I would echo what maxbrown said. I have yet to start importing Sk to UE. However, in doing so in Eon Vue, and have tried other render engines I would recommend:
1 Always build solids.
2 use the plugin Solid Inspector.
3 Then check if it is a solid using a solid tool.
4 If not, but solid inspector says its solid, make the mesh see through, cut a hole on the face, and then Solid Inspector will show the problem (as well as the hole).
5 Use the plugin Material Tools. On individual groups or components use ‘Remove backface material’.
6 ‘Fly’ inside the model, and make sure there are no materials assigned to the backface – other then the default.
If you follow these steps you will cut down on z-fighting or moire flicker.
It would be interesting to get a comparison between this method, using a built in renderer for SKP such as Vray or Thea and just plain old SKP viewport. What I mean, is how we might understand the performative nature of light, and also the sense of scale and immersion from these programs particularly with a view to outlay of time/effort.
I suspect UE4 would have the scale/immersion won hands down (inhabited camera vs detached from human experience), but lighting quality would almost certainly be taken out by a non “RT” traditional renderer (for obvious reasons) - unreal can create absolutely beautiful lighting conditions but they are rarely connected to physical, experienced reality, at least as much as a brute force GI engine can be.
I always envisioned UE4 being best used either very early on in the massing/early concept stage (minimal hassle of unwrapping, easy to iterate) or at the very end (when major design decisions have been made, truer sense of occupation, how a space is experienced when filled with the things of every day life). It doesn’t really suit a truly iterative design process due to the disconnect between the creation of virtual space (skp) and the experience of it (UE4) - it makes it harder to be really critical of the design work I would suspect.
Just my opinion of course - I spent a couple months looking into this for my masters, ended up discarding the idea of it as a design tool and sticking to a research through design process (art gallery). It’s a big topic, I reckon in coming years when there is a better flow between programs this will change.
I agree with OP about the usefulness of unreal in the design phase and I’d like to add that with VR it’s even better. When photorealism isn’t a necessity yet, you can have any model in VR in a matter of minutes. It’s plug and play, really!
Too bad I’m not working as a designer/architect hehe!
I agree with Rusty solid modelling is a good strategy. It helps keeping your model clean AND Boolean modelling (pro version of SketchUp) can be very fast.
I’m still using a SketchUp to Unreal workflow. It really helps me in the design phase. At the moment the process is something like:
rough sketching / thinking of a concept and a good 2d layout - Using good old tracing paper and pen.
make a simple 3d contextual model in SketchUp (terrain + trees + maybe volumes of neighbor houses). In my part of the Netherlands the terrain is easy; its flat anyway.
add simple 2d planes for the 2d layout (rooms + layout of main furniture) and the key 3d volumes (main structure, ceiling / roof) with simple colors in SketchUp
import the first concept into UnrealEngine
replace references of a few materials to Unreal’s PBR materials (grass / glass). This way, you can simple re-import the fbx files (after editing and exporting elements in SketchUp) and you still have the PBR materials. Set the right sun direction etc.
do a quick Lightmass preview calculation. I ensure to keep calculation times at this point very very low for quick iteration (10 to 20 seconds) -> low lightmass resolutions, trees as moveable objects etc.
evaluate the design by walking / taking a seat (crawl shortcut), more walking etc. Look for things that work well (space/lines of sight, light-shadow-play), elements that need some refinement AND elements that don’t work and should be scrapped.
refine the design (back to 1 or 3). I maybe store the current design as a level and start a new level with the refinements (so you can always look back in Unreal).
add more elements to the design and once satisfied, replace simple elements for more detailed elements (window frames at the start are 2d planes - at the end 3d).
do a proper lighting calculation
It’s **fast **and it’s fun! I think that combination really works well for me. If it’s fast you can quickly test all kind of ideas. If it’s fun you’re in a positive mood and you keep the design-flow going.
It doesn’t have to be photo realistic. My clients are already amazed they can view the design just like in a 3d game and get a good view of the design. For me, its all about atmosphere, space and light.
HI, how can I export seperate fbx file for each components/groups from sketchup automatically. Is there any plugin? You do it manually? I have big problem with same name of components/groups. Sketchup add auto generated prefix and suffix whan I export OBJ/FBX. Separate file is solution. But do it manually is crazy for big model. Is there any solution to using component like in sketchup in unreal too. I think that have only one mesh and autoposition and copy in level in UE4. My only solution is replace cloned component meshes after I import all to level.
@u.mirage, sorry for the late reply.
There is no plugin for batch exporting a lot of single objects in SketchUp as far as I know. You would have to make some ruby code yourself.
For using the some sort of component logic in Unreal, you could export (again using Ruby code) a selection set to a csv file in SketchUp (component name + location + rotation + scale etc). In Unreal, import the csv file as a data set, make an actor, and create the instances.
It takes some time to learn Ruby but its a very good investment if you intend to use SketchUp a lot.
, I cannot wait!!! I’m beyond excited for a simple workflow from Sketchup to Unreal. I have Unreal Studio Beta installed and I feel like a pet sitting at an empty food bowl while pet-owner cooks supper! lol
