Hi,
I use Datasmith with Rhino 7 files, and normally after importing to Unreal, I will use replace references to swap the generated import materials with my own material instances.
In ue4 when I would re-import the file, any unchanged materials in the Rhino file would be automatically re-assigned to the ones I previously replaced which usually worked very well.
I have noticed with Ue5 that upon re-import it will overwrite my material instances in ue5 with the automatically generate ones on import, so I have to re make them before again replacing references each time.
Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong with my workflow?
thanks,
Mike
Ue5 Datasmith Re-import from Rhino is overwriting project materials assigned with replace references
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Hi Mike_11 !
By any chance, are you editing the materials directly on the mesh asset instead of the mesh instances ? Overrides are at an instance level, if you edit the asset directly you will loose any change at reimport.
If you want to edit mesh materials and keep the changes on reimport, I would suggest using Dataprep (see Dataprep Import Customization in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.0 Documentation).
Hope this helped !
Cheers,
Antoine
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Hi Antoine,
This looks like exactly what I’m after, and I cant believe I haven’t used Dataprep before!
Would I be right in assuming that I can use a data prep instance to import a Rhino file and automate the process of swapping out all my frequently used template materials such as “wall paint white” for their Ue5 Material instance counterpart and then only have to manually point custom materials to their counterpart per project?
Would I also be able to set it up so that any objects with “option_01” or “option_02” in their name would be added to separate BP actors and then into the scene instead of directly into the scene so I can easily keyframe between them in sequencer?
This is the perfect timing to be figuring this out as I am still perfecting my Ue5 template project for maximum efficiency such as using a BP actor that contains all environmental components and PPV and sets all my settings and CVars so I can swap between Lumen and Path tracing with consistent lighting results from a single click, weather using HDRI or Sun/atmosphere/clouds.
Material swapping is indeed part of Dataprep’s feature set .
See the Set Material, Substitute Material and Substitute Material By Table operations to change your materials at import.
Regarding adding meshes to separate BP actors, this is currently not recommended as you would loose the Datasmith hierarchy and it can break some reimport functionalities.
Cheers,
Antoine
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