There are so many options in both Blender and UE4 that finding the correct way takes some trials and time. A Blender object can be composed of a single part or multiple parts. If it is composed by multiple parts it will be imported by UE4 as individual parts. In UE4 there is an option to import them into a single mesh. About this point it will be better to wait the information by dev team, above all for rollingstocks. Static mash have not issue one way or the other. UE4 is very picky with Normals so they need to be perfect in Blender. No object can have a rotation and scale with negative value since they influence the Normal calculation. They have to be reset to "standard" with the appropriate comand (ctrl + a, rotation and scale) and, of course the normal need to be recalculated for each parts of the object. The exporter does nothing to change this part (as far as I know). If the object is ready to be exported in FBX format the options I have used until now are: Include - limited to - Selected Object and Visible Objects. Only the selected and visible objects will be exported. It is useful when the scene is full of leftover or temporary pieces. Under transform everything can remain as for default. Do not change the scale or, like in my case, following an old tutorial I obtained a passenger car that was 100 time smaller than the correct size. Next, geometry, is critical. By default smoothing says "Normals only" but the correct one, to have smooth surfaces, is "face". Armature and Bake animation: the first one is useful for animations of animals, persons, etc. and the second to export the animation. I don't have neither so, for the moment they can be switched off. This is the result in UE4 (after a list of trials and errors in UE4 too (and I still have to find the correct setup for the window glass. The translucence does not work like in blender, Unity or TSC). FS - type 1921 - In the original livery. The shadows are not that great but this is only a basic configuration of the scene.
Great work, looks fantastic! Always if in doubt try ctrl+a Are doing the texture work inside Blender?
Rolling stock are imported as skeleton mesh. X+ is front, compared to TSC where Y+ is front. (Blender) From what I have seen in TSW files locos are one mesh only (one object) In TSC it is normal to split the mesh with different names so that you are able to activate nodes, have wheel and bogie animations etc. In TSW all the parts that needs animation are linked to bones with vertex groups. Then you animate the bones. From imported animations from UE they seem to have 60 frames. I hope we get some proper documentation or example files on this soon. Armature (top level) -Root (bone) --Exterior Animated (bone) When animated/moved nothing happens (needed for UE to handle sway/movement of the body?) --Exterior Static (bone) When moving this bone everything that isn't animated moves (parented to this bone) --Skeleton (bone) Contains all bones that have animations. ---axle (bone) ---buffer (bone) ---wiper (bone) ---etc. (bone) -Mesh (parented to armature) Its fun to play around in UE Many things will be the same in TSW editor. For transparent material change blend mode to Translucent. Opacity from alpha channel.
Great info guys And well done bremen. I've spent this morning with a TSC loco model starting to get it into shape to try and import into UE but you are way ahead of me
The bones animation I thought were only used to animate animals and such. This is a part that I’ll have to learn. Thank you for the tip. Yes I'm having fun too . I have beeing waiting for years for an editor on a modern engine (after seeing what can be done with UE5.3, UE4 is a little less modern, but it still miles better than other 3D engine.) OK, I was missing the link between the Alpha and opacity. I'll try this evening. I have done that car months ago as a test for another 3D engine so it was "ready". Above all, because it is the heaviest 3D I have ever done and it still missing the internal parts. LOL. True. . With 100 in the exporter, the resulting size is like a mouse compare to the default chairs and table.
The Alpha -> opacity with translucency works but my alpha has a small effect has a tinted glass. New thing to check...
Looking good. The black texture with no reflection looks better then my black total metal. Finding the correct settings for the main texture and "effects" (metal, reflection, etc) in the editor will be critical.
I follow a simple rule for this. If it is metal, then metal = 1 (max) Either something is metal, or it is not metal. Quite simple. Use roughness to control the shine/reflection. If it is paintet metal, then metal = 0. If you use substance painter or similar software to paint with it is easy to adjust all of these values. I would always recommend having a base layer of bare metal under the paint, so that damages in paint reveals the metal under. If you don't have texture maps for roughness, metal, ao etc. then you need to just set a overall value in UE. In that case I would set the metal to 0, and play with the roughness until you have something that looks decent.
Wow some fantastic work. Any chance anybody can export the model/mesh/textures on a set of buffers off a loco? I’m modding the gwr mk3 coaches into buffer/screw link versions but didn’t realise the vehicles are all one mesh with bones so I can’t pinch them off another coach. First attempt was Frankensteining a lengthened mk2a inside the mk3 but that did not go well
