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Brush to BlenderPurpose: This tutorial will cover how to export a brush from the Unreal editor and into Blender. You can use this to help model your meshes around the BSP you are using in your map. You can also create a basic layout in BSP and use that to replace it with meshes. This is one technique I discovered (which requires converting the brushes into a static mesh), if there is another or any details I left out, please let me know. Requirements: You need a basic understanding of the editor and Blender. Understanding how to import assets into your map file is helpful (See Waylon’s tutorial for more info). Files: I have created 1 .blend files, 2 .obj, and a .ut3 file (unpublished) to give you a specific example. You can download them here. Creating the Brush in Unreal Ed1. First, you need to create your brushes in the editor. Once done, select the “Build Geometry” button on the tool bar. a. Keep in mind that since we have to convert a brush into a static mesh (inside the editor), subtractive brushes can’t be used. b. The location (X, Y, Z coordinate) of the mesh inside of the editor, will be carried over to Blender. This is useful if you are using the BSP for a basic layout. 2. Select the brush, right click and select “Convert to Static Mesh” on the menu. a. If your not in wire frame mode, press the Ctrl+Shift key while selecting. When right clicking on the brush, you need to have your mouse over the edge of the brush. b. Selecting brushes in wire frame mode is easier and bringing up the menu will always work (since you can’t select the actual BSP surface, which is a different menu). 3. In the “Package, Group & Name” window fill out the following information. a. Package: Select the drop down arrow and from that list, select your map’s name. This will add the mesh to your map file instead of creating a separate .upk file. b. Group: While this is optional, it can be used to help organize your assets. Since you will need to delete this mesh at some time, creating a group for it can be useful. Also keep in mind that you can add subgroups by placeing a “.” between the group and subgroup. For example: SM.Import To Blender. c. Enter any meaningful name. Tip: Don’t use any spaces are weird characters in your map, group, or asset name. Only use letters, numbers, hyphens “-” and underscores “_”. 4. Now that the mesh is imported, find it in the Generic Browser, select it, and add it to your map. a. When adding assets directly to your map file, it’s important to add them to your map before you do any “builds” and/or saving the map. The editor is designed to remove any assets that aren’t being used to save space. b. If the brushes will only be used to create a single mesh, you can place them anywhere in the editor as the world coordinates aren’t really important. c. If the brushes will be used as a basic layout, to be used to create your map in Blender, be sure to place them in the same exact location of the brushes you used to create the mesh. d. It doesn’t matter if you apply any materials to the brush as this info won’t be kept when you export it. 5. Select the mesh inside of your map (not the Generic Browser), select the “File” menu n the editor (not the Generic Browser, then select “Export”, then select “Selected Only...”. An Export window will appear asking you where you want to save the file. a. Select a location. In the “File name:” box, enter a name. For the “Save as type”, select “Object (*.obj)”. Select the “Save” button. Importing the Brush into Blender6. Start Blender, create a new file, and delete any default meshes. 7. Select the “File” menu, then “Import”, then “Wavefront (obj)”. Locate the file you exported from the editor, select it, then select the “Import a Wavefront OBJ” button. a. In the import properties window, change the “Clamp Scale:” value to “0” so you can import your brush/static mesh as it’s original size. Select the “Import” button. 8. When imported, the location you placed the static meshes in the editor will be exactly the same as Blender. 9. Now you can model away as needed. a. You may want to assign the brush/meshes you imported from Unreal Editor to a specific visibility layer (key “M”) and assign a spcific color material (in Blender) so you can easily recognize them. My Example1. In the editor, I first create a 256x256x256 cube and placed it in the middle of the map. I converted it to a static mesh and named it Mesh01. I exported it as an .obj file with the same name. 2. I then create four additional cubes (256x256x256) and placed them around the first cube so it creates a basic checker board like pattern). I select all four cubes and converted them to a single static mesh and named it Mesh02. I exported it as an .obj file with the same name. 3. In Blender, I imported each file and they were placed exactly as in the editor (which is what I wanted). You can download the 1 .blend, 2 .obj, and the .ut3 map file for the above example here. Written by Odedge (Linked tutorials are created by their respective authors).
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