Tool Scripting

Editor Widgets, Level Sequencer scripts and other misfit tools

As you select cameras from the list, the bottom of the Tool will display the preconstructed directory and name of each image to be exported. It will create this from the path beginning with the show:

Show Name\artists\User Name\Screenshots\Level Name\Current Date\

Then it will append the following to be used as each screenshots name:

EnvironmentName_CameraName_VolumeStatus_Date_UserName

You can see this functionality in the below image:

It requires the basic python scripting plugin to be enabled, and an export location to be specified in the Tool's python package:

How it works

Sometimes in post-viz, its necessary to bake out other unreal passes so they could be used in editing for extra shadow, reflections and effects work. This becomes a huge task when there are hundreds of cameras and episodes, so finding a means of automating the changing of level sequencer tracks, level streaming settings, and manicuring pass settings and rendering them is a massive time-saver.

Pass Creator

This tool utilizes python to make copies of selected level sequences in order to tag and associate Render Queue settings with individual shots. This lets you make any adjustments to, say FX passes, separate from your existing shot's settings, as well as for Reflections and shadows.

In the gif above, we select all 3 of the project's shots, and generate 4 separate passes for each one. Not shown here, the newly created assets also receive metadata tags to associate each one with a specific Render Queue Setting, so that various rendering tricks for each one can be applied. Also not shown, the tool adds Level Visibility Tracks for each pass to know which sublevels can be turned on and off--required for creating FX and shadow passes.

The paths on each shot-object in the UI also act as links to make finding the sequences more easily in the editor. It makes use of a super-fun Editor Asset Library class method called 'sync_browser_to_objects' that lets you point the content browser to any /Game/ asset path:

The purpose of this tool is to provide a simple work around for being able to re-use instances of meshes by copying in-engine painted foliage into new actors that we can control as normal.

Many Tools already exist for this on the marketplace, especially ones more powerful like the Instance Tool, which is used from time to time. This Foliage Copier tool however is not a plugin, and can be freely copied with its actor component across to any projects without needing to edit configs. It even works in UE5 projects since it is created in 4.27.2.

Foliage Copier

Screenshot 2022-04-01 104517_edited_edited.png

Below is a test scene created with multiple sublevels all containing foliage, and will be used to demonstrate the process. The scene contains a few thousand trees, grasses and sandbags.

The Tool itself is relatively simple, you simply click the drop-down and select the foliage instance type you'd like to copy.

With it selected, your can click 'Create Copy' and create an Instanced static mesh class object with the same foliage geometry, material and transforms copied over.

The tool can convert the copied instances into meshes back and forth as needed to make layout pruning a breeze.

In some projects, the sheer amount of static mesh and skeletal mesh content used to make a show, movie or a game can be substantial. For times when lots of custom art is being updated, it will also be important to produce new renders for review. This widget is a python script configuration tool to run the package which scours the registry, and produces sequencers, then adds them to a movie render queue for every asset of whatever things we want to select.

How it works