| Please note that this is a BETA version of the document. All information presented is correct but we are working on improving the details. |
Introduction
In this article, we will describe all the necessary steps you have to take in Unreal Editor for Aximmetry in order for your unreal scenes to be used with Aximmetry DE.
This document assumes that you are already familiar with the concept of Aximmetry DE & Unreal Editor for Aximmetry, but if you would like to learn more about the acquisition and installation of the Aximmetry DE edition and the corresponding Unreal Editor for Aximmetry, please refer to this document.
For the basic workflow of using an unreal scene in Aximmetry DE, please refer to this document.
Difference between the vanilla Unreal Editor and Unreal Editor for Aximmetry
We recommend building your whole scene in Unreal Editor for Aximmetry.
The only difference between the vanilla UE and UE for Aximmetry is that the latter has added functionality to be used with Aximmetry DE. (p.e. adding Aximmetry camera, getting and setting triggers, videos, etc.)
Aximmetry DE uses the Aximmetry camera blueprint to access the unreal scene and adding this blueprint to your project is only available with UE for Aximmetry.
Note: Technically you can build your scene in the vanilla Unreal Editor and take the last steps in UE for Aximmetry, but this gives no advantage.
More on plugins with Unreal Editor for Aximmetry here.
From now on, we will refer to Unreal Editor for Aximmetry simply as Unreal Editor or UE.
Version mismatch
Please note that Aximmetry DE will only work with the corresponding version of Unreal Editor for Aximmetry.
If there is a new release of UE, it is clearly stated in the Software Version History.
If your project was created with a previous version of UE, when you try to open the project with a new version, a Convert Project window will pop up.
Open a copy
This will create a copy of the project in a folder next to the old one and will add the version number at the end of the project folder name, keeping the original version intact.
We highly recommend going with this option.
Aximmetry Cameras
For all UE scenes, you must place an Aximmetry camera blueprint in your scene if you want it to be used with Aximmetry DE. This will give Aximmetry access and control to the UE scene.
After opening your scene, navigate to the Aximmetry item in the menu bar and hover over Add Camera...
Here you can see the list of camera blueprints you can add to your project. Add the one you would like to use in your production.
The position and orientation of the camera actor in the scene don't affect the output because it will be controlled by Aximmetry during runtime.
IMPORTANT: Do not move or rename the asset directory. (Unreal Editor for Aximmetry expects them to be there and it might also break asset references.)
Notes:
If there is a camera in the scene already, this menu can be used to replace the existing camera with another one.
A confirmation window will pop up with details about the operation.
If you continue, the existing camera actor and assets will be deleted and a new one will be added.
New versions of the Unreal assets and the corresponding Aximmetry compounds are released regularly.
When a new version is available, a notification will pop up in the lower left corner when you open the project, prompting you to update. Updating the camera assets is necessary to maintain compatibility with Aximmetry, so it is highly recommended.
If you choose to update, a confirmation window will pop up with details about the operation.
If you continue, the existing camera actor and assets will be deleted and a new one will be added.
If you are using an older version of the Aximmetry Common Library but your Unreal project contains a newer version of a camera, you will be prompted to downgrade to the camera version that is compatible with Aximmetry. This works the same way as the update.
Unreal Editor for Aximmetry 4.x (and previous versions)
Some workflows (for example AR or Tracked Cam) require some additional settings, which we will discuss after the general ones.
For all workflows
After opening your UE scene
- By default, the Player Start actor will show up in the scene. This will appear as a joystick in unreal and as a gray sphere in Aximmetry
.
- Move the PlayerStart outside of the scene, or under the floor. In this case, the gray sphere will be spawned in an invisible area. (Its position is indifferent to Aximmetry.)
- Match Editor Startup Map with Game Default Map
- Go to Edit / Project Settings / Project / Maps & Modes / Default Maps
- Check if Editor Startup Map and Game Default Map are set to the same map
- If not, then set them to the same one
- Custom Depth Stencil Pass
- Go to Edit / Project Settings and search for Custom Depth - Stencil Pass
- Select Enabled with Stencil
- Cook Project
- Go to Aximmetry / Cook Content for Aximmetry DE
- It might take some time for UE to cook the content, and wait for it to finish
Optional
- If you want to disable Motion Blur:
-
- Go to Edit / Project Settings / Engine / Rendering / Default Settings
- Untick Motion Blur
-
Tracked Cam workflow
- If you want to use the tracked camera in Live Link mode, you have to set the rendering resolution so that it matches what Aximmetry expects:
- Go to Edit / Editor Preferences / Level Editor / Play / Game Viewport Settings
- Set New Viewport Resolution to the value of the Out Size pin of the TrackedCam module in Aximmetry. (You can view the value of a pin in Aximmetry by hovering over it with the cursor and pressing and holding the Ctrl key)
- Start the game by opening the dropdown menu to the right of the Play button and selecting New Editor Window (PIE). This will start the game in a new window with the resolution you set in the previous step. From now on you can just hit the Play button, the game will start in a new window.
AR with tracked camera workflow
- You must tag all objects with the “AximmetryAR” tag that you want to be visible in your AR scene. Only tagged objects will show up in the final image
Make sure the tag is added to the Actor / Tags array and not the Tags / Component Tags array of the object. - If you want to use the AR camera in Live Link mode, you have to set the rendering resolution so that it matches what Aximmetry expects:
- Go to Edit / Editor Preferences / Level Editor / Play / Game Viewport Settings
- Set New Viewport Resolution to the value of the Out Size pin of the TrackedCam module in Aximmetry. (You can view the value of a pin in Aximmetry by hovering over it with the cursor and pressing and holding the Ctrl key)
- Start the game by opening the dropdown menu to the right of the Play button and selecting New Editor Window (PIE). This will start the game in a new window with the resolution you set in the previous step. From now on you can just hit the Play button, the game will start in a new window.
Optional
- Place shadow catchers if you want an object to cast a shadow. (Content Browser: Content / All / Aximmetry_TrackedCam_AR / Blueprints /Aximmetry_Shadow_Catcher). There is no restriction on the number of shadow catchers.
- Place reflection catchers if you want an object to have a reflection. ( Content Browser: Content / All / Aximmetry_TrackedCam_AR / Blueprints / Aximmetry_Reflection_Catcher). The maximum number of reflection catchers is 3. Keep in mind that reflections have a very high-performance cost.
