When duplicating a mesh using a lot of times using: Alt + pivot or Ctrl + D on the same object will that affect my performance? will that create an instance?

[The_Hyperverse]

I’m just confused in general with mesh instances and just want to understand the term.
Also, could I do the same thing with light sources? Is there a max of light sources I can put in a single level?
I recently worked on Blender, it has a limit of 128 lights and duplicating objects is very different.
For example, Ctrl+D makes a whole new copy and will affect performance if there are many copies BUT it you use: Ctrl+alt+D it creates an “instance” and will read it as 1 copy. if you edit the mesh in any way you will change ALL of the “Instanced” copies.
I’m unsure instances work in unreal though.
I am using unreal engine 5.2 for my projects.

[RecourseDesign]

Hi TheHyperverse,

A good way to think of it in UE is that the assets in the ContentBrowser are “Objects” - they describe the asset, but in themselves, do nothing in your level.

When you drag something such as a mesh from the ContentBrowser into your level, you’re creating an “Instance” of it. All “Instances” of that asset will change if you change it from the content browser - but you can transform them independently in the same way as Blender Instances.

There are also “Static Mesh Instances” - they work in a similar way to blender instances too, if you’re displaying a lot of the same static mesh - definitely look into using those.

Regarding lights - you can add a lot more than 128 - but keep in mind, the more you have, the slower it will be…

[The_Hyperverse]

Thank you so much for your reply! This really helped a lot!
Could I also ask you 1 more question:
When building anything (example: a building with doors, windows, signs, E.T.C.) is it better to have the entire building built and having 1 mesh or creating a custom modular kit piece it together in unreal engine? Which choice is more performance friendly? Thank you once again!

[RecourseDesign]

No problem

It’s better to break it up into modular pieces and build it from there - there are tools you can use to create “prefabs” from them, in blueprints - I just happen to have one on the marketplace which enlarges on the built-in ones - rdBPtools.