Importing models into UE4

[Cloister]

OK,

 

So I want to export a model from A:M and import to Unreal Engine 4. However I have just tried exporting as an OBJ file and importing the model into UE4 and the mesh that is displayed in unreal has lots of holes in it.

 

I am a big noob when it comes to this sort of thing so does anyone have any ideas on what I'm doing wrong here?

 

two pics are attached.

 

Thanks

 

C

 

[robcat2075]

I'm below a noob at that, but... does this have anything to do with patch direction? Are all the normals facing out on the A:M version?

[Cloister]

HA!, you are a diamond.

 

I flipped a few normals and the patches are appearing now, although I have to go through every patch facing the wrong way and flip then which is painstaking - unless you know of a better way?

 

Thanks Robcat!

[detbear]

Yeah... That's about the size of it.

 

It's a little time consuming to "flip" the backward normals. But if the model isn't dense in patches, it shouldn't be as difficult as some of the other Apps.

 

It's just a part of the process.

 

Your character appears to be fairly light in patch count, so that's a big help.

[robcat2075]

SHIFT-6 toggles Show Backfacing Patches which makes it easier to see reversed ones.

Also:

Go to the Front view, on the background>Plugins>Wizards>Correct Normals

 

That plugin tries to make all Patches face together, but it can only guess. Sometimes doing it several times can get them all aligned, but if it says "Nothing to Do" it can't do any more.

 

If it doesn't get them all facing alike, it will usually get large groups facing together, which are easy to select and Flip all at once.

 

 

Also: I notice numerous internal patches in your polygon result. Those are generally bad in A:M.

 

You're probably creating those shapes in a non-optimal way.

[Fuchur]

"Shift-p" (patch selection tool) and "F" (flip normal) are your friend here.

Just to ask: Do you have internal patches there too? Looks like that a little bit.

 

And in general, if UE4 supports it, you might want to use the directx-exporter instead of the OBJ-exporter, since OBJ can't save bone-data.

 

You might want to have a look at some of my video tutorials here:

http://www.patchwork3d.de/video-tutorials-24-en

 

Especially the once in the middle might be interesting for you. They are not especially for UE4 but for Unity, Quest3d and exporting in general, but they might hold some useful informations for you.

 

See you
*Fuchur*

[Cloister]

OMG you guys kick ass, I knew if I had a problem here is where I would need to come to solve it, I have to wait till I'm home tonight but it'll be a lot quicker than it was I spent a couple of hours last night selecting individual control points around the patched and then flipping the normals...

 

 

 

Thank you all!

[detbear]

The select "Patch" tool is like a gold button.....makes selecting sections of a model quick.

 

The "show back facing patches" is a great tool while you are working, but it masks the flipped "normals". So as Robcat said,

sometimes you may need to temporarily turn the "show back facing patches" setting off. Then the wrong facing normals will be

easier to find.

 

That's very cool that you are experimenting with A:M and Unreal Engine. It would be awesome to see your progress as you move

forward.

[detbear]

Although your model appears to be a bit more detailed for beveled edges, this is a sample of how internal patches get

into our models at times. Especially when building cubes, or other parallel shapes. They happen to all of us at times, and

show up at render time as lines on the surface or other anomaly.

 

[Cloister]

OK I am going to see if I can remove all internal splines once I have the normals sorted, thanks again!

[Cloister]

Wow, it took me 15 minutes to right the patches using shift P and F I spent 2 hours last night and still didn't finish. Thank you!

Now to remove the internal splines....

[robcat2075]

OK I am going to see if I can remove all internal splines once I have the normals sorted, thanks again!

 

You can avoid most internal patches during the modeling process.

 

Because four connected CPs wont' fill in if they are all on the same spline, starting with a single-ring outline and extruding along the shape of the leg, as in "B", that will create no internal patches.

 

If you start with one side of the leg and extrude that, as in "A", you will get internal patches (marked with blue Xs).

 

[Cloister]

Ahh!, I see, I have not really been taught to model though I did go through TAOAM a number of years ago. thanks for explaining that

[jakerupert]

...the removal of internal patches will probably flipp some of the normals again, so better to do it beforehand.

[Cloister]

Hi guys, Do any of you have uu3d? I am near the end of my trial stage for A:M and I want to sub for another year but I need to know this is going to work for me before I spend the money, I would also need to buy UU3d, so could someone convert this file from .x to .fbx for me to see if I can import it into UE4?

 

I haven't worked on this for a while so I have no idea if my bones are even right on this model but it does have bones so I wand to be able to see the skeleton in UE4 then I can go ahead with it all.

 

hope someone can help.

 

Thanks

 

C

Blokey3.zip

[Fuchur]

Hi C,

 

I'll see what I can do after work today .

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[Cloister]

OK Thanks Fuchur! be interesting to see if it works.

C

[Fuchur]

Here we go.

 

Try it... I am not sure if you can use it like that or if we need to use a little bit different export options, but it should work basicly.

 

See you

*Fuchur*

Blokey3.zip