Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview

PREVIEW

We have released a preview of Unreal Studio 4.22. The notes below are for updates related to Unreal Studio.
(general details about the 4.22 engine preview can be found here)

Please Note:

  • Previews should only be used for testing and not for development
  • The notes below are incomplete. Full release notes will be made available with the official release.
  • Please share feedback about Unreal Studio features here on the forum thread
  • Post bug reports about Unreal Studio 4.22 via the support webpage
  • Required: Visit the Unreal Studio Exporters Downloads page for the Preview 3ds Max, SketchUp, and Revit exporters.
  • Be aware that only one exporter plugin version can be installed to your software at a time (in case you need to jump between the Preview and the latest officially release version)

Unreal Studio improvements and features to test:

3ds Max Workflow Improvements:

  • Object Animation - Object Transform Animation (Position, Rotation, Scale) is now exported as a Datasmith asset. Due to differences in how keys are interpolated between 3ds Max and Unreal, we bake one key per frame. Animation exported by Datasmith will be imported as a single Level Sequence asset.
  • Datasmith Attributes Modifier - A new “Datasmith Attributes” modifier is added to 3ds Max. This modifier acts a a attributes holder letting users to tag specific objects meant to be exported to Datasmith, providing a centralized workflow for specifying advanced properties relevant to Static Mesh Assets.
  • Specify a custom Lightmap UV channel to be used - Datasmith previously auto generated Lightmaps for all objects, resulting in 2 extra channels no matter if users have created their own Lightmap UVs. The new Datasmith Attributes modifier allows for overriding that behavior on specific objects, typically the ones that have been manually Unwrapped for Lightmaps.
  • Custom Collisions - The new Datasmith Attributes modifier allows for explicitly referencing a 3ds Max node for exporting custom collisions, this replaces the previous workflow relying on a naming convention (“UCX_ObjectName”)
  • Skip Geometry Export - In some situations, 3ds Max models are populated with high density objects that aren’t needed in Unreal “as-is” and must be substituted with objects that are more suitable for VR.
  • IProject Settings > Render Settings > Extend default luminance range - This parameter extends the range of the default Auto Exposure, allowing Unreal to support wider ranges of luminances by default, eliminating the lighting “glare bombs” effect out of the box.
  • 3ds Max Physical Camera Translation - In order to improve the visual fidelity between 3ds Max render settings and Unreal, (and thus reduce chances to get the glare bomb effects) we also translate Camera settings that affect exposure and white balance.
  • 3ds Max Global Exposure translation - Vray Exposure Control and Physical Camera Exposure Control are now translated as a Post Process Volume object with corresponding EV100 and White Balance values translated.
  • Improved conversion of Vray Rectangle Lights - Unitless Vray Rectangle Lights now convert with more consistency with regards to intensity and distribution.
  • Improved DatasmithAreaLightMesh BP - Area lights translated by Datasmith all have the most important parameters showing at the root of the actor, making the editing of several lights at a time possible.
  • Forest Pack Pro / Railclone refactor - The support of Forest Pack Pro objects has been completely re-written. Instead of exporting all Forest Pack Pro objects as a single Foliage object, we now create one Unreal Actor per Forest Objects and export an array of Hierarchical Instanced Static Meshes subcomponents.
  • Export Performance - Some scaling issues with the exporter were addressed.
  • 3ds Max Camera Target - Camera Target is now translated as a Look At Actor, to maintain similar behavior to 3ds Max
  • Non-destructive reimport for material instances - Previously, re-importing Datasmith files would overwrite material changes (ex: edit a color and roughness, re-import: changes are lost). In 4.22, re-importing a Datasmith scene will no longer overwrite parameters that might have been changed in a Material instance created by Datasmith.
  • Resolved an issue with actors being imported with Material Overrides on all materials.
  • Vertex colors from 3ds Max are now exported as Vertex Colors in Unreal.
  • Like done for Sketchup and Revit, Datasmith for 3ds Max now exports “technical” information as Actor Tags to help with dataprep
  • Cropped bitmaps in 3ds Max are now correctly exported

CAD Workflow Improvements:

  • Tessellation of Rhino files, instead of using meshes stored in files.
  • Exposed stitching parameters which control surface stitching during tessellation
  • Fix nested layers import issues on Rhino files
  • Performances improvements on large scene import

Additional Unreal Studio Features:

  • GLTF files now import via the Datasmith interface (with focus on geometry, scene structure and materials).

Additional Engine feature highlights (not specific to Unreal Studio):

  • Early-access Ray Tracing functionality is now available in the Unreal Engine. This includes two distinct technologies: the “Hybrid Ray Tracer” and “reference” Path Tracer. Requires Windows 10 version 1089 or above and an Nvidia RTX graphics card. UE4 must be launched with the -dx12 commandline option.
  • The Mesh Editing tools in the Static Mesh Editor window now offer better control over backward-facing triangles.
  • Real-Time Compositing with Composure. This release introduces significant new capabilities to the Composure Plugin, making it easier than ever to composite images, video feeds, and CG elements directly within Unreal Engine.
  • OpenColorIO (OCIO) Color Profiles. You can now use OpenColorIO (OCIO) color profiles to transform the color space of any Texture or Composure Element directly within the Unreal Engine.
  • Hardware-Accelerated Video Decoding (Experimental). On Windows platforms, you can now use your GPU to speed up the processing of H.264 video streams. This reduces the strain on the CPU when playing back video streams, which may result in smoother video and may allow you to use higher resolution movie files and more simultaneous input feeds.
  • New Media I/O Formats - UHD rendering, HDMI Input, Kona 5
  • nDisplay Improvements (Experimental). This release adds several new features that make the nDisplay multi-display rendering system more flexible, handling new kinds of hardware configurations and inputs.
  • see more here

Preview FAQ

  • Why do you release previews?

  • Primarily for the opportunity for you to catch and report any significant bugs that our QA did not experience. We will try to fix major bugs before the actual release.

  • How do I access the Preview?

  • Open the Epic Games Launcher to the Unreal Engine > Library page. Click the +] button to add a new engine slot, and select the engine Preview from the dropdown list. The Preview version of the Datasmith plugin should install immediately after the engine installation, but if not, you can also install if from the Library page in the Unreal Studio Beta section.

  • Are there updates during the Preview cycle?

  • Yes, we typically release an updated preview version every week

  • How long does the Preview run for? When is the actual release?

  • Previews typically last for a month, but may run longer or shorter on occasion. The release occurs one or two weeks after the last Preview.

  • Do I need to uninstall the Preview after it is over?

  • No. You can update the Preview installation to become the actual release.

Awesomesauce ! Real performance boosts from 4.22 already, now that the importer and exporter are even faster. :slight_smile:

Been digging a bit, I wonder how the DataPrep template works. Is there a place where you can define your import workflow ? I’ve got no clue how to trigger that Pipeline Traversal stuff… :frowning:

Yeah, this is still an experimental feature and things are rough on the edges…

In short, this is a graphical interface that exists between the import and the create actors/assets process.

you import a DATASMITH scene in a temporary space, draw a graph with the operators of what you want to do with the data and then commit to the current level.

for example, you will be able to search for assets that have a certain size and generate LODs or Collisions, or remove them.

were still solving instability issues right now.

one thing that might help is to make a demo video of what can be done with it. we will try posting that once we reach a good level of confidence into the main use cases we want to address.

Sounds good, will wait for the video then.

The GLTF mention is interesting. Does this mean that Blender support in the future will be handled via Datasmith? Can we expect to see the same level of material translation that we now get from Vray/Max some day?

Are we looking at Friday?

For what?

The Preview is currently available.

super excited for raytracing, it seems to crash the gpu driver on one of my large scenes though, don’t have a crash report for it, how should I go about sharing results/crashes like this?

Hi Bryan.

Raytracing is a broad engine feature which is not exclusive to the Unreal Studio offer, and so you can report any issues related to it via the normal Unreal Engine Bug Submission form. The engine support team will want to know your OS, hardware and drivers (probably best to share an export of your DXDiag) and possibly an engine log file.

[USER=“9”]Stephen Ellis[/USER] Is the new version of datasmith included in preview 2? I didn’t get any prompt in my epic games launcher to update the plugin.

It is it is. Time for testing. Post testing… the Solidworks importer is still greatly lacking functionality. First off I love the way ou guys are handling naming conventions in the tree. That is fantastic. Secondly the UV mapping looks nice but when I rebuild the mesh turns black. There are still some assemblies where it looks like a bomb went off. Also I may be using it incorrectly but the jacketing feature has an actor level search but some of the occluded objects aren’t being deleted.The new uv options are a nice touch. I will hold off judgement but the rest of the hiccups are definitely manageable if you can get the uv system working properly after building lighting. Good work guys. I hope you strive to be something like pixyz in the future.

UPDATE: PREVIEW 3

UE 4.22 Preview 3 has been made available today - (full engine details here)
Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview 3 is available along with it.

  1. On the Launcher, update the 4.22 engine version
  2. On the Launcher, update the Datasmith plugin
  3. Download the latest Exporter plugins for 4.22 from the Downloads page.

Unreal Studio fixes:

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Datasmith - StaticMeshes lose their material after reimport

DS Data Prep - Crash when re-importing mesh

Skipped assets during Datasmith Reimport

Datasmith Materials no longer Reimport correctly - Datasmith > Reimport Material

Datasmith Materials no longer Reimport correctly - Asset > Reimport <Asset>

Reimporting actor within Datasmith Root scene breaks Datasmith Actor-Material Connection

Datasmith CAD stops reimporting after second iteration

Datasmith import takes more memory than 4.21

Exported LOD with Datasmith SDK gives strange result at import

DS Data Prep - All but one SceneActor erased on execution

DS Data Prep - Remove operation improvements - hierarchy modification not reflected

Cannot save asset with label containing special character

VirtualCamera adds duplicate camera actor in TakeRecorder

MeshEditing - Materials are reassigned wrongly on reimport after undo deleting all polygons using the same material

VirtualProduction Root Actor doesn’t return correct target camera

DS Data Prep : missing operators

DS Data Prep : Set Generate Lightmap UVs does not work on Actors

DS Data Prep - CAD hierarchy flatten on dataprep import

Crash on Rhino model

Crash in UVPCustomUIHandler::Uninit() on shutdown, preventing Launch from working

UPDATE: PREVIEW 4

UE 4.22 Preview 4 has been made available today - (full engine details here)
Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview 4 is available along with it.

  1. On the Launcher, update the 4.22 engine version
  2. On the Launcher, update the Datasmith plugin
  3. Download the latest Exporter plugins for 4.22 from the Downloads page.

Unreal Studio fixes: [TABLE=“border: 1, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0”]

AXF material import diffuse and roughness are wrong on interior fabric

Mesh Editing window is named Secondary Toolbar when closed and reopened

Ensure after deleting Actor from “Re-Spawn Deleted Actor” with the original actor still in the scene

Crash importing JT file

Actors from CAD import lose their StaticMesh on reload after reimport

Reimport LOD on reimported Datasmith Mesh adds extra Material slots

Surface orientation in UE does not match the one in Rhino

Static meshes imported with Datasmith have their Collision Complexity set to ‘Use simple collision as complex’

Crash create new level after converting a DatasmithSceneActor to Blueprint

Exported LOD with Datasmith SDK gives strange result at import

Datasmith - Deleted meshes (from exported file) are not removed from Level on reimport

Crash reimport twice a Datasmith asset - UE4Editor_DatasmithImporter!UDatasmithImportFactory::PreReimportStaticMesh() [enterprise\plugins\editor\datasmithimporter\source\datasmithimporter\private\datasmithimportfactory.cpp:607]

AxF textures are too desaturated and a bit darker

Some MDL materials are incorrect with the procedural approach

DeltaGen and VRED importers Visibility Variants does not work

Variant Manager - variant blueprint event are fired even when not playing

White Frame on image plates on shot boundaries in Simple Composure sample

Crash deleting level when asset folder was renamed (UE4Editor_Core!FDebug::CheckVerifyFailedImpl())

Lights radius and intensity wrong after glTF import

VirtualProduction Root Actor doesn’t return correct target camera

Datasmith - Instances from ForestPack does not show in the viewport after import

MeshEditing - Crash editing a LOD after deleting polygons on another LOD - Assertion failed: (Index >= 0) & (Index < ArrayNum)

Calling Console Commands in Python doesn’t execute

Missing DerivedDataCache in Unreal Studio binaries

UPDATE: PREVIEW 5

UE 4.22 Preview 5 has been made available today - (full engine details here)
Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview 5 is available along with it.

  1. On the Launcher, update the 4.22 engine version
  2. On the Launcher, update the Datasmith plugin
  3. Download the latest Exporter plugins for 4.22 from the Downloads page.

Unreal Studio fixes:
[TABLE=“border: 1, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0”]

MeshEditing - Viewport does not update LOD after editing LOD

ies texture files only link to datasmitharealight types

IES texture asset not persisted

Wrong normals on landscape imported via Datasmith

Datasmith area light attribute gets reset upon reimport

[CrashReport] UE4Editor-UnrealEd!UFactory::ImportObject(UClass *,UObject *,FName,EObjectFlags,FString const &,wchar_t const *,bool &) [Factory.cpp:187]

Editor crashes when reimporting asset while in Mesh Editing mode

Datasmith menu entry not available on point light

Re-importing udatasmith scene doesn’t update World Outliner for Pre-Existing Scene in the Level

DS Data Prep - Query Get Asset generate Invalid Lightmap

Missing triangles for CAD tessellation of long objects

Datasmith CAD - Freeze loading a Rhino file

Crash applying defeaturing - Fill through holes - on cube - {UE4Editor_Core!__TBB_LockByte()}

Visual Dataprep - Texture assets get corrupted on save - invalid data

Visual Dataprep - Texture assets can’t be reloaded - Failed import for Texture2D

Datasmith override on Lights lost on second reimport

Visual Dataprep - Crash running SetConvexDecompositionCollision on a plane - UE4Editor_EditorScriptingUtilities!UEditorStaticMeshLibrary::SetConvexDecompositionCollisions()

Datasmith Dataprep - Can select glTF, MDL, VRed and DeltaGen importer in import settings

Datasmith override on Exposure are not recorded

Corrupted texture after a datasmith scene re-import

Double Variant Manager entry in Window top menu

MediaCapture break the viewport if the capture stopped unexpectedly

Unable to save content after a Datasmith revit import - not have sufficient permission to save

Smoothing groups wrong after setting static mesh as LOD of another Static Mesh

Python CAD import do not create datasmith scene when running from commandline

Virtual Production Utilities Plugin Missing Teleport Customization

AJA - Option to output in 3Ga or 3Gb doesn’t work

VirtualProductionUtilities plugin - the BookmarkWidget asset cannot be nativized (converted to C++ at cook time)

“Wrong normals on landscape imported via Datasmith”

How can we import landscape with datasmith? What Cad program is this supported in? This sounds like a super cool feature! :slight_smile:

That issue was specifically related to the Datasmith workflow from CityEngine.

UPDATE: PREVIEW 6

UE 4.22 Preview 6 has been made available today - (full engine details here)
Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview 6 is available along with it.

  1. On the Launcher, update the 4.22 engine version
  2. On the Launcher, update the Datasmith plugin
  3. Download the latest Exporter plugins for 4.22 from the Downloads page.

Unreal Studio fixes:
[TABLE=“border: 1, cellpadding: 0, cellspacing: 0”]

Landscape: normals seems messed up on first attempt to import

Crash editing material asset Engine\Source\Runtime\Windows\D3D11RHI\Private\D3D11Commands.cpp] [Line: 1531]

[CrashReporter] DataPrepEditors Crash - UE4Editor-DatasmithDataPrepLibraries!eea30000 + 194d8

Datasmith Scene Reimport w/ Re-Spawn Deleted Actors fails and causes two Ensures - referencing SceneComponent.cpp Lines: 2125 & 1067

Assertion failed in Datasmith Deltagen FBX importer

MDL imported from Substance Source with Datasmith causes a crash

UPDATE: PREVIEW 7

UE 4.22 Preview 7 has been made available today - (full engine details here)
Unreal Studio 4.22 Preview 7 is available along with it.

  1. On the Launcher, update the 4.22 engine version
  2. On the Launcher, update the Datasmith plugin
  3. Download the latest Exporter plugins for 4.22 from the Downloads page.

Unreal Studio fixes:
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Crash reimporting when Datasmith Scene actors is none

Load Scene button should be ghosted when there is no file set in the scene settings

Crash importing FBX using the Deltagen importer with Merge Nodes enabled - Assertion failed: PolygonNormals.IsValid()

Unreal Studio 4.22 has been released. (click here for release notes)

Thank you for your help testing and reporting issues during the previews. This topic is now closed, please follow the link to continue 4.22 related discussions.