), imported to Blender as .STL file, exported from Blender to Unreal as .FBX static mesh. Didn’t make any changes in Blender; just used it to convert the file format. I want to apply an existing Material to the mesh in Unreal, which already has albedo, normal, roughness, and looks good on Unreal’s native objects (Cylinder, Cube, etc). When I put the same Material onto my custom mesh, the albedo works but the normal & roughness are lost. It just looks flat & smooth with no texture detail - see below. Comparing my custom mesh side-by-side in Material Editor with the native Cube mesh, I can’t tell any differences; the details all look identical, except the Cube has the checkboard appearance and mine doesn’t. They both use WorldGridMaterial; I tried switching to DefaultMaterial but no change. My Mesh vs native Cube Mesh (same material): ![343696-meshcompare1.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/0/5/0/050f203bab9b0ae654e69d8c5dc335fa60165912.png) ![343697-meshcompare2.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/b/d/4/bd4d727bf89590e61c717cbfbab28e6c8815b91a.png) My Mesh vs native Cube in Material Editor (I don’t see any differences except mine isn’t checkerboard): ![343698-mymesh.jpg](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/6/a/0/6a0ca1e9da3f9638c813850035f52c84620416ad.jpeg) ![343699-cubemesh.jpg](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/7/9/0/790b487f1fb52d28dafadf804c142a3c3b25d48e.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ClockworkOcean](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/clockworkocean/32/1169999_2.png) [@ClockworkOcean](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ClockworkOcean)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:12am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/2 "2021-07-10T09:12:15Z")
The material setting in the mesh editor doesn’t do anything, it’s just a preview material. What is informative however, is if you set it to ‘world grid’, then we can see the UVs of the mesh. Can you show you material with the normal map etc? ---
**Author:** ![carter.mania](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/carter.mania/32/88711_2.png) [@carter.mania](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/carter.mania)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/3 "2021-07-10T14:37:05Z")
Sorry; here’s the whole material view ![343769-mastermat1.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/b/1/5/b155c0fadd650057d156b664fd4d0edabfe728a9.png) ---
**Author:** ![carter.mania](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/carter.mania/32/88711_2.png) [@carter.mania](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/carter.mania)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/4 "2021-07-10T14:40:02Z")
Here’s are zoomed in views of the Material I use often; from Megascans, which all use instances that call this master Material. When applied to the native Cube it looks like formed concrete, but on my mesh it’s just plain white with no variations or textures: ![343768-megascans-material-on-cube-vs-my-mesh.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/1/3/a1376917b2fc9e4812061249980ba6e377069110.png) ![343762-mastermat1a.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/4/8/44883f88dabb8f82d8bc79d3a36a490f9921622b.png) ![343763-mastermat1b.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/d/0/f/d0fbbf60d25cd168c8f0d7f7a1c5fe926449a951.png) ![343764-mastermat1c.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/e/0/ce0654731e16c7a6da68f8f2be9e1ba73f33401f.png) ![343774-mastermat1d.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/b/2/8b25d3af21504ce0b1ef329595e8549ae9776a21.png) ---
**Author:** ![ClockworkOcean](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/clockworkocean/32/1169999_2.png) [@ClockworkOcean](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ClockworkOcean)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/5 "2021-07-10T14:40:32Z")
Well, can’t really see anything there, it’s too small, and part of it is a function 😉 Maybe just try a basic material first. ---
**Author:** ![carter.mania](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/carter.mania/32/88711_2.png) [@carter.mania](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/carter.mania)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/6 "2021-07-10T14:48:28Z")
Here are some zoomed views of that Material ![343762-mastermat1a.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/4/8/44883f88dabb8f82d8bc79d3a36a490f9921622b.png) ![343763-mastermat1b.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/d/0/f/d0fbbf60d25cd168c8f0d7f7a1c5fe926449a951.png) ![343764-mastermat1c.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/e/0/ce0654731e16c7a6da68f8f2be9e1ba73f33401f.png) ![343774-mastermat1d.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/8/b/2/8b25d3af21504ce0b1ef329595e8549ae9776a21.png) ---
**Author:** ![carter.mania](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/carter.mania/32/88711_2.png) [@carter.mania](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/carter.mania)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/7 "2021-07-11T17:37:06Z")
Here’s a Material I use often; it’s from Megascans, which all use instances that call the same master Material. When applied to the native Cube it looks like formed concrete, but on my mesh it’s just plain white with no variations or textures: alt text ![343762-mastermat1a.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/4/8/44883f88dabb8f82d8bc79d3a36a490f9921622b.png) ![343763-mastermat1b.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/d/0/f/d0fbbf60d25cd168c8f0d7f7a1c5fe926449a951.png) ![343764-mastermat1c.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/c/e/0/ce0654731e16c7a6da68f8f2be9e1ba73f33401f.png) 343765- alt text 343767- ![343768-megascans-material-on-cube-vs-my-mesh.png](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/1/3/a1376917b2fc9e4812061249980ba6e377069110.png) ---
**Author:** ![eragonpp1111](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@eragonpp1111](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/eragonpp1111)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/8 "2023-03-06T16:27:35Z")
Did you perhaps found the answer to this problem? I have the exact same situation where the materials preview doesn’t match the static mesh on the imported .fbx model. ---
**Author:** ![SEHABA\_MAROUA](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@SEHABA\_MAROUA](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/SEHABA_MAROUA)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/9 "2023-06-05T16:31:33Z")
hello any solution plz!! ---
**Author:** ![zalecc](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@zalecc](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/zalecc)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/10 "2024-07-08T13:53:22Z")
I had the exact same problem (needed at least 3h to figure it out). In my case I use Solidworks to make the models, then export them to STL files and import them to blender to export them to FBX. What worked for me in UE is to click on the object taht the material is not working, then go to - Modeling mode(Shift+5) / UVs / AutoUV (the only thing you need to change is probaby the Auo UV method, select the mode that is most suitable to your object shape) then click accept. Hope it helps. ---
**Author:** ![zalecc](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@zalecc](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/zalecc)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/material-doesnt-work-on-custom-static-mesh/486001/11 "2024-07-08T14:09:25Z")
![modeling_mode](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/b/6/7/b67aba80f6a4257373f0f7ff927a1ab509211b26.png) Here is a screenshot for better understanding.