Going into Unreal

Now that I'd finished modelling in Maya, I decided to take my shop into Unreal Engine to see how it translated. As I didn't have much experience with Unreal, I relied on tutorials and content from lectures, learning as I went.

Using a tutorial by ‘World of Level Design,’ I exported my blockout as an fbx file using Maya’s game exporter function and following their advice for the export settings. I then imported it into Unreal, making sure to turn off ‘combine mesh’ and enable ‘generate collisions.’ I also brought in the mannequin from Maya so I could check that the scale was accurate. 

Initially, I had a bit of trouble understanding the Unreal interface, such as the content drawer, projects and levels. To try and get a better grasp of the UI, I used a quickstart guide by Epic, which helped a lot.

Here’s how my blockout looked in Unreal. As you can see, there was a small issue with the mesh on the bottom floor near the door.

I tried moving the camera closer to figure out what the problem was.

I isolated the problem area and went back into Maya to make some adjustments in hopes of fixing it. Using the multi cut tool, I edited the mesh to see if that would work. After making a change, I reimported it back into Unreal, continuing until the issue was resolved. I learnt a lot about Unreal very quickly through doing this, and I now feel more much more confident using the software.

References:

docs.unrealengine.com. (n.d.). Artist Quick Start. [online] Available at: https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.1/en-US/artist-quick-start-in-unreal-engine/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2023].

worldofleveldesign.com. (n.d.). Complete Guide to Exporting/Importing Environment Static Mesh Geometry from Maya into UE5. [online] Available at: https://worldofleveldesign.com/categories/3d-game-modeling/maya-ue5-export-import-guide.php#:~:text=You%20should%20combine%20certain%20meshes [Accessed 16 Nov. 2023].

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worldofleveldesign.com. (n.d.). In-Depth Overview: How to Batch Export Using Maya Game Exporter for UE5. [online] Available at: https://worldofleveldesign.com/categories/3d-game-modeling/maya-game-exporter.php [Accessed 16 Nov. 2023].

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