Usage#

Note

Before learning about the add-on’s usage, make sure you have completed the Installation and Configuration parts.

umodel_tools provides a few distinct features that you can use to recover 3D data from an Unreal Engine game. This guide will go through each of them in detail.

Note

Many umodel_tools operators can take a significant time to complete, depending on the amount of game 3D resources being converted and other factors. During these operators Blender’s UI will be completely frozen (non-interactable). If you want to track the progress and get some estimates, you can launch Blender through command line (terminal / shell). The add-on will be reporting progress there using text-based progress bars.

Map import#

The add-on is able to import .json files, produced by FModel from Unreal Engine maps (.umap).

Warning

It is not guaranteed that you can load the entire game level using this techique, as some of the objects are typically placed on the level dynamically using blueprints or C++ code in UE. The importer is only able to understand static data such as static mesh or light placements. However, for many games this is more than enough to recreate some particular scene.

In order to import a map do the following:

  1. Export a map using FModel. Make sure you are running a correct game profile and all of the game assets needed are available in the UModel Export Directory.

  2. In Blender, go to File -> Import -> Import Unreal Map. An import dialogue should appear.

  3. Select the .json file of a map that you want to import. Selecting multiple maps at once is supported, in this case, all of them will be imported into the same scene (yet, separated into different collections).

  4. Make sure to configure the import settings correctly on the sidebar. The meaning of each option can be acquired by hovering over it.

  5. Hit the Import Unreal Map button to confirm and start the import operation.

Batch asset import#

The add-on is able to import multiple game assets at once. You can even convert the entirery of game assets into a reusable asset database in one run. Unlike the map importer operator, this operator is located in Blender’s Object menu, typically located at the top of the viewport.

  1. In order to batch import Unreal Engine models into Blender, go to Object menu and select Import Unreal Assets. An operator settings prompt should appear.

  2. The settings are similar to map import, with the exception of Asset subdir. It indicates the subdirectory within the game’s file tree we want to import assets from. / would indicate root directory, which means importing all the assets. /Game/Environment/ would indicate that only the assets located in that subdirectory will be imported.

Note

Depending on the scope of the batch import and various other factors this operation may take a significant amount of time.

Note

Assets imported with any operation are marked as Blender assets. The add-on automatically takes care of adding the files into the .cats.txt file which preserves the directory tree in the asset browser. In order to see the assets in the asset browser, make sure to set the value of current profile’s Asset directory parameter as an asset search path (Edit -> Preferences -> File Paths -> Asset Libraries -> Add Asset Library). For now the assets do not have their previews generated automatically. You can use this addon to batch generate them.